In recent years, the market standards of the European Union and the United States have improved, causing textile and clothing exports to encounter technical barriers and green barriers from time to time. For the Dongguan textile and apparel industry, it is better to take the initiative and show the sword than to passively encounter product recalls.
“The active sampling rate is low, which is a shortcoming of the industry.” Yao Weilin, president of the Dongguan Textile and Garment Industry Association, believes that the designation of authoritative third-party testing agencies to check Dongguan’s textile and apparel products is an effective way for the textile and apparel industry to break through European and American barriers. First try. On the same day, the Municipal Textile and Garment Industry Association officially cooperated with Zhongding Testing Technology Co., Ltd. and awarded the latter a license, identifying it as the only designated testing agency of the association.
The only testing agency designated for the first test
What the Municipal Textile and Garment Industry Association and industry enterprises value is that Zhongding Testing has been authoritatively recognized by many European and American certification agencies. Yao Weilin said that Zhongding Testing has been authoritatively recognized by major certification agencies and highly recognized by the government. It can provide mature technical support and can provide a strong promotion for the environmental protection development of the textile and garment industry.
According to the cooperation agreement between the two parties, the cooperation between the Municipal Textile and Garment Industry Association and Zhongding Testing will cover hundreds of clothing companies in the association. Specifically, the testing content includes physical testing of textile and clothing products, such as fiber composition, color fastness, etc.; chemical testing, such as formaldehyde content, azo, flame retardants, etc.
As we all know, Europe and the United States have always been the main markets for Dongguan’s textile and apparel exports, and it is precisely these markets that have the most stringent trade barriers. Dongguan’s clothing export data in 2014 shows that the EU, the United States, and Hong Kong accounted for 71.9% of total exports.
Yao Weilin believes that Dongguan has a large number of textile and garment companies, but due to various reasons over a long period of time, the sampling rate is not high. Therefore, it is particularly important for third-party testing agencies to check products. “Third-party testing agencies should give full play to their technical advantages and use complete solutions and professional technical capabilities to improve the environmental protection level of the textile industry.”
The person in charge of a noodle excipient manufacturing company in Qiaotou Town who participated in the licensing ceremony said bluntly that he had been worried about the selection of testing institutions and cost considerations, but in the future he will be able to enjoy more price benefits from Zhongding Testing. “Exported products will be proactively tested by authoritative testing agencies, which will provide an additional layer of insurance for exported products.”
At present, Zhongding Testing has established professional testing centers in Dongguan and Shenzhen, Yiwu in Zhejiang, Quanzhou and Jinjiang in Fujian, and Haiphong in Vietnam. It is the first private testing institution in Dongguan to set up overseas locations to provide products that meet product safety requirements. Physical, chemical and environmental safety testing services.
There are many barriers to textile and clothing exports to Europe and the United States
In the first quarter of this year, the exports of Dongguan private enterprises were concentrated in the two major industries of mechanical and electrical products and textiles. Among them, the export of mechanical and electrical products was US$1.57 billion, an increase of 81%, accounting for 72.4% of the total export value of private enterprises; the export of textiles (including clothing and textile yarn) was US$200 million, an increase of 0.9%, accounting for 9.2% of the total export value of private enterprises. .
Industry analysts believe that judging from the export data in the first quarter of this year, the growth rate of textile and apparel is in a relatively slow trend, which is affected by both environmental factors and trade barriers. The introduction of a third-party technical institution as the association’s only designated testing center is a bold attempt by the Textile and Apparel Association and will help break through the restrictions of barriers.
In fact, since 2008, European and American countries have improved their technical or green standards. Technical trade barriers to China’s textile and apparel industry have continued to increase, and requirements for clothing product safety, hygiene, environmental protection, and anti-fraud have increased. The more demanding.
For example, the latest regulations of the US CPSC make it clear that CPSC products that do not comply with safety regulations will be directly destroyed, and companies found to be in violation will be severely fined. The new regulations clarify that goods exported to the United States must obtain safety approval from the United States International Laboratory Certification Cooperation Organization.
The aforementioned analysts told reporters that the European Union also has clear regulations on the requirements for drawstrings or ropes on clothing for children under 14 years old; the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has revised its textile labeling rules and requires that some textile labels sold in the United States should Prominently indicate the common name of the textile, content percentage, name of the manufacturer or seller, and the country of production or processing.
The technical or green barriers introduced in the European and American markets in recent years have had a great impact. The person in charge of Zhongding Testing said that trade barriers have increased the export costs of enterprises. From time to time, some enterprises have suffered heavy losses due to product recalls, and some have even gone bankrupt.
The aforementioned analysts also pointed out that international standards for textiles and clothing are actually mostly basic standards and test method standards, and many companies pay attention to very few product standards. The so-called textile and apparel product standards are often buyer standards introduced by international buyers in the trade process to purchase high-quality products. “The main buyers of Dongguan’s textile and apparel exports are concentrated in the United States and the European Union, so it is of great significance to be familiar with the standards of the United States and the European Union.”
Know more D
American Textile Testing Standards
AATCC standards (American Association of Textile Colorists and Chemists), ASTM standards (American Society for Testing and Materials), CPSC (Federal Consumer Product Safety Commission) and FTC mandatory standards (Federal Trade Commissioncommittee). In addition, the United States has formulated many technical regulations on textiles and clothing: Textile Fiber Product Identification Act, Wool Product Labeling Act, Fur Product Labeling Act, Fair Packaging and Labeling Act, Fabric Flammability Regulations, Children’s Pajamas Combustibility Regulations, Down Product Processing Regulations, etc.
EU textile testing standards
CEN (European Committee for Standardization) mainly implements international standards, coordinates the standards of member states and formulates necessary CEN (European standards). Most of CEN standards are the same as ISO standards.
Each member country has its own regulations and standards. As one of the birthplaces of the modern textile industry, the UK’s textile standard system also has a set of (BSBN) standard systems in addition to the quite complete British Standard (CBS). German standards (DTN), hazardous substances control standards are derived from DIN standards.