1 
 Legal Inspection Requirements for Headphones 
 
By the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection (BSMI), Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA.) 
 
Introduction: 
 Nowadays, headphones are widely used. The excessive use of smartphones and audio devices with 
headphones may cause hearing loss of consumers. In order to enhance consumer protection, the BSMI intends 
to regulate the inspection requirements for headphones. Two alternative conformity assessment procedures are 
made available for the choice of applicants, i.e. Registration of Product Certification (RPC) or Type-Approved 
Batch Inspection (TABI). 
  
Date of implementation:  1 January 2024 
 
Scope of covered products: 
Description of Goods  Inspection Standards C.C.C. Code (the first 
6 digits are the same as 
HS Code)(Reference)  Conformity 
Assessment 
Procedures 
Headphones (inspection 
scope: those with power 
input, exclusive of those 
medical devices or 
telecommunications terminal 
equipment)  1、CNS 15936:2016  
2、CNS 15598-1:2020 
3、CNS 15663:2013 Section 5“Marking of 
Presence” 8518.30.10.00.1 
8518.30.20.00.9 
8518.30.32.00.5 
8518.30.39.00.8 RPC Scheme 
(Modules II+III)  
or 
TABI Scheme  
 
Description of the two kinds of conformity assessment procedures 
 
1. Registration of Product Certification (RPC) Scheme: Modules II+III 
Under the II+III combination of modules used in this scheme, domestic manufacturers or importers 
must have their products type-tested in advance (Module II) by the BSMI or BSMI-designated testing 
laboratories before applying for registration of their products. Manufacturers or importers will also be 
required to ensure by declaration (Module III, conformity-to-type declaration) that all products made at 
their manufacturing facilities or imported are in conformity with the prototypes submitted for type-test at 
Module II stage. The conformity-to-type declaration shall be submitted by the manufacturer or the importer, 
declaring that the mass-produced products comply with the prototype as in the type-test report. 
 
2. Type-Approved Batch Inspection (TABI) Scheme 
Under this procedure, manufacturers or importers shall have their products type-tested by the BSMI or 
BSMI-designated testing laboratories, and file an application for Type Approval to the BSMI or its 
branches. 
After manufacturers or importers obtain a Type Approval certificate, they are required to file an 
application for batch inspection to the BSMI each time before their products are released from the 
production premises or arrive at the port of entry. The BSMI will then review the application and the 
related documents while additional samples may be required for further testing if it is deemed necessary.  
After the products have passed the inspection, they will be allowed to use the Commodity Inspection 
Mark with the letter ‘T’ and the identification number given by the BSMI. The application fee for the Type 
Approval is NT$3,500, and a Type Approval certificate is valid for three years. The fees for type testing 
vary by products and depend on the fee policies of the testing laboratories. 
*Further information on the two schemes can also be found on the BSMI website: 
https://www.bsmi.gov.tw/wSite/lp?ctNode=9768&CtUnit=4132&BaseDSD=7&mp=2  
 
Locations to apply for Registration of Product Certification: 
The BSMI or its branches. 
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 Time required for Registration of Product Certification: 
14 working days. (This period does not include the time for corrective actions by the applicant due to 
deficiencies in the documents or samples. Extra seven working days may be required if additional tests are 
required.) 
 
Related requirements: 
1. The listed commodities will be inspected for import and domestic products since 1 January 2024. The 
import regulation codes is C02. From the announcement date, the BSMI can accept applications for Type 
Approval or Registration of Product Certification for listed commodities. 
2. Those who apply for a certificate to the BSMI from the date of announcement shall provide the type test 
report that meets the inspection standards, the location of the restricted substance content label, the 
sample (such as Table 1 and Table 2), and the restricted substance content labeling statement. The 
certificate shall be issued after the examination by the BSMI. The validity period of the certificate shall be 
three years from the date of issuance (if the date of issuance is before 31 December 2023, it shall be 
counted from 1 January 2024). 
3. Those commodities using AC power source , rechargeable lithium batteries or affixed power altering 
devices shall be conformed to safety testing requirements (CNS 15598-1). 
4. For the listed products use button-type batteries to provide power, they shall comply with the relevant 
provisions of the CNS 15598-1 standard for button-type batteries. 
5. For the requirement of Section 5 “Marking of presence” of CNS 15663, the certificate holders of the 
commodities shall clearly mark the presence condition of the restricted substances on the body, packages, 
stickers, or the instruction books of the commodities. Those who utilize website as a means to announce 
the presence condition of the restricted substances of the commodities shall clearly mark the website 
address on the body, packages, stickers, or the instruction books of the commodities, instead. 
6. The Commodity Inspection Mark: 
(1) The Commodity Inspection Mark shall be printed by the certificate holders. The identification number of 
the Commodity Inspection Mark consists of “Letter (R or T),” “Designated Code (5 digits)” and the 
presence conditions of the restricted substance (e.g., RoHS or RoHS (XX,XX)). 
(2) The identification number shall be placed below or to the right of the graphic symbol and the presence 
conditions of the restricted substance shall be indicated in the second row.  
(3) The size of the Mark can be applied proportionally on a prominent location of the commodities. The 
Mark shall use materials that are not easily altered, and the content shall be in a clearly identifiable and 
indelible form affixed permanently to the commodity. 
(4) For RPC scheme, the examples of the Commodity Inspection Mark are listed below: 
 
 
 
 
 
(5) For TABI scheme, the examples of the Commodity Inspection Mark are listed below: 
 
 
 
(6) “RoHS” indicates the content of restricted substance(s), other than exemptions stated in CNS 15663, 
does not exceed the reference percentage value of presence condition. 
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 “RoHS (XX,XX)” indicates the content of restricted substance(s) (element XX, element XX, …), other 
than exemptions stated in CNS 15663, exceeds the reference percentage value of presence condition. 
The restricted substances: indicates Pb, Cd, Hg, Cr+6, PBB, and PBDE. 
Example:  
 RoHS (Pb): indicates that the Pb percentage content in certain parts of the commodity exceeds the 
reference percentage value of presence condition. 
 RoHS (Cd, Cr+6, PBB): indicates that the Cd, Cr+6, and PBB percentage content in certain parts of the 
commodity exceed the reference percentage value of presence condition respectively. 
7. The C.C.C. Code listed in the table are used for reference only. The commodity shall still comply with the 
requirements before entering into the market, even though its C.C.C. Code is identified differently by the 
Customs Administration, Ministry of Finance or Bureau of Foreign Trade, Ministry of Economic Affairs. 
8. The inspection standards of the commodities listed in the table shall be the version published in this 
announcement. If any updated version is available, the BSMI shall publish the implementation date of the 
updated version in further announcements. 
9. Commodities with combined features or multifunctional products shall comply with the respective 
inspection standards. 
10. The medical equipment listed in the table indicates the medical equipment regulated under the 
Pharmaceutical Affairs Act. 
11. The telecommunications terminal equipment mentioned in the table is the telecommunications terminal 
equipment regulated under in the Telecommunications Act. 
12. The listed commodities that have obtained the vehicle safety testing report issued by the certification 
institutions authorized by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications are not within the scope of 
the inspection items required by the BSMI. 4 
 Table 1. Example of markings for the presence conditions of the restricted substances exceeds the reference 
percentage value of presence conditions 
Equipment name: Headphones, Model ：XXX(*) 
Unit Restricted substances and its chemical symbols 
Lead 
 
(Pb) Mercury 
 
(Hg) Cadmium 
 
(Cd) Hexavalent 
Chromium 
(Cr+6) Polybrominated 
Biphenyls 
(PBB) Polybrominated 
Diphenyl Ethers  
(PBDE) 
Circuit board  Exceeding 
0.1 wt % ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ 
speaker ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ 
Power 
switch ˇ Exceeding  
0.1 wt % ○ ○ ○ ○ 
Power cord ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ 
Shell ○ ○ Exceeding  
0.01 wt % ○ ○ Exceeding  
0.1 wt % 
Note 1:  “Exceeding 0.1 wt %” and “exceeding 0.01 wt %” indicate that the percentage content of the 
restricted substance exceeds the reference percentage value of presence condition. 
Note 2:  “○” indicates that the percentage content of the restricted substance does not exceed the 
percentage of reference value of presence. 
Note 3:  The “−” indicates that the restricted substance corresponds to the exemption. 
Table 2 Example of markings for the content of the restricted substances other than exemption do not exceed the 
reference percentage value of presence condition 
Equipment name: Headphones, Model ：YYY(*) 
Unit Restricted substances and its chemical symbols 
Lead 
 
(Pb) Mercury 
 
(Hg) Cadmium 
 
(Cd) Hexavalent 
chromium 
(Cr+6) Polybrominate
d biphenyls 
(PBB) Polybrominated 
diphenyl ethers  
(PBDE) 
Electric board  ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ 
speaker ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ 
Power switch  − ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ 
Power cable ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ 
Shell ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ 
Note 1:  “○” indicates that the percentage content of the restricted substance does not exceed the 
percentage of reference value of presence. 
Note 2:  The “−” indicates that the restricted substance corresponds to the exemption. 
(*) The “name and model” row can be omitted if the position of “the markings for the presence conditions” shows clearly to 
specify the corresponding commodity. Multiple models could be shown together in the same field if “the markings for the 
presence conditions” can be applied to contemporarily.