The standard notified to the WTO establishes technical and chemical requirements, test methods and requirements for the safety assessment of footwear. It applies to all types of footwear made from different materials except children's footwear and protective footwear. This standard does not yet have an official numbering and its publication date has not yet been announced.
The proposed chemical restrictions are as follows:
|
Chemical substances |
Limits according to materials |
|
Hexavalent chromium (chromium 6) |
Leather and Fur: 10 mg/kg |
| Carcinogenic aromatic amines released by azo dyes (24 substances) | Textile: 20 mg/kg Leather and Fur: 30 mg/kg |
| Formaldehyde | Textile, material imitating leather, leather, and fur: - Direct skin contact: 75 mg/kg - Without direct skin contact: 300 mg/kg |
| Dimethylfumarate (DMFu) | Textile, leather, and fur: 0.1 mg/kg |
| Pentachlorophenol (PCP) | Textile, material imitating leather, leather, and fur: 0.5 mg/kg |
| Tetrachlorophenol (TeCP) | Textile, material imitating leather: 0.5 mg/kg |
| Phtalates | Coating, Rubber, Plastic materials: sum DEHP, DBP, BBP, DIBP < 0,1% (1000 mg/kg) |
In addition to this GB standard for shoes for adults, the Chinese authorities have sent to the WTO a draft GB standard setting out the safety requirements applicable to footwear for children, that is, infants and children of less than 14 years old (notification No. G/TBT/N/CHN/1585). A decryption of this project will be published by CTC shortly.
Link to WTO notification No. G/TBT/N/CHN/1587 (adult footwear)
Link to WTO notification No. G/TBT/N/CHN/1585 (children footwear)
