Safety standards restrict the export of China’s textiles

Posted by Yuka as World

Recent frequent foodstuff safety accidents gradually expand to other industries, it is reported by journalists that the textile safety testing of export of China’s textile garments becomes a hot issue in the industry.

European market restricted by “Safety Standards”

Currently, the enterprises engaged in textile garment export strictly the product quality, however little attention is paid to the product safety and environment protection. Especially, since the outbreak of subprime lending crisis, the demands in American markets fall, the support of EU on China’s export of textile garments becomes more and more obvious, meanwhile, that EU attaches great importance to the testing of ecological environment protection will bring non-negligible affects on China’s export of textiles.
Besides Oeko-Tex Standard100 of international textile ecological label with the widest use and the highest authority has been used in Western Europe, Northern Europe, Japan and USA, except the restriction on over 100 harmful substances such as azo and free formaldehyde in imported garments, the EU Reach (Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals, Registration, evaluation, permit and limit of Chemical products), which began to be executed in Jun 1, 2007, attracts high attention of domestic textile industry. Restriction on the Marketing and Use of perfluorooctane sulfonates (PFOS) efficient on Jun 27, 2008 regulates that the contents of PFOS in products sold in EU market shall not exceed 0.005% of total quality.

Besides, garment labels become technological trade restriction of China’s export of textile garments to EU and USA, data show, within the garments exported to USA, 25% of unqualified products are just unqualified in labels but not quality.

Domestic safety standards urgent to be strengthened

With the development of export trade, China’s textiles attach more importance to the safety of textile garments, however analyzed from current testing results, the situation is not optimistic. In 2007, 1436 batches of exported textile garment fabrics, knitted sweaters, down filling are sampled in Changshu City, of which, 106 batches relate to pH value, formaldehyde, color fastness and component identification or other safety, health and environment protection standards, which occupy 85.5% of unqualified batches. In the first half year, the unqualified labels in exported textiles in Dongguan occupy 71% of unqualified batches.
In order to perfect China’s textile safety control system, China has released some measures. In February of this year, national standard–Determination of the Pesticide Residues in Textiles has been released so as to provide basis for the testing of ecological textiles, however, judged from current effects, the degrees of rules are far to reach.

Sep 28, 2008, International Finance News