CertBridge guide
CPC vs GCC: which certificate does your product need?
Children's Product Certificate or General Certificate of Conformity — the test is who the product is designed or intended primarily for, and the consequences differ sharply.
The dividing line
A children's product — designed or intended primarily for children 12 or younger — needs a Children's Product Certificate (CPC). Everything else subject to a CPSC rule needs a General Certificate of Conformity (GCC). The determination looks at the manufacturer's stated intent, packaging and marketing, and how the product is commonly recognized.
Why it matters
A CPC must be based on passing tests from a CPSC-accepted third-party laboratory, and children's products carry extra obligations: permanent tracking labels, lead and phthalate limits, and the mandatory toy standard ASTM F963 for toys. A GCC can rest on a reasonable testing program. Certifying the wrong way round — a GCC for what is actually a children's product — is a compliance failure even if the product itself would pass every test.
Both certificates share a skeleton
Product identification, each applicable rule cited, the certifier, records contact, dates and places of manufacture and testing. Under the eFiling rule, these data elements are filed electronically at import for regulated products.
Authoritative sources
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Requirements change; the linked sources are authoritative.