Eurofins Softlines & Leather Monthly Bulletin (August 2024)

EUROPE

New ecodesign requirements for consumer products

In May 2024, the legislative act related to ecodesign products was adopted. Following the Council and European Parliament's approval, the regulation (EU) 2024/1781 of 13 June 2024 establishing a framework for the setting of ecodesign requirements for sustainable products, amending Directive (EU) 2020/1828 and Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 and repealing Directive 2009/125/EC text with EEA relevance was published on the 28th of June 2024 in the Official Journal of the European Union, and will enter into force on 18 July 2024.

New ecodesign measures will be applied to consumer products such as textiles, furniture, and detergents among others.

Regarding clothing and footwear, the destruction of unsold items will be banned, and consumers will have accurate and up-to-date information via digital product passports in order to make more informed purchasing decisions.

For more information, consult the official publication on the European Commission website here.

Standard updates

The table below summarises the most recent standard updates and upcoming dates of withdrawal (non-exhaustive):

(*) Date of withdrawal: latest date by which national standards conflicting with a European Norm (EN) (and Harmonisation Document (HD) for the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation (CENELEC)) have to be withdrawn.

US

Rhode Island regulates PFAS in various consumer products

On 26 June 2024, the State of Rhode Island approved Bill S2152 to regulate Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in various consumer products. PFAS is defined as substances that include any member of the class of fluorinated organic chemicals containing at least one fully fluorinated carbon atom. Please see details of the new regulation in Table 1 below:

Table 1:

JAPAN

Japan Adds PFOA as Class I Specified Substances

On 10 July 2024, Japan issued Cabinet Order No. 244 to add Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) isomers and PFOA-related substances as Class I Specified Substances under the Enforcement of the Law Concerning the Examination and Regulation of Manufacture, etc. of Chemical Substances. The Cabinet Order will become effective on10 January 2025.

The Cabinet Order has made below significant revisions:

• Includes PFOA isomers as part of PFOA and its salts as Class I Specified Substances
• Prohibits below products containing PFOA-related substances (defined as Perfluorooctyl iodide, 8:2 Fluorotelomer alcohol, and compounds containing a perfluoroalkyl group directly bonded to a carbon atom (limited to those with a carbon number of 7), which, through natural processes, produces PFOA (branched in structure and limited to those with a carbon number of 8)
• Floor wax
• Protective and stain-resistant agents for textile products
• Water- and oil-repellent agents
• extile products treated with water-repellent and oil-repellent coatings
• Defoaming agents
• Coating agents
• Optical fibers or their surface coating agents
• Fire extinguishers, fire extinguishing agents for fire extinguishers, and foam extinguishing agents

CHINA

New mandatory safety standard GB 25038-2024 for footwear issued

On 28 May 2024 the China SAC (Standardization Administration Committee) released the 10th National Standard Announcement of year 2024, the mandatory safety standard for footwear GB 25038-2024 General safety requirements for footwear.

The GB 25038-2024 will come into effect on 1 June 2025, and it will supersede GB 21536-2008 Athletic Shoes, GB 25037-2010 Industrial Rubber Boots and GB 25038-2010 Rubber Shoes Healthy and Safe Specification.

The standard defines the terms and definitions related to footwear, stipulates the technical requirements and judgments for the general safety of footwear, and describes the corresponding test methods.

The standard applies to footwear products made from a variety of materials, does not apply to protective footwear (boots) and footwear products worn by children under 14 years old.

In terms of chemical substances, the 2024 edition standard including seven difference restricted substance: Azo Dyes, Chlorinated phenols, Chromium VI, Dimethyl fumarate (DMFa), Formaldehyde, Phthalate and Short chain chlorinated paraffins(SCCP):

1. Substance revision:
1. Formaldehyde’s requirements and test methods
2. Azo dyes’ requirements and test methods
2. Substance and requirements added:
1. Chromium VI’s requirements and test methods
2. Dimethyl fumarate’s (DMFu) requirements and test methods
3. Chlorinated phenols’ requirements and test methods in leather and fur
4. Phthalates’ requirements and test methods, substance list in Annex B
5. SCCP’s requirements and test methods
6. Nail tip and broken needle’s requirements and test methods
3. Substance and requirements deleted:
1. Extractable heavy metals’ requirements and test methods
2. N-nitrosamine’s requirements, test methods and the list of N-nitrosamine list
3. pH value’s requirements and test methods
4. Colourfastness to rubbing requirement and test method of lining and in sock
5. Sampling method

Main technical requirements for hazardous substance summarizing:

PRODUCT RECALLS / ALERTS

Below you will find a monthly summary of product recalls and alerts in Europe (Source “Safety Gate (RAPEX)”) and the U.S. (Source “CPSC”).

Europe

Safety Gate (RAPEX) (European Commission Rapid Alert System for dangerous non-food products – Alerts reported by EU national authorities)

The following 16 alerts regarding clothing, textile and fashion items were reported between week 24 and week 29 of 2024.

UK

OPSS issues Product Safety Alerts on the UK market.

The following 1 alert regarding clothing, textile and fashion items was reported between week 24 and week 29 of 2024.

U.S.

From 3 July 2024 to 25 July 2024, the CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) published the following recalls: 6 recalls of textile & leather products