If your buyer or the destination's customs asks for a CoC, they expect a certificate of conformity showing that your goods meet that country's standards. An inspection body authorized by the destination country issues it, usually after checking the goods before loading. Timing matters. In Nigeria, the SONCAP (Standards Organisation of Nigeria Conformity Assessment Programme) certificate cannot be obtained once goods have left the country of origin (Standards Organisation of Nigeria, FAQ).

What is a certificate of conformity (CoC)?

A CoC proves that the goods meet the standards and technical regulations of the country importing them, and each country frames it a little differently. Under Nigeria's SONCAP program, the Certificate of Conformity is one of the mandatory steps that verify product quality against specified standards (Standards Organisation of Nigeria, SONCAP service). Algeria uses the same abbreviation for the French Certificat de Contrôle Qualité. For the Central Bank of Algeria, it proves that the goods paid for match those declared and conform to applicable standards and technical regulations (TÜV Rheinland, Algeria CoC scheme).

Say your shipment is bound for Uganda. There, the certificate is the document used to clear your goods through customs. The program behind it aims to improve product safety and quality, ease clearance, promote fair competition and fight counterfeiting (Bureau Veritas, Uganda PVoC guidelines).

In Kenya, goods that meet Kenyan standards, approved specifications and other applicable regulations receive a certificate of conformity. Goods that do not receive a non-conformity report instead (Kenya Standards Order, Legal Notice 78 of 2020).

Who issues a certificate of conformity?

A certificate of conformity is issued by the destination country's national authority or by an inspection body that authority appoints. Each program names its own.

Destination

Who issues or approves the CoC

Nigeria (SONCAP)

An Independent Accredited Firm (IAF), one of the inspection companies that run SONCAP checks, issues the CoC, then the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) issues the mandatory SONCAP Certificate for customs

Kenya

The Kenya Bureau of Standards, or an inspection body it appoints in the exporting country, a transhipment port or the port of entry

Iraq (VoC, verification of conformity, Central Iraq)

Bureau Veritas and other companies appointed by COSQC, the Central Organization for Standardization and Quality Control (Bureau Veritas, Iraq VoC programme)

Algeria

An authorized certification and inspection body in the country of export, such as TÜV Rheinland

Saudi Arabia (SABER online platform, regulated products)

A conformity assessment body (SABER, shipment certificate guide)

For Nigeria, eight IAFs run the SONCAP offshore process, among them Africa Standards and Certifications, Alberk QA Technic and Bureau Veritas. You are free to pick any IAF laboratory, or an approved accreditation agent's laboratory, to test your samples.

For Kenya, the Bureau can also recognize your own country's national standards body as an inspection body for pre-shipment checks.

On SABER, each shipment request goes automatically to the same body that issued your CoC, so the body you start with stays your contact for that product.

Which countries require a certificate of conformity?

Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Central Iraq, Algeria and Saudi Arabia require a CoC, or a certificate doing the same job, for imported goods. The requirement often depends on the product or the payment method.

Country

What is required

For which goods

Nigeria

SONCAP Certificate, or a Non-Conformity Report (NCR) for failing goods

SONCAP products, verified and tested in the exporting country

Kenya

Certificate of conformity, or destination inspection without one

Products under Legal Notice 78 of 2020, which applies to all imports

Uganda

pVoC (pre-shipment verification of conformity) certificate

Imported goods since 9 June 2010

Central Iraq

CoC at the end of the VoC program

Exported goods since 15 January 2022

Algeria

Certificat de Contrôle Qualité (CoC)

All goods in imports paid by letter of credit (L/C, payment guaranteed through a bank) or cash against documents (CAD, payment in exchange for the shipping documents)

Saudi Arabia

Valid CoC on SABER

Regulated products; non-regulated ones need a self-declaration

Is your shipment in scope?

In Algeria, the payment method decides. If your buyer pays by L/C or CAD, every good in that import needs a CoC.

In Saudi Arabia, the question is whether your product is regulated. SABER is the electronic platform where the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization handles product registration, certificates of conformity and shipment certificates (SABER, Saudi product safety platform). A shipment certificate request lists a valid CoC for a regulated product and a self-declaration for a non-regulated one.

Say you are sending a small, low-value lot to Central Iraq. The program has no minimum value threshold, so that lot is covered too. Goods for an Iraqi ministry or affiliated body under the ministry's own specifications are exempt.

In Nigeria, your buyer needs both a Product Certificate and a SONCAP Certificate for a regulated product. The type of certificate also decides how often you deal with it. The unregistered Product Certificate 1 is single-use and valid for six months. Registered (Product Certificate 2) and licensed (Product Certificate 3) certificates last one year. Your importer needs one of these three Product Certificates to open Form M, the form your importer files to bring goods into Nigeria. The SONCAP Certificate required at customs is specific to each shipment, so the process repeats for every import.

Uganda's rules come from a 2014 Bureau Veritas guide, so have the inspection company confirm them before you ship.

If your destination is not in the table, do not assume that no CoC is needed. Ask your buyer, or the importing country's customs or standards body, whether a conformity verification program covers your product. If one does, find the inspection body authorized to run it and confirm the requirements before you ship.

How do you get a certificate of conformity?

Apply to the inspection body authorized under the destination's program and have the goods verified before shipment. The sample programs run in this order.

  1. Application. In Uganda, you submit the list of goods, a pro forma invoice, any test reports or third-party certificates, and where and when the goods will be ready, on a Request for Certificate (RFC) form. In Iraq, the exporter or importer applies with the final invoice, packing list and any transport document such as a bill of lading. For Algeria, TÜV Rheinland asks for a signed application form, the letter of credit and a pro forma or final invoice.

  2. Document review and testing. Say you are shipping to Iraq without a conformity document it accepts. The product then goes to full testing against Iraqi standards in an accredited laboratory that belongs to ILAC, the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation.

  3. Pre-shipment inspection. In Uganda, the inspector checks in the export region, before loading, that the goods match the documents and meet the standard, and takes samples in case of doubt. Nigeria's SONCAP adds accredited lab testing, a production audit and a document check.

  4. Issue. In Uganda, the inspection report is compared with the documents, and a satisfactory result leads to the CoC.

Fees depend on the product and the country, so ask the inspection body for a quote before you apply. For Nigeria, Kenya, Algeria and Saudi Arabia, our country pages linked in the table above explain each program and how we support applications from Türkiye.

Before you apply, check the program's own list to confirm that your product is covered. For Iraq, see the "VOC Iraq – Products list" on Bureau Veritas's Verigates site. In Uganda, the mandatory pVoC product groups are toys, electrical and electronics, automotive, chemical products, mechanical material and gas appliances, textile, leather, plastic and rubber, and food. For Nigeria, check SON's SONCAP exemption list. In Algeria, the payment method sets the scope rather than the product. If you cannot find your product on the list, describe it to the program's authorized inspection body in writing and ask.

What happens if goods arrive at customs without a CoC?

Without a CoC, goods can still enter some countries after a fee and destination inspection, while others allow no destination inspection at all.

Destination

What happens to goods without a CoC

Kenya

Held at the port of entry or an approved warehouse for destination inspection, with a fee of five per cent of the approved customs value

Nigeria

The SONCAP certificate cannot be obtained once goods have left the country of origin, and a SONCAP Default of 20% of the CIF value (cost, insurance and freight) or 2 million Naira, whichever is higher, applies

Iraq

No destination inspection. The border check authenticates the CoC, matches it against the import documents and goods, and confirms the container is undamaged and unaltered

In Kenya, a warehoused shipment also needs a security bond of five per cent of the customs value in favour of the Kenya Bureau of Standards. Goods that fail Kenyan standards are re-exported or destroyed at the importer's expense, and the Bureau can reinspect even certified goods at the port.

For Nigeria, complete the certificate before the goods leave the country of origin. For Iraq, Bureau Veritas advises checking with it before shipment if you are unsure whether a CoC will be issued.

How a CoC differs from a certificate of origin and an EU declaration of conformity

Each document answers a different question. A certificate of origin shows where goods come from, an EU declaration of conformity (DoC) that a product meets EU rules, and an import CoC that the goods passed a conformity check.

Document

What it shows, who issues it

Where it is used

Certificate of origin

Non-preferential origin, so no reduced tariff (Turkish Ministry of Trade, origin FAQ)

Under Turkish rules, issued when the importing country asks for it

EU declaration of conformity (DoC)

Compliance with all EU requirements; signed by the manufacturer or authorized representative (Your Europe, signing an EU declaration of conformity)

Shown to market surveillance authorities on request

Vehicle CoC

The vehicle meets safety and environmental standards; issued by the manufacturer (Your Europe, car registration documents)

Registering a car in the EU

Import CoC (e.g. Uganda's pVoC)

A passed pre-shipment verification; issued by an authorized inspection body

Customs clearance

Signing a DoC makes you fully responsible for compliance. You sign it after conformity assessment and the technical file, and for some products, such as radio equipment, it must travel with the product.

Checklist before you ship

When your buyer asks for a CoC, work through these steps before shipment.

  1. Identify the program, such as SONCAP in Nigeria, PVoC/pVoC in Kenya and Uganda, VoC in Central Iraq or SABER in Saudi Arabia.

  2. Check scope. In Algeria the payment method decides.

  3. Find the authorized body and prepare the pro forma invoice, list of goods and any test report.

  4. Book the inspection before loading. A shipment without a CoC is costly to fix in Kenya and Nigeria, and Iraq has no destination inspection.

  5. Raise open points with your buyer and the inspection body before shipment.

Contact us with your product and destination.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Import rules change, so confirm current requirements with the issuing body before you ship.

Last reviewed: 02.11.2026