Customs & compliance
SSNBS and Certificates of Conformity: what exporters get wrong
Five mistakes, in rough order of how often we see them, and what to do instead.
South Sudan operates a pre-export verification of conformity programme on behalf of the South Sudan National Bureau of Standards. Goods within scope are verified in the country of export and a Certificate of Conformity is issued; the certificate is required for customs clearance.
For the full explanation see South Sudan Certificate of Conformity. This article is about the ways it goes wrong.
Mistake 1: Leaving it until the goods have shipped
The programme is pre-export. Verification happens in the country of export, before the goods leave.
If the goods are in scope and shipped without certification, you don't have a document to chase. You have a consignment that cannot be cleared normally, sitting somewhere accruing storage and detention while you work out your options.
Instead: raise the CoC question at the purchase order stage, before you pay a deposit.
Mistake 2: Assuming the goods are out of scope
Buyers routinely assume that because their product seems ordinary, it isn't covered. Scope and the applicable value threshold are published by the appointed inspection body.
Instead: check scope against the published programme documentation for your actual product, not your impression of it. If it is ambiguous, ask.
Mistake 3: Relying entirely on the supplier
A supplier who has shipped to South Sudan before will handle this competently. A supplier who has not may not know the programme exists, may confuse it with a conformity scheme for a different market, or may tell you what you want to hear.
Instead: write the obligation into the purchase order in explicit terms. Require a copy of the certificate to be sent directly to you before the booking is confirmed, and make payment terms reflect that.
Mistake 4: Not checking the certificate itself
A certificate that exists but does not match your other documents is nearly as much trouble as no certificate at all.
Instead: check that the consignee, goods description, quantities and invoice reference on the certificate match the invoice, packing list and transport document exactly.
Mistake 5: Confusing origin with the country of export
Take an onward export: Chinese goods bought through a Dubai trader. The country of export is the UAE, and that is where certification is arranged. Buyers sometimes assume certification happens where the goods were manufactured.
Instead: be clear about where the goods are physically shipping from, and arrange certification there.
Dubai to South Sudan via Kenya
Build it into your schedule
Inspection, sampling and testing take time, and for a supplier doing it for the first time they take longer. Treat certification as a lead time item on the production schedule, alongside manufacturing, not as paperwork collected at the end.
Suppliers who ship regularly to South Sudan may be eligible for a faster, registered route rather than consignment by consignment inspection. If you buy from the same factory repeatedly, it is worth asking them to look into it.
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