In January the administrations for industry and commerce and bureau of quality and technical supervision issued the results of apparel, home textile, bag, footwear quality supervision. This spot check was conducted according to GB 18401-2010 ‘National general safety technical code for textile products’ , GB 5296.4-2012 ‘Instruction for use of products of consumer interest-Part 4: Textile and apparel’ , GB20400-2006 ‘Leather and fur-limit of harmful matter’, and GB/T 29862-2013 ‘Textiles. Identification of fiber content’, nominal product standards, local standards .
The results are summarised below:
| Product category | Supervision and inspection organization | Total batches | Problem batches | Problem |
| Knitted cotton underwear | Wenzhou Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision | 10 | 4 | Labeling, fibre content |
| Garment with wool & cashmere | Gansu Administration for industry & commerce | — | 38 | Labeling, fibre content, pilling, colour fastness, peeling strength of adhesive interlining, pH value |
| wool & cashmere products | Guangzhou Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision | 103 | 24 | Fibre content, labeling, colour fastness |
| Jeanswear | Gansu Administration for industry & commerce | — | 26 | Labeling, fibre content, colour fastness, pH value, seam strength |
| Adult’s garments | Chengdu Administration for industry & commerce | — | 3 | Labeling, fibre content |
| Down & feather garments | Jiangsu Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision | 102 | 14 | Down content, down weight, penetration resistance to feather, fibre content, seam slippage, labeling |
| Down & feather garments | Guangzhou Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision | 41 | 13 | Labeling, fibre content, down weight, down content, down cleanliness |
| Apparel | Shanghai Administration for industry & commerce | 50 | 22 | Fibre content, color fastness, labeling |
| Apparel | Guangzhou Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision | 18 | 5 | Labeling, fibre content, colour fastness, formaldehyde |
| Water resistant garment | Jiangsu Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision | 75 | 1 | Fibre content |
| Bedding | Gansu Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision | 50 | 1 | Colour fastness |
| Bedding | Shanxi Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision | 28 | 0 | — |
| Adult’s shoes | Beijing Administration for industry & commerce | — | 35 | Flex resistance, appearance, length of shank, labeling, hardness of shank, longitudinal stiffness of shank, colour fastness, hardness of hook, shank flexural performance, formaldehyde |
| Rubber shoes | Wenzhou Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision | 20 | 10 | Labeling, outsole thickness, colour fastness, formaldehyde, azo dye |
| Footwear | Shanghai Administration for industry & commerce | 50 | 29 | Peeling strength, flex resistance, labeling of shank, appearance, length of shank, hardness of shank, shank flexural performance, labeling |
| Footwear | Guangzhou Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision | 58 | 9 | Flex resistance, colour fastness |
| Handbag and knapsack | Zhejiang Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision | 17 | 0 | — |
| Bags | Shanghai Administration for industry & commerce | 40 | 22 | Impact performance, seam strength, colour fastness, labeling |
| Leather products | Guangzhou Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision | 54 | 3 | Formaldehyde, azo dye, tensile strength of belt |
Suggestions from CTI
Apparel, footwear and bags which are sold in China, not only need to meet the requirements of the mandatory safety technical code, they also need meet the quality requirements of product standards. Enterprises should understand how to choose the specific requirements of China’s national standards and industry standards. They must test before sale and make sure products meet all the requirements of the relevant standards.