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Sourcing >> Importing sunglasses &
eyewear from China: A complete guide

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Importing sunglasses & eyewear from China: A
complete guide

Posted: September 16, 2016

By Fredrik Grönkvist

About to import
Sunglasses from China? In this guide, you’ll learn what you must know before
getting started, including:

– How to select the
right Eyewear manufacturer

– Frame Materials,
Lens Specifications and general design customization options

– An introduction to
Product Safety Standards and Labeling Requirements for Sunglasses in the EU and
USA

Finding
the right Sunglasses Manufacturer in China

Most major sunglasses
manufacturers in China are based in Zhejiang province, south of Shanghai – and
the cities of Wenzhou and Linhai in particular.

Wenzhou is the world’s
largest manufacturing cluster for Sunglasses. There are hundreds of
manufacturers, trading companies and component suppliers in the
city.

However, with so many
manufacturers to choose from, how can you identify those that are
qualified?

When sourcing
Sunglasses, this is what you should take a look at:

1. Product
Compliance

Is the supplier
experienced in manufacturing products according to applicable regulations in
your home market?

The truth is that most
suppliers are not. As you are required by law to ensure that all imported Eye
wear is compliant with all applicable product safety standards and labeling
requirements, you need to be sure that the manufacturer has the basic capability
to manufacture ‘compliant products’.

The best way to filter
suppliers, at an early stage, is by requesting a product compliance
document.

For Sunglasses, this
may include any of the following:

• Personal Protective
Equipment Directive Declaration of Conformity and/or Test
Report

• FDA Declaration of
Conformity and/or Test Report

Likely, you will
quickly find that the majority of manufacturers cannot provide such
documents.

2. Quality Management
System (QMS) Certificate / Production Line Audits

A QMS Certificate
(i.e., ISO 9001:2015) or Production line audit report indicates that the
supplier maintains a certain quality standard, in terms of
defects.

3. Social Compliance
Audit Reports

Social Compliance Audit Reports (i.e., BSCI
reports) indicate that the supplier treats its workers fairly well. In turn,
this tends to go hand in hand with the above two points.

In addition, you
should also look at the following two factors:

Registered
Capital:
A low amount of registered capital can give away minor traders.

Registered Business
Scope: Is the supplier
actually a manufacturer? If yes, their business scope specifies this in clear
terms.

Note: Many major Sunglasses
manufacturers in Zhejiang use separate company entities for manufacturing and
trading (i.e., selling and exporting). This is completely legit, as long as some
sort of connection can be proven between the two entities.

Product
Specifications

Sunglasses and eyewear
manufacturers expect their buyers to provide them with a set of product
specifications.

Sunglasses are highly
customizable. The same design (i.e., frame mold) can be made using different
types of materials and components.

For obvious reasons,
the materials and components are in turn the factors that set the unit
price.

This is what you need
to know before contact manufacturers:

a. Frame
materials

• PP

•
Acetate

• Stainless
Steel

•
Alloy

b.
Lens

• Standards: ASTM, EN
ISO

• Materials: Plastic,
Polycarbonate, Glass, Composite

• UV Protected: Yes /
No

• Polarized: Yes /
No

• Anti-reflective
(AR): Yes / No

• Thickness: X.X
mm

• Index:
X.X

•
Shape

•
Color

c. Material
colors

• Standard
color

• Pantone
color

d.
Hinges

• Plastic (low
quality)

• Stainless steel
(high quality)

e. Product
Packaging

• Standard
Packaging

• Customized
Packaging

f. Logo
print

• Lens
Print

• Frame
Print

Custom
Design & Private Labeling

Most manufacturers in
the industry offers a range of ‘standard models’. These are models for which
they already own the mold.

Virtually all Eye-wear
suppliers offer their buyers to have their own logo (i.e., private
label) printed on the lens and the frame.

Most suppliers can
also open new frame molds, based on the buyer’s design drawings.

In order to do so, you
must first provide the supplier with a CAD (3D) design of the
frame.

Notice that the mold
is paid entirely by the buyer, and costs anywhere between $400 to $1200,
depending on its complexity.

Assuming you intend to
import a standard model, you do not need to invest in new
tooling.

Minimum
Order Quantity (MOQ) Requirements

Every supplier sets
their own MOQ requirements. In the Eye-wear industry,
the MOQ requirements are often structured as following:

• 1000 – 2000 pcs per
order

• 300 – 500 pcs per
model (non-customized design)

• 200 – 500 pcs per
color or pattern (non-customized design)

Notice that the MOQ
requirement tends to be higher when buying custom designed frames, or ordering
frames with a custom pantone color.

There are indeed small
online traders, selling Sunglasses with an MOQ as low as 1 unit per design.
However, notice that these traders sell products made for the domestic market in
China.

Such products are
rarely, if ever, compliant with EU or US safety and labeling
requirements.

Product
Safety Standards for Sunglasses in the US and EU

European
Union

Sunglasses are subject to the Personal Protective Equipment
(PPE) Directive, which in turn requires that the product is CE marked and
that the importer maintains a technical file.

In the EU, the
importer is responsible for ensuring compliance. At a minimum, EU based
importers must verify that the supplier has previous experience with ensuring
PPE compliance.

However, that is only
the first step.

The Importer must also
create a Technical file, which may include the following
documents:

• Declaration of
Conformity

• Test
Reports

• Design
Drawings

• Risk
Assessment

• List of applied EN
standards

• Copies of packaging,
labels and manuals

Importers are also
recommended to submit samples to a compliance testing
company, to verify that the Sunglasses are compliant. Test reports may be
required, without prior notice, by authorities and retailers.

Sunglasses imported to
the European Union are also regulated by REACH. Hence, the lens and the frames
may not contain excessive amounts of certain substances, such as lead, cadmium
and mercury.

Note that additional
requirements may apply to protective eye-wear, and sunglasses made for infants
and children. Regulations are also subject to change, regardless of
product.

United
States

Nonprescription
sunglasses, sold in the United States, are regulated by the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA).

The FDA sets certain
safety and quality requirements, as following:

• Impact
Resistance

•
Flammability

•
Biocompatibility

• Optical
Properties

The FDA refers to both
ASTM and ISO standards, for each point listed above. For example, these
standards require all Sunglass lenses to be shatterproof.

Follow this link to read more about FDA
regulations for Sunglasses.

Sunglasses sold, or to
buyers located, in California are also subject to CA Prop 65, which restricts
more than 800 substances in consumer goods.

Labelling
Requirements

European
Union

Sunglasses sold in the
EU must carry the CE mark. The CE mark is normally printed on the inside frame,
together with the Category.

Depending on the type
and usage of the eyewear, you may also need to specify the
following:

• PPE Class (i.e.,
Class 1)

• Usage
symbols

• United
States

All products sold in
the US must carry a Country of Origin mark. Assuming
that your imported Sunglasses are assembled in China, they must carry one of the
following:

• Made in
China

• Made in
PRC

Sunglasses are also
subject to 21 CFR Part 801, which outlines product and packaging labeling
requirements.

Sunglasses
Trade Shows in Hong Kong and Mainland China

Wenzhou International
Optics Fair

• Location: Wenzhou,
Zhejiang

• Venue: Wenzhou
International Convention & Exhibition Center

• Website: Click here

Hong Kong Optical
Fair

• Location: Hong Kong
S.A.R

• Venue: Hong Kong
Convention and Exhibition Centre

• Website: Click here

Canton Fair: Phase
2

• Location: Guangzhou,
Guangdong

• Venue: China Import
and Export Fair (Pazhou) Complex

• Website: Click here

China (Shanghai)
International Optics Fair

• Location:
Shanghai

• Venue: Shanghai
World Expo Exhibition & Convention Center

• Website: Click here

Want
to learn more sourcing best practices?

Join the Global
Sources Summit that combines conferences and networking, co-located with our
Hong Kong trade shows. The event will be held October 17-19, 2016, and is geared
toward online and Amazon sellers.

Fredrik
Grönkvist is the co-founder of ScandinAsian Enterprise in Shanghai. Since 2010,
he and his team have helped hundreds of companies worldwide, primarily in the EU
and US, to develop and manufacture products in China. He is also the main
contributor on http://www.chinaimportal.com/,
a leading knowledge base for small- to medium-sized enterprises importing from
Asia. For further questions, you can contact him on www.chinaimportal.com/contact-us/.

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