SGS Societe Generale de Surveillance : Vietnam Releases New Formaldehyde and Azo Dyes Requirements in Textile Products
September 29, 2015 at 11:10 pm EDT
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The Vietnam Ministry of Industry and Trade (Department of Science and Technology) recently released a new draft Circular Regulation that specifies requirements on the permitted limit of formaldehyde and azo dyes contents in textile products that are manufactured, imported and traded in the Vietnam market. The new draft Circular [1] will supersede Circular No. 32/2009/TT-BCT dated 5th November 2009 [2] and becomes effective in February 2016.
The Circular No. 32/2009/TT-BCT (2009) temporarily gave the regulated acceptable limits for the content of formaldehyde and content of aromatic amines which can be released from azo dyes in reduction conditions in textile and apparel products. The new draft Circular states the same permitted limits of formaldehyde and azo dyes content in textile products, but further specifies requirements on sampling methods, refers to updated international test method standards and provides relevant quality management requirements. Textile products that fall within the scope of the restriction are listed in Annex 1 of the new draft Circular. The restrictions do not apply to untreated yarn, untreated fabric, fabrics imported for processing export products, textile products in transit or stored in custom’s warehouses, textile products temporarily imported for re-export and types of products made from textile materials used in industrial production. All textile products that are imported, distributed and marketed in Vietnam are required to provide a certificate issued by an accredited testing laboratory to ensure conformity in accordance to the regulation.
Table 1: Test methods and requirements
Test Item
Test Method
Requirement
Formaldehyde
TCVN 7421-1:2013 / ISO 14184-1:2011
Textile products for children under 36 months of age: ≤ 30mg/kg
Textile products in direct contact with skin: ≤ 75 mg/kg
Textile products without direct contact with skin: ≤ 300 mg/kg
Azo Dyes
(same 22 items as in REACH)
EN 14362-1:2012 / EN 14362-3:2012
Or
ISO 24362-1:2014 / ISO 24362-3:2014
≤ 30 mg/kg (22 items)
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