The board inside an off-road caravan is a regulated article in more than one market, and the party that has to prove it complies is normally the importer, not the factory. Cabinet doors, bed bases, tables, wardrobes and wall panels are wood-based articles or furniture, which makes a material question a market-access question.

What changed in the EU on 6 August 2026

Regulation (EU) 2023/1464 added entry 77 to Annex XVII of REACH. Since 6 August 2026, furniture and articles made from wood-based materials may not be placed on the EU market if formaldehyde released from them exceeds 0.062 mg/m³ under the chamber test conditions in Annex 14, with 0.080 mg/m³ for other articles. A separate limit covers road vehicle interiors from 6 August 2027.

The duty sits with whoever places the article on the market, importers and distributors included, so the interior fit-out becomes part of your evidence file rather than the board mill's. Two exemptions are worth reading closely: panels used exclusively outdoors, and second-hand goods. A caravan interior is neither, so plan on testing to the Annex 14 chamber method, or an accepted equivalent such as EN 717-1 or ISO 12460-1.

In the United States the obligation is already record-based

TSCA Title VI and 40 CFR part 770 regulate formaldehyde emissions from hardwood plywood, MDF and particleboard, and from finished goods containing them. The exemption list names new vehicles "other than recreational vehicles", so an RV or caravan interior is not carved out on that ground. Importer duties are procedural: buy only compliant board, keep invoices or bills of lading carrying a written supplier statement, leave finished-good labels intact, and file the TSCA Section 13 import certification. Finished goods need a label naming the fabricator, the month and year of production and the compliance statement; the de minimis exception covers parts holding under 144 square inches of regulated board.

What to settle in the order

• Name the board, per component. Wardrobes, bed bases, tables and cabinetry each specify their own sheet, supplier and resin system.
• Ask for the test report with the board, not with the brochure — laboratory, method, board grade, production date.
• Fix the label and where it goes before production, not at the inspection.
• Split the records in writing. Who holds supplier statements, who files the import certification, how long each side keeps them.
• Add a change-notification clause. A board swap mid-order invalidates the report behind your file.

Where the cost sits, and who asks for it later

Testing is a project cost with its own lead time, and it is cheapest when it is grouped: one board family across several models gives you one report rather than one per model, which is how importers building a range of off-road caravans from China usually budget it. Confirm first whether your market has a limit at all — the EU has a hard one now, the United States runs on certification and records, and several other markets still rely on buyer specifications and green building schemes.

The same file answers later questions: a distributor, retailer or hire fleet will ask what is inside the wall before the model joins their range. Interior fit-out is built per model, and the hard-top layouts in a range do not share identical cabinetry, so the board list belongs beside the model you are ordering rather than in a general folder.

Name the market you are selling into and we will list the material documents that market expects before the first container is booked. Ask for that list on WhatsApp: +86 186 6381 3961, or write to [email protected] with the board specification you have been quoted; the published models sit at www.lgloader.com.

【 Go Back 】 | 【 Print 】