From RoHS to Melting Country: The 6 Key Compliance Documents for Hardware Parts—All in One Guide

In machining and hardware part supply chains, many people share the same feeling:

There seem to be more and more documents—yet customers usually care about only one or two each time.

The real point isn’t whether you have every document.

It’s whether you can identify which stage of risk the customer is focusing on right now.

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1. What Are the 6 Most Common Compliance Documents for Hardware Parts?

In practice, the documents that appear most often—and cause the most confusion—are these six:

• RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances)

• REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals)

• PFAS Free (Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances Free)

• EN 10204 3.1 (Material Certificate / Inspection Certificate)

• Certificate of Origin (CO)

• Melting Country / Country of Melt (Country of Melt and Pour)

In the following sections, we will mainly use abbreviations or Chinese terms for simplicity.

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2. Level 1 Gate: What Do RoHS, REACH, and PFAS Free Control?

This group of requirements is about one thing:

“Can this part enter the target market?”

They don’t care how you machine it or where you manufacture it.They focus on one key point—whether prohibited chemicals are present.

• RoHS: Restricts specific hazardous substances; most common in electronics and 3C supply chains

• REACH: Focuses on SVHC (Substances of Very High Concern); can apply to almost all products

• PFAS Free: Confirms that PFAS chemicals are not intentionally added and/or not detectable; often driven by EU/US brands and ESG requirements

In practice, this is usually the first checkpoint customers ask about.If you can’t pass Level 1, they typically won’t move on to materials or origin topics.

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3. Level 2 Confirmation: What Does EN 10204 3.1 Ensure?

When customers start caring not only “Can it be used?” but also“Is it really the material you claim it is?”, you enter Level 2.

EN 10204 3.1 focuses on:

• Whether the material grade is correct

• Whether test data is from the actual production batch

• Whether the material is traceable

This level is common for equipment, machinery, structural parts, or critical components.It’s not just a document—it’s a way to confirm material credibility.

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4. Level 3 Determination: What Problem Does a Certificate of Origin (CO) Solve?

A Certificate of Origin (CO) addresses this question:

“Which country is this product considered to be made in?”

Its core logic is substantial transformation—whether the product has undergone enough processing in a country to be recognized as the main manufacturing activity there.

In practice, a CO is most often used for:

• Applying preferential tariffs under FTA

• General import/export customs clearance

• Supporting trade policies and regulatory controls

But because CO focuses on the result of processing, it doesn’t necessarily answer:“Where did the raw material originally come from?”

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5. Level 4 Risk: Why Are Customers Now Asking About Melting Country?

In recent years, more and more cases show that:

A valid CO does not always mean the tariff risk is safe.

Melting Country refers to the country where the metal raw material was first melted and poured/cast.Once determined, it typically does not change with downstream processing.

For steel, aluminum, fasteners, and metal parts: even if a product is processed in a country and obtains that country’s CO, if the raw material’s melting country is linked to high-risk or monitored sources, the shipment may still face audits, document requests, or additional tariffs.

That’s why many customers now request both:

CO + melting country-related documentation

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6. Practical Mapping: In Different Scenarios, Which Document Is the Customer Actually Asking For?

Different situations correspond to different compliance documents.

Customer Scenario / Use Case	What the Customer Actually Cares About	What It Controls
Electronics parts exported to the EU	RoHS / REACH	Whether restricted hazardous chemicals are present
Brand customers / ESG requirements	PFAS Free	Whether PFAS chemicals are absent
Equipment, machinery, critical components	EN 10204 3.1	Material correctness and traceability
General customs clearance / FTA application	Certificate of Origin (CO)	Whether it meets tariff and trade rules
Steel fasteners exported to the U.S.	CO + Melting Country proof	Whether raw material origin involves tariff risk

The key is not “more documents are better.”

It’s using the right document for the right situation.

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7. A Common Misunderstanding: It’s Not About Having More Documents—It’s About Getting the Order Right

Many roadblocks aren’t caused by missing documents, but by mismatching the document to the level of concern.

Common examples:

• Providing CO first, when the customer is actually asking about material

• Preparing MTR/3.1 properly, but overlooking environmental compliance

• Having everything, but failing to prove upstream traceability

The real difficulty in compliance isn’t quantity.It’s knowing which level to focus on right now.

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8. Why Choose Sheng Fong Precision?

In real operations, the issue is often not “Do you have documents?” but:

“For this order, what is the customer actually asking for?”

Sheng Fong Precision can help you:

• Identify which compliance document the customer truly needs

• Align materials, specifications, and documentation requirements

• Reduce re-submission, delays, and tariff risk

• Provide hardware parts and substitution solutions that meet international needs

• Offer local inventory with same-day shipping

📩 LINE: @s9000

Feel free to reach out—we’ll help you align the compliance documents correctly, all at once.

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