How to Verify the Authenticity of Certificates on Alibaba

In order to attract buyers, some Chinese suppliers use fake certificates to prove that their products or qualifications comply with foreign buyers’ requirements. In this article, I am going to show you about common certificates on Alibaba and how to know whether this is a fake certificate.

Common certificates seen on Alibaba

Lab Test Report

Products passed the laboratory tests, confirmed to meet certain standards, and the evaluation results to the public to formally recognize its ability.

CE Test Report

It is a report of product test results issued by a third-party testing institution after the product is qualified in the CE certification process of the European Union.

Certificate of Compliance

Certificate of Compliance is a part of safety certificates. It is a declaration of safety compliance with raw materials.

Shipping Certificate

Cargo transportation condition appraisal is to make evaluation and suggestion to the transportation suitability of cargo.

Quality Management System

The main function of ISO is to provide a mechanism for people to agree on international standards. The standards cover a wide range of technical areas, from basic fasteners and various raw materials for bearings to semi-finished and finished products, including information technology, transport, agriculture, health and the environment.

Three ways to verify whether a certificate on Alibaba is real

1. Compare the company establishing date and the date of issue on the certificates.

Step 1: Ask your supplier for a business license.

Company establishing date can be found on the business license. As is shown in the picture.

“成立日期” means ‘Establishing Date’.

Step 2: Check the date of issue on the certificates.

In general, the date of issue is on the lower right or lower left corner of the certificate.As is shown in the following picture.

If the date of issue is long before the company establishing date, you have to be aware that this certificate may not belong to the company.

For example, 常州胜如机械有限公司 (Changzhou Victory Machinery Co., Ltd.) was established in 2019-10-9, but it has a certificate which was issued in 2018. After searching, we found out that this certificate belongs to another company. Changzhou Victory Machinery Co., Ltd. used photoshop to fake this certificate.

Fake:

Real:

2. Scan the QR code or go to the website on the certificate.

For example, on this certificate, there are a QR code on its lower left corner, and a website on its lower right corner, as is shown in the following picture.

In general, scanning the QR code may not always work, since many of these certificates on Alibaba are not clear enough. So I will introduce how to search it on the website of the organization that issued this certificate.

3. Check it on websites.

Step 1: Go to the website.

In this example, you need to enter the http://www.ccti-lab.com/ in the search box, and the landing page looks like the following picture.

Step 2: Click the button.

Click the button “证书查询” which means ‘check a certificate’.

Step 3: Enter the certificate number.

You could find the certificate number on a certificate, as is shown in the picture. And then you need to enter it in the search box. After typing, you need to click the red button “查询” which means ‘search’ on the right side.

Step 4: Check the information.

After searching, you will see a page like the one in the following picture. Then you need to check the company name, product and other information to figure out whether the certificate you received from the supplier is the same as the certificate on the legal website.

However, some of certificates are difficult to verify, for example the ISO certificate.

You need to enter a lot of information, such as “组织名称” (the name of organization); “国家地区” (regions) which could be a little bit complex.

If you are not fluent in Chinese, you may find it difficult for you to finish the verification process. In this case, you can contact us for help.

Conclusion

Some companies on Alibaba use fake certificates to expand their business. In order to avoid doing business with these dishonest companies on Alibaba, you need to check their certificates in advance by using the aforementioned methods. If you have any questions, you can contact us on our website. We are always willing to help you.