The New Mandatory Standard GB18401 Locks Green Environment - Interview with Dr. Jiang Hong, Technical Director, Asia Pacific, SGS Global Textile Services

The new version of the "National Basic Safety Technical Specification for Textile Products" (GB18401-2010), which was originally scheduled for implementation on August 1 this year, has been postponed until August 1, 2012. The new standard pays more attention to the safety of textile products, and thus puts forward higher requirements for the production of textile enterprises. Health and environmental protection “organic clothing” has become the future trend.

The "National Basic Safety Technical Specification for Textile Products" is the first textile product safety technical specification formulated by the "Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement" (TBT Agreement) after China's accession to the WTO. Since its implementation on January 1, 2005, it has played an important role in effectively protecting the health of China's textile consumers, regulating the textile product market, and improving the overall level of China's textile industry.

Compared with the 2003 version of the standard, the new 2010 standard has the following major changes: the scope of application, in addition to retaining the original textile products for use and decoration, the addition of home textile products; the definition of infants and young children changed from within 24 months 36 months and below; Catalogue of textile products that does not fall within the scope of this standard has been increased from 10 to 13 categories. Newly-added disposable sanitary products, bags, bags, shoes, umbrellas, and carpets; new banned azo dyes "4-Aminoazobenzene", up to 24 species; increased color fastness, formaldehyde, pH, and sampling requirements for degradable carcinogenic aromatic amine dyes; direct contact with skin textile products from pH 4.0 to 7.5 4.0 to 8.5; Regarding the color fastness test, the color fastness to saliva is stipulated. Only textile products for infants and toddlers are examined. Hanging decorative products such as curtains are not evaluated for perspiration fastness, natural and bleached products, and tie-dye and batik. The hand-colored products do not assess the color fastness.

Due to the immature timing, the implementation of the new standard has been postponed for a year. Although the time has been delayed, the overall direction of the development of the textile industry has not changed, and textile companies have begun to prepare for the new standard. The dyes and auxiliaries used in the printing and dyeing process must be selected well, and the company's self-inspection capability must also be improved. The cost of adding testing equipment and purchasing dyes will inevitably bring about an increase in the cost of textile production. Coupled with the continuous increase in various costs such as labor and raw materials in recent years, the price of clothing in the future will likely continue to rise.

New standards focus on environmental protection Q: What kind of background has the new version of the National Basic Safety Technical Specification for Textile Products been introduced?

A: In recent years, the quality supervision and industry and commerce departments at all levels have gradually strengthened the supervision of the quality of textiles and garments in the fields of production and distribution, especially focusing on spot checks of infants' and children's clothing, underwear, and down garments that are of widespread concern to consumers and the society. Investigated and exposed a large number of apparel quality issues including well-known brands, which played a powerful role in promoting consumer rights and improving the quality of apparel products.

China's textile quality supervision is gradually improving and improving with the improvement of people's living standards and the development of textile technology. In the 1990s, in order to prevent fraud and safeguard the right to know of consumers, it timely issued mandatory standards on the use of textiles and clothing, which effectively solved the problem of disorderly and arbitrarily identified fibers.

In the new century, with the rise of the concept of green environmental protection in the world and the elimination of domestic consumers’ fears of so-called “toxic” clothing, the state issued a mandatory standard on the limitation of formaldehyde content in 2001. Subsequently, combined with the international requirements for environmental protection and safety and the actual conditions of China's textile and clothing production, the State has issued the most far-reaching national textile safety technology standards.

Q: What are the core soul points for the new security standards to convey to the market and the company? How can a brand company gain a deeper understanding of this soul point and be able to better implement it? Which companies will benefit from them and which ones are the most affected? Why?

A: The new (2010) safety standard is an enhanced version of the old version (2003). It covers a wider range of areas and controls more toxic and hazardous substances. The core spirit it wants to convey to markets and companies is green, healthy and sustainable development. For the company to have a long-term vision of development, we must link our own development with social progress and sustainable development. We must take product quality as our foundation and accelerate our transformation in order to gain more market share. For enterprises that focus only on immediate interests and do not attach importance to product quality, social responsibility and sustainable development, they will lose their competitiveness and eventually be eliminated.

Q: How does the country guide the market to adapt and obey new safety standards?

A: It is necessary to fully understand the current situation of the market and the enterprise, and give appropriate adjustment period. At the same time, third parties, media, channels, etc. are encouraged to promote new safety standards.

Q: How do the textile industries such as textile companies, dyeing and finishing companies, and dye production companies adapt to new safety standards in terms of technology, economy, and management?

A: Only by improving the quality and environmental awareness of all employees and integrating environmental protection and product safety awareness into the corporate culture, can the employees' quality consciousness be deeply rooted in the bone marrow. At the same time, they advocate clean production and strictly supervise various processing processes. Check, in order to calmly deal with the impact of new security standards on the market. In addition, companies should continue to learn new standards and regulations and strengthen cooperation and exchange with third-party quality inspection agencies.

Explaining the new standard Q: The new standard includes “4-aminoazobenzene” as a list of banned and decomposable carcinogenic aromatic amine dyes, making it possible to ban the use of 24 types of carcinogenic aromatic amines.

A: This will not affect the business. Because for 4-aminoazobenzene, European and American markets have always had relevant regulatory restrictions and have been implemented for quite some time. As a global manufacturer, Chinese production companies have mostly taken into consideration dye selection.

Q: "The scope of the PH value of direct contact with textile textile products is changed from 4.0 to 7.5 to 4.0 to 8.5" for what reason.

A: Textiles are products that have long-term contact with human skin. The pH of the aqueous extract is too large or too small, which can destroy the acid-base balance of the skin and cause the skin to be vulnerable to other pathogens. A consensus has been reached on pH as an indicator. . Taking into account China's water quality and energy conservation and environmental protection issues, the pH of Class B was revised from 4.0-7.5 to 4.0-8.5.

Q: The new standard “increases the color fastness, formaldehyde, pH, and sampling requirements for the decomposition of carcinogenic aromatic amine dyes”. How does this regulation affect the enterprise's technology, process, management, etc.? The biggest is how the company responds.

A: The test method in the original standard is a direct reference to the relevant test method standard, and the test method standard is generally expressed as "taking a representative sample", which is also in line with international standards. There are no specific sampling methods in most of ISO's textile chemical analysis method standards (such as formaldehyde and pH). In actual work, for some items, especially the detection of color fastness, formaldehyde, decomposable aromatic amine dyes, due to different sampling methods, it may lead to different test results, resulting in missed detection and misjudgment, so it is necessary to give samples. Description of the method.

Delay in implementation of new standards Q: Implementation of new safety standards has been delayed until next year. Why delay? What do you think is the difficulty of execution, or is it less than the opportunity? During the transition period, is it implemented according to the new standard or the old standard?

A: The implementation of mandatory standards must give the market a buffer period. Within this buffer period, the company needs to adjust its own production process and quality control system so that the product meets the requirements of the new standard. The state postponed the implementation of the new standard by considering that the production cycle of textiles and garments is long, the inventory is large, and the time to enter the circulation area until sold out is long. In order to reduce the adverse impact of the new standard on manufacturers, the state will extend the transition period. One year until August 1, 2012. During the transitional period, the implementation of new or old standards is permitted, but the quality of the products must meet the standard requirements of the version indicated on the label.

Q: SGS can help companies deal with new standards.

A: As a leader in the field of textile and garment testing, SGS gathers a group of technical experts who are familiar with the standards of textile and clothing at home and abroad. It can provide companies with comprehensive training to help companies understand the background, technical requirements, and detection of new standards. Methods and results assessment.