The email arrives at seven in the morning, usually from your customs broker, usually the day the vessel berths: "Please confirm TSCA positive certification for this entry." If you have imported apparel or housewares for years and this is your first drum of adhesive, that sentence is asking you to swear to something you have no information about — and the broker cannot answer it for you, because the certification runs to the importer, not the filer.
TSCA import certification is not a document a Chinese supplier can send you. It is a statement you make, at each entry, about chemicals whose composition you probably have not been shown. Getting to a position where you can sign it honestly takes about two weeks of upstream work and one non-disclosure agreement. Doing that work during the sampling window costs nothing. Doing it while a container accrues demurrage costs a great deal.
Aosibo Adhesives lists the United States and Canada among eight stated target markets and offers two-part epoxy and acrylic systems and cyanoacrylates alongside its loudspeaker range. Its own profile records that no US inventory-status documentation was provided at review, so none is claimed here. What follows is the work a US buyer would have to do, in either direction.
What you are actually certifying
Under the Toxic Substances Control Act, chemical substances imported into the customs territory of the United States require a certification at entry. There are two forms of it, and they are not interchangeable.
Positive certification states, in substance, that all chemical substances in the shipment comply with all applicable rules and orders under TSCA and that you are not offering a substance in violation of the Act. It is the certification you use for an adhesive.
Negative certification states that the substances in the shipment are not subject to TSCA — pesticides, foods, drugs, cosmetics and certain other categories regulated under other statutes. It is not a fallback for "I don't know". Using it because the positive path is inconvenient is a false statement on an entry document.
Three points about the mechanics are worth knowing before your broker asks.
- The certification is per entry. It is not an annual filing and not a registration. Every shipment carries one.
- Your broker may transmit it; you own it. Filing is generally electronic through the customs system's agency message set, and the broker acts as your agent. The liability sits with the importer of record. If you are unclear on who that is in your own supply chain, what an importer of record is and whether you need one is the place to settle it before the entry, not during.
- "Compliance" is broader than the Inventory. The positive certification covers all applicable TSCA rules and orders, not only whether a substance appears on a list. Section 6 restrictions, reporting rules and any substance-specific order are inside its scope.
Confirm the exact current wording and the filing mechanics with a US customs broker or counsel. The statutory framework is stable; the implementing detail and the electronic filing requirements are not.
"On the Inventory" is not the whole test
The TSCA Inventory is the list of chemical substances in US commerce. A substance not on it is a new chemical, and importing one generally requires a premanufacture notice submitted to EPA in advance, with a review period measured in months, unless an exemption applies. That is the well-known part.
The part that catches importers is the second layer. Substances on the Inventory carry an active or inactive designation. A substance designated inactive is on the Inventory and still cannot simply be imported — reintroducing it to commerce requires a notice to EPA before the import, with its own lead time. So the question to ask upstream is not "is this on the TSCA Inventory". It is:
Is every chemical substance in this product listed on the TSCA Inventory and designated active?
That distinction is invisible on most supplier declarations, which is why a declaration that merely says "all ingredients are TSCA listed" is not sufficient evidence for a positive certification. Ask for the designation, not just the listing.
Several exemptions and exclusions exist that can put a component outside the new-chemical process — polymers meeting the exemption criteria, low-volume arrangements, research and development quantities. Each has conditions, recordkeeping obligations and volume limits. None of them is a shortcut you can assume applies; they are positions someone has to establish and document.
If a component turns out not to be listed at all, importing it requires the premanufacture notice route or a documented exemption, with lead times measured in months. That is not a reason to abandon the supplier; it is a reason to have discovered it during sampling rather than at the port. In practice, an experienced formulator can often substitute a listed component once the problem is identified.
The section 6 rules that bite adhesives
Beyond the Inventory question, a handful of TSCA section 6 restrictions have real overlap with adhesive and solvent chemistry. The list has been amended, and compliance dates for several have been extended more than once, so treat this as a prompt to check rather than a statement of current status:
- PIP (3:1), a phosphate ester used as a plasticiser and flame retardant, appeared widely in adhesives, plastics and articles and has been the subject of repeated rule amendments and extended compliance dates.
- Chlorinated solvent rules, including those affecting methylene chloride, trichloroethylene and perchloroethylene, reach cleaning and formulation uses adjacent to adhesive manufacture.
- Formaldehyde, which sits under its own regime for composite wood products but is worth asking about wherever a phenolic or amino resin appears in a formulation.
The practical instruction is simple: when you request composition, ask specifically whether any component appears on the list of substances subject to a TSCA section 6 rule, and get the answer in writing with the composition. A consultant reviewing the formulation will check this in the same pass as the Inventory check, which is another argument for the third-party route.
The composition problem, and four ways through it
Here is the practical bind. To sign a positive certification honestly you need to know every chemical substance in the mixture. Your supplier considers the formulation its principal commercial asset and would rather not tell you. Both positions are reasonable. Four routes get past it, in rough order of how often they work.
| Route | How it works | What you get | Where it fails |
|---|---|---|---|
| Full disclosure under NDA | Supplier sends the complete composition with CAS numbers and concentrations to you directly, under a signed non-disclosure agreement | Complete control; you can check the Inventory yourself | Suppliers selling to competitors of yours often refuse |
| Third-party review | Supplier discloses to a US regulatory consultant acting for you, who reports only a conclusion and a certification-support letter | The supplier's formulation stays confidential; you get a defensible basis | Costs a consultant fee per formulation; needs supplier cooperation |
| CAS-level statement with status | Supplier provides a signed list of every substance with CAS number and confirms Inventory listing and active designation for each | Cheap and fast where the supplier is competent | Only as good as the supplier's own knowledge of US rules; verify a sample of the CAS numbers yourself |
| Upstream letters | Supplier obtains statements from its own raw-material suppliers covering their components | Sometimes the only route for a blender | Gaps between components; nobody has visibility of the whole mixture |
The third-party review route is the one that resolves most standoffs, and it is worth proposing explicitly rather than waiting for a supplier to think of it. The message is short, and worth sending close to these words: "Please do not send the formulation to me. Send it to a US regulatory consultant of my choosing, under a non-disclosure agreement with you, who will report back only whether every substance is Inventory-listed and active." Suppliers who have shipped to the US before will recognise the arrangement. Suppliers who have not will need it explained, and their reaction is informative.
There is a fifth non-route worth naming: asking the supplier to sign your certification. It cannot. The certification is the importer's statement. A supplier letter is evidence supporting your certification; it does not replace it, and a supplier who offers to "handle the TSCA side" has misunderstood the regime — or is describing a US-established affiliate, in which case ask which entity and where it is registered.
The rest of the entry, and how to sequence it
TSCA is one line on a chemical entry that carries several, and the work that answers it also answers most of the others. Do them together.
What else rides on the same entry
For an adhesive shipment, four things move together.
Classification and duty. The tariff heading depends on the polymer base and the packing, and the difference between a bulk drum and retail-packed units is not cosmetic — it changes the heading. Getting this right belongs in the same conversation as the composition request, because the answer comes from the same information. Duty, freight and the rest of the arrival cost then feed a proper landed cost calculation, which is the number that decides whether the sourcing decision was correct.
Hazardous materials transport. UN number, proper shipping name, class and packing group per grade, plus the shipper's declaration. Cyanoacrylates and many solvent-containing systems carry air-transport restrictions that can force a mode change at short notice.
The safety data sheet. For the US market, a hazard communication SDS in the sixteen-section format, in English, per grade. It is separate from the entry documentation but it supports most of the rest of it, and it is the first thing to request — the same document that anchors classification and labelling for other destinations.
State-level requirements. California's warning regime applies to products sold into that state and turns on listed substances rather than on federal classification. If any of your customers are in California, that check belongs in the same composition review.
Buyers new to the US entry process generally will find the sequence in importing from China to the USA and the wider China import compliance requirements guide useful background; the chemical-specific work above sits on top of both rather than replacing either.
A two-week pre-order sequence
Run this during the sampling window, in parallel with your bond testing. It costs one NDA and a few emails.
- Day 1 — request the document set. SDS per grade in English, full composition with CAS numbers, and dangerous-goods classification. Say plainly that the composition is for US regulatory review and offer the NDA in the same message.
- Day 2 — offer the third-party route. If composition is refused, propose disclosure to a named US consultant under NDA, with only a conclusion returned to you.
- Day 3 — ask the Inventory question in the right words. Every substance listed on the TSCA Inventory and designated active; any substance subject to a section 6 rule identified by name.
- Week 1 — verify a sample yourself. Take three CAS numbers from whatever list arrives and check them independently. A supplier list with a CAS number that does not correspond to the substance named beside it tells you the list was assembled carelessly.
- Week 1 — brief your broker. Send the SDS and the classification, and confirm which certification the broker expects to transmit and what they need in file.
- Week 2 — settle the tariff classification against the polymer base and the pack size, and price the landed cost properly.
- Week 2 — write it into the contract. Composition disclosure obligation, change notification before shipping a changed formulation, and a warranty that the goods comply with applicable US requirements. A formulation change without notice invalidates every conclusion in steps 1 to 5.
- Before each subsequent entry — confirm nothing changed. The certification is per shipment. Treat the annual reconfirmation as a calendar item.
Common questions
Can my customs broker just tick the box for me?
The broker transmits the certification as your agent, using the information you provide. Brokers who handle chemical entries regularly will ask for the SDS and a composition statement in file before they file, precisely because the exposure runs back to the importer. A broker willing to file a positive certification without asking for anything is not doing you a favour.
The supplier says it exports to the US already. Isn't that enough?
Prior shipments are context, not evidence. They tell you the supplier has moved cargo; they tell you nothing about whether any of those entries carried a correct certification, or whether the formulation you are being offered is the one that shipped. Ask instead for the name of a US customer or consignee you can verify, and for the composition. If a supplier declared export rights or a filing without producing the documents at review, that declaration is a starting point for a request rather than a finding — the general habit of asking for the document behind the claim applies to trade rights as much as to certificates.
Do samples need the certification too?
Samples entering the customs territory are imports. The research and development route exists and has conditions, and small quantities are frequently handled under it, but the exemption has requirements rather than being automatic. Tell your broker the shipment is an adhesive sample for evaluation and let them advise on the entry — and use the sample stage to collect the documents you will need at volume.
What to ask this supplier next
For any adhesive supplier whose stated markets include the US, put these in the first message rather than the fifth:
- A safety data sheet per grade, in English, in the sixteen-section format.
- Full composition with CAS numbers, under NDA — to you or to a consultant acting for you.
- Written confirmation that every substance is listed on the TSCA Inventory and designated active, and identification of any component subject to a section 6 rule.
- UN number, proper shipping name, class and packing group per grade, with confirmation of whether a shipper's declaration can be issued.
- The polymer base and net pack weight per unit, which decide the tariff classification.
- Which entity would appear as shipper and exporter on the documents, and whether that entity holds the export filing itself.
Aosibo Adhesives illustrates why the last two belong on the list. Its factory profile states US and Canadian target markets, records a foreign-trade right and an export filing as declared but not sighted at review, and gives sampling at 7 days company-stated. Seven days is enough time to run a bond test and nowhere near enough to resolve a composition disclosure, so the two workstreams have to start on the same day. Treat the regulatory questions as part of the sample request, not as something that follows a successful one. If the same grades are heading to Europe as well, the EU and UK registration and poison-centre duties run on a longer clock again, and any halogen-free claim needs its own test report on top of everything above.