Guides / Compliance

E0, E1 and CARB P2: Which Class Your Market Needs

September 21, 2026

Emission class is the compliance line buyers most often copy from an old order without checking whether it means anything in the destination market. The classes are not a single ladder. They belong to different systems that do not accept each other’s paperwork.

The two families

European classes grade a panel by measured formaldehyde emission. E1 has been the working requirement for the EU market, E2 sits above it and is unusable in most applications, and E0 is a tighter level that buyers ask for when they want margin over E1. There is also a REACH restriction on formaldehyde emission from wood based articles, which applies as law rather than as a commercial class.

The US system is CARB Phase 2 in California and TSCA Title VI federally. Both set the same limits for the same product categories, and both require certification by a third party certifier recognised under the rule, panel labelling and record keeping.

Why an E0 certificate is refused in the US

Because the US rule is not about the number. It is about the system that produced the number: an accredited certifier, a defined test method, a schedule of quality control testing at the mill, the label on the panel and the records behind it.

A panel can emit less than the CARB limit and still be non compliant, because compliance is the chain of evidence, not the measurement alone. The detail of that chain is in CARB P2 and TSCA Title VI for Vietnam plywood.

What decides emission at the mill

Factor	Effect
Resin type	Phenolic bonded panels usually emit less than urea bonded ones
Resin formulation	Low mole ratio resins and scavengers reduce emission
Press conditions	Cure quality affects how much free formaldehyde is left
Panel thickness and ply count	More glue lines, more source material
Age and storage	Emission falls over time after pressing

This is why a mill can pass one batch and fail another with the same glue on paper. Certification schemes exist to catch that, which is the point of the quality control testing schedule.

Writing it into the order

Do not write “low formaldehyde” or “E0 or equivalent”. Write the destination requirement:

• For the US: “TSCA Title VI compliant, certified by a recognised third party certifier, panels labelled, certificate number and label photo supplied with the shipment”
• For the EU: the emission class your customer requires, plus the test report, plus confirmation that the product meets the applicable REACH restriction
• For Japan: the JAS formaldehyde class, usually written as F four star
• For Korea: the class agreed in the contract against the relevant KS standard

The market by market picture is in JAS, KS and BIS.

The two mistakes that cost containers

1. Assuming one certificate travels. A panel certified for one market is not certified for another. If you sell into two markets, decide before production which rule the batch is made to
2. Assuming the whole factory is covered. Certification covers a product line. Ask which line your order runs on and whether the certificate covers it

Both are checks that take one email at enquiry stage and cannot be fixed once the container is at sea.

The EU limit that applies after 6 August 2026 and the US rule side by side are in our guide to plywood import requirements.

See also: E0, E1, E2 and F4-star emission classes for the limit, unit and method behind each class.

Frequently asked questions

Keep reading

• Formaldehyde Tests for Plywood: Chamber vs Desiccator
• Fire Retardant Plywood: Grades, Test Methods and Honest Claims