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Third-party product inspection, explained
Product Inspection

Inspection checklist generator

Choose a product category and the kind of inspection. You get a checklist to adapt and send to your inspector, with each item marked by where it comes from.

Product category
Inspection type

Pre-shipment inspection — Any consumer product

12 items: 11 common practice, 1 regulatory pointers

Documents and references

  • Common practice
  • Common practice
  • Regulatory pointer CPSC: General Certificate of Conformity

Product

  • Common practice
  • Common practice
  • Common practice
  • Common practice

On-site tests

  • Common practice
  • Common practice

Labels and packaging

  • Common practice
  • Common practice
  • Common practice

Search US recall notices for products made in China

Common practice Common practice: what inspectors usually check. It is not taken from the text of a standard. Your specification decides what applies.

Regulatory pointer Regulatory pointer: a US requirement that may apply to this product. It is a reminder to check, not the rule itself. Confirm with the regulator or a qualified laboratory.

Regulatory pointers cover the United States only. Other markets have their own rules, which this checklist does not list.

How many units to check

This checklist says what to look at. How many units to pull, and how many defects are acceptable, comes from the sampling plan you agree with the supplier.

AQL sampling calculator at aqlchart.com

How to use the checklist

  1. Start from your specification

    A checklist cannot replace it. Add the measurements, colours, tests and tolerances that are specific to your product.

  2. Strike what does not apply

    Not every item fits every product. Remove the ones that do not and tell the inspector why.

  3. Agree the sampling plan

    Decide with the supplier how many units are checked and how many defects of each class are acceptable.

  4. Send it before the visit

    The inspector and the factory should both see the checklist and the instructions before the inspection day.

Recall notices by year

Recall notices published by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Filter by year and keyword; each result links to the notice on cpsc.gov.

2026 runs to 8 October and is not a full year. Source: U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, recall data interface. Collected 11 October 2026. The notice on cpsc.gov governs.

US recalls

From the library

Questions about the generator

Are these items taken from a standard?
No. Items marked common practice describe what inspectors usually check and are not quoted from any standard. Items marked regulatory pointer name a US requirement that may apply; they are reminders to check with the regulator, not the wording of the rule.
Why only US requirements?
The site's recall data comes from the US regulator, so the pointers cover that market. Other markets have their own rules and they are not listed here.
Does the site quote inspection prices?
No. It holds no sourced data on what inspection companies charge, so it publishes no prices.
How many units should be inspected?
That comes from the sampling plan agreed with your supplier, usually an AQL plan. The checklist says what to look at, not how many.