{"id":3920,"date":"2026-08-23T19:51:34","date_gmt":"2026-08-23T19:51:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sanyangmedical.com\/free-sale-certificate-apostille-when-you-need-them\/"},"modified":"2026-08-25T21:21:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T21:21:34","slug":"free-sale-certificate-apostille-when-you-need-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sanyangmedical.com\/fr\/free-sale-certificate-apostille-when-you-need-them\/","title":{"rendered":"Certificat de libre vente et Apostille : quand vous en avez besoin"},"content":{"rendered":"

A free sale certificate is one of those documents that gets requested at the last minute, when the container is already booked and the customs broker is on the phone. It is a statement from the competent authority that a product is freely sold in the country of manufacture, and for medical devices it is often the piece that a distributor’s registration file needs before it can even start. The apostille is the layer that makes that document usable in a foreign market.<\/p>\n

What a free sale certificate actually certifies<\/h2>\n

A free sale certificate confirms that a device is lawfully on sale in the country of origin, not that it meets a particular foreign standard. That distinction matters. The certificate is evidence of market presence and regulatory standing, while compliance with the importing market’s own requirements is a separate question answered by a CE marking, a local registration, or a type test. For a supplier in China, the free sale certificate is issued by the responsible authority and is often accompanied by a notarized copy and an apostille so it can be presented abroad.<\/p>\n

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Compliance testing underpins the declaration that backs a free sale certificate.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When a free sale certificate is required<\/h2>\n

The request usually comes from the buyer’s regulator, from the customs broker, or from a tender file. Some markets ask for a free sale certificate as part of the registration of a new product, and others ask for it afresh at a later registration step. It is worth asking the buyer which authority will receive the document, because that decides whether a simple English issue is enough or whether a local-language and legalized version is required. Suppliers that sell into several country groups keep a standing export documentation pack for this reason.<\/p>\n

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A dielectric strength test is part of the safety evidence a market may want alongside the certificate.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Apostille: why the standard sheet is not enough<\/h2>\n

A certificate issued in one country is not automatically accepted in another. The apostille is a single certification added under the Hague Convention that makes a public document legally usable across participating countries, and it replaces the older chain of consular legalisation. Whether a market is a member of the convention decides whether you add an apostille or follow the older route. The HCCH status table for the Apostille Convention<\/a> is the reference for checking a country’s membership, and the UK government guidance on legalising documents<\/a> shows how the process plays out in practice.<\/p>\n

\"Engineer
An earth bond test is another part of the test evidence that a registration folder often asks for.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The documents a medical equipment export usually needs<\/h2>\n

In practice a medical equipment shipment is often accompanied by more than one document. The free sale certificate sits alongside the declaration of conformity, the quality system certificate, the invoice and packing list, and any test report a market expects. Grouping them so they are issued under one buyer name and one order number saves a lot of time at customs, because the clearing agent is then checking one consistent set instead of a pile of unrelated certificates. Our export team<\/a> can confirm the document list for a target market before you commit.<\/p>\n

One way to keep the process short is to ask the buyer for the exact document list and the exact wording the regulator wants before the order is confirmed. A free sale certificate that names the wrong product model, or that is issued in the buyer’s name when the buyer is a different company from the one on the order, will be rejected and reissued, and re-issuing a notarized document takes time. The same point applies to the apostille, which is added to a specific document and cannot be transferred to a newer version of it. Aligning the buyer name, the order number, and the certificate name at the start avoids a rework that costs far more than ten minutes of questions.<\/p>\n

Free sale and apostille video<\/h2>\n

The video below explains how apostilled documents work, and is a useful reference when a buyer asks for a copy of a certificate that a market will not accept as issued.<\/p>\n

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