Official implementation of first mandatory national standards on textile products for infants and children

By Zhao Zihan

First mandatory national standards on textile products （childrens wear） for infants and children， Safety Technical Code for Infants and Children Textile Products： GB 31701-2015， jointly released by the Chinese General Administration of Quality Supervision， Inspection and Quarantine （AQSIQ） and the Standardization Administration of the Peoples Republic of China（SAC） on May 26th， 2015， has taken into effect since June 1st， 2016 in China. To ensure a smooth transition of the market， the standard sets a two-year implementation transition period - from June 1st， 2016 to May 31st， 2018. During the transition period， products produced before June 1st， 2016 and meet the relevant standards are allowed to be sold in the market.

The objective of this standard is to standardize the safety performance on childrens wear which helps to guide the manufacturers to improve the safety and quality standard on childrens clothing， and ensures infants and childrens health and safety.

Product classification：

Textile products for infants： Textile products that are worn or used by infants at and below 36 months of age. The products generally suitable for children with the body height of 100cm or less can be deemed as textile products for infants textiles.

Textile products for children： Textile products that are worn or used by children of 3 years to 14 years of age. Generally， textiles worn or used by girls with the body height between 100cm and 155cm or boys with the body height between 100cm and 160cm can be regarded as the textile products for children. Additionally， textile products worn by children with the body height of 130cm or less can be regarded as the textile products for children under 7 years of age.

Textile products with direct contact to skin： Textile products with large areas in direct contact with human skin when worn or used.

Textile products without direct contact to skin： Textile products with little or no area in direct contact with human skin when worn or used.

Classification of safety categories：

Safety categories are divided into class A， B and C according to different requirements. Class A is the highest requirement， followed by Class B and Class C which are the basic requirement.

Textile products for infants should meet Class A requirements； Textile products for children with direct skin contact should comply with Class B requirements； Textile products for children with non-direct skin contact should meet Class C requirements at least.

Safety categories should be indicated in the instructions on Childrens wear. Textile products for infant should be marked as “infant product” as well.

Consumers can refer to the safety category marked on the instructions during purchasing.

Enhancement on safety requirements：

On top of GB18401， this standard further enhances the safety requirements on textile products for the infants and children.

Chemical safety： Added requirements on 6 plasticizers and 2 heavy metals （lead and cad- mium）.

Mechanical safety： Detailed requirements on rope on childrens head and neck， shoulders， waist and so on. For infants and childrens （under 7 years old） clothing， the presence of rope on head and neck is not allowed.

Textile accessories： Should have a certain tensile strength with no sharp points and edges.

Added requirements on flame retardants.

All of the technical content in this standard is compulsory. This standard covers technical requirements for fabric， filling materials and attached components for infants and childrens textile products. The publication of this standard will help to improve market supervision， protect infants， children and environmental safety. Products imported into the Chinese market which do not comply with the requirements of this standard are prohibited from sale. Therefore， the enforcement of this mandatory standard has posed a new challenge and opportunity for foreign brands selling products in China.

This standard specifies the technical terms and definitions， quality requirements and inspection rules for infants and childrens textile products. This standard is applicable to textile products that are worn or used for infants less than 36 months and children 3 years to 14 years. This standard is not applicable to cloth art， plush toys， cloth craft products， disposable hygiene products， suitcases， handbags and knapsacks， umbrellas， carpets and professional sportswear， etc.

This standard specifies restricted substances（Lead， Cadmium and Phthalates）， colour fastness to wet rubbing and flammability requirements， physical and chemical requirements for filling materials， and attached component properties（the size and sharp edge of accessories， cords and drawstrings attributes）.

General requirement

Safety technical requirements for infants and childrens textile products are divided into Category A， B and C. Infant textiles shall comply with Category A. Textile products with direct skin contact for children shall at least comply with the requirements of Category B. Textile products without direct skin contact for children shall at least comply with requirements of Category C.

The instructions for use of textile products for infants shall indicate the code of this standard and “products for infants use”.

The instructions for use of textile products for children shall indicate the code of this standard and the safety category （for example， Category A of GB 31701， Category B of GB 31701 or Category C of GB 31701）.

Infant and childrens textile products also shall comply with GB 18401. End products also shall comply with the requirements outlined in the following “TECHNICAL REQUIREMENT” and “OTHER REQUIREMENT” sections of this document.

In addition to these two mandatory safety technical codes （GB 31701 and GB 18401）， the products also shall comply with the corresponding product standard requirements.

The safety technical category for infant and children products labelled should be based on GB 31701. Products must meet the mandatory requirements of both GB 31701 and GB 18401TECHNICAL REQUIREMENT

Requirements for fabric

Textile fabrics shall comply with safety technical requirements for GB 31701 as outlined in Table 1.

Requirements for filling materials

Fiber， down and feather fillings used for infants and childrens shall comply with the safety technical requirements in GB 18401. Down and feather fillings shall comply with the microbiological requirements in GB/T 17685. Other filling materials shall comply with the safety technical requirements in relevant national legislation and mandatory standards.

Requirements for attached components

Attached components （accessories） of infant and childrens textile products shall be free of sharp points or edges. Accessories ≤ 3 mm in size on infants textiles are inappropriate. The attachment strength of all accessories which can be grabbed or bit by infants shall comply with the criteria in Table 2.

Cords and drawstrings on infant and childrens garments shall comply with the requirements in Table 3. Non-textile accessories shall comply with relevant national legislation and standards.

Other Requirements

Infants and children textile products and its packaging shall be free of needles and other sharp objects.

Permanent labels sewn onto infants garments should be placed without direct contact to skin.

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