Eco-Textiles in China

By Professor James Wang (Wang Jian Ping)

In China, the concept of eco-textiles originated from the German Food and Consumer Goods Act (Second Amendment) issued on Jul 15, 1994. It prohibited the use of azo dyestuffs with cancer-causing aromatic amines in textiles and consumer goods. The Act had no significant impact on the Chinese textile industry as whole, but it did generate serious attention from the government, industry associations, and academia.

The publication of the Act clearly showed that world consumer protection trends were focused on eco-safety and environmental friendliness. Legislative bodies and government authorities of different countries, as well as manufacturers and suppliers of consumer goods, began to take the responsibility, in various ways, of making sure that consumers could buy products that are safe for human health and the environment. As the largest manufacturer and exporter of textiles and garments, China relies on the international market for 35% of its revenue, and the textile industry plays a critical role in China's national economy. So, whether China's textile industry can adapt to this global trend towards eco-textiles and shoulder the social responsibility of eco-safety will greatly influence the development and structure of international trade in textiles and garments. For this reason, the Chinese government attaches great importance to eco-textile regulation.

When it initially published the Act, the German government didn't provide related testing methodologies or detailed implementing measures, so the Act didn't come into actual practice until the German government issued official testing methodology in 1998. During this period, big textile and garment importers including those from other EU countries and Japan began to study this issue, Holland and Austria published similar regulations, and the EU issued draft legislation in 1998 prohibiting use of azo dyestuffs containing cancer-causing aromatic amines. At the same time, Chinese experts began to introduce the concept of eco-textile related laws and regulations, production and testing technologies and quality control measures in China. These allowed Chinese manufacturers, importers and exporters of textiles and garments, government authorities and standardization bodies to get a quick overview of the concepts of eco-textiles and their trends.

Three indicators can reveal the speed of China's reaction to this issue. One is that since 1995 when I published my first article, until 1998, there have been about 300 articles published on the subject of eco-textiles. The second indicator is that early in 1995, a Chinese team led by myself began researching and studying related testing standards. The team published five national standards on testing methodology for azo dyestuffs, heavy metals and formaldehyde, which were consistent with the official testing standards published by the German government. The third is the book titled “Prohibited Dyestuffs and the Substitutes”, coauthored by myself and the renowned Chinese dye expert Chen Rongqi, which for the first time gave detailed information about the reasons for prohibiting the use of azo dyestuffs containing cancer-causing aromatic amines, the names, types and categorization of the suspected azo dyestuffs and their chemical structures, usage, manufacturers and related testing technology and methodology. The book was recognized as the only practical monograph and reference book in the world on prohibited azo dyestuffs and substitute technology. To keep in step with scientific trends and development, the book was amended and supplemented in 1998, and circulation has exceeded 40,000 copies to date.

In 1999, the Oeko-Tex Standard 100 came into China as an eco-textile certification scheme and gained wide acceptance in a short time. As the Chinese government and textile industry were not quite familiar with eco-textiles at that time, the promotion of the Oeko-Tex Standard 100 gave them a good understanding of eco-textiles and the requirements set by international standards for the first time, especially in the EU market. The industry vision in China was also expanded beyond the simple limitation values of prohibited azo dyestuffs, extractable heavy metals and formaldehyde to eco-safety requirements for cancer-causing dyestuffs, allergy-causing dyestuffs, pesticide, organic chlorine carriers, PCP, etc. With few channels to acquire additional information and Oeko-Tex as the only service to promote eco-textile certification in China, for a certain period of time, most Chinese enterprises and organizations believed that Oeko-Tex Standard 100 was the international eco-textile standard, and an Oeko-Tex Standard 100 certificate was the passport to the international market. In actuality, there are more than 20 eco-textile certification standards in the world, especially in the EU, and legally, the Oeko-Tex Standard 100 is not even an international standard. According to Oeko-Tex statistics, the company had certified 695 companies and issued 742 certificates in China by June 2006, but their certification has still not been officially recognized by the Chinese government up until now.

Nonetheless, its professional and authoritative image and recognition by many overseas buyers won Oeko-Tex Standard 100 acceptance by Chinese textile industry and authorities. In January 2000, the State Environmental Protection Administration of China issued HJBZ 30-2000, the Certifiable Technical Requirements for Environmental Labeling Products - Ecotypic Textile as the technical standard for eco-textiles to apply for China's environmental label. The Requirements had taken Oeko-Tex Standard 100-1999 as reference, but with no appropriate testing methodology in place, the certifications were faulty in terms of testing and inspection processes. The Chinese government had made great efforts to promote China's certification of environmental labeling products among the Chinese textile industry, but saw little effect. According to the China Environmental Labeling Certification Consultation Center, the Center had issued only 95 certificates up to October 2006. The mild response may be due to two main factors; one is that the certification is voluntary in China, not obligatory; the second is that the certification had not obtained recognition by overseas buyers, and as such it is of little value to Chinese textile exporters.

In 2002, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine of China officially published a national recommended standard GB/T 18885-2002 Technical Requirements for Eco-Textiles, which had taken Oeko-Tex Standard 100-2002 as a reference, but its utility was also questionable due to lack of testing methodologies. However, as the first national eco-textile standard, its significance was beyond question. In the same year, studies on related testing methodologies began, and most of the corresponding testing methods have been approved by China's national standards and published. It is expected that in 2007, all the national standards and related testing methods will come into execution.

On Nov 27 2003, after years of effort, strict examination, and reporting to the WTO, the first national obligatory standard on eco-textile safety (GB18401-2003 National General Safety Technical Regulations for Textile Products) was officially issued, signifying a big step in China legislation towards the standardization of the eco-textile industry. In China, obligatory standards have the same legal force as laws, with which all products sold in China must comply. The Regulations, effective from Jan 1, 2005, cover garments and decorative textiles with natural or chemical fibers as their main materials. The test items include: pH value, formaldehyde content, colorfastness (to water, acidic perspiration, alkaline perspiration, dry rubbing and saliva), prohibited azo dyestuffs and peculiar odors. Compared with some of the current international eco-textile standards, this obligatory standard selects only five basic factors to determine the ecological safety of textiles, and establishes the concept of 'basic safety', which lays down the basic requirement of doing no harm to human health. Obviously, this is a relative concept. Generally speaking, textile products contain various hazardous substances that may harm human health in different degrees. As a basic technical regulation with wide application, it was not the intention of the Regulations to be aligned with higher standards and jump developments in terms of technology and enforceability. Hence, the Regulations are not meant to be perfect. At the same time, besides the technical requirements related to dyes and chemicals, the Regulations don't cover the harm that can be caused by products due to mechanical and physical features.

In addition, the Regulations are intended to be aligned with commonly used international standards in the testing of items, however, there are still some problems to be resolved in practice. In particular, some testing methods are different from those of the EU and other countries as to technical conditions and assessment methods. Fortunately, the Chinese standardization authority follows the principle of keeping in line with international practices in establishing national standards for testing methods, so until now nearly all key testing methods have been drafted with reference to mature EU or international standards. This means that both exporting and importing textiles will comply with similar standards to reduce unnecessary confusion. This will facilitate China's exports, and pave the way for international brands to enter the wide China market.

Through 12 years of development, the concept of eco-textiles has found its way deep into the Chinese textile industry. Especially with the growth of eco-textile standardization in China, eco-textile safety testing has become a basic requirement for Chinese textile products. Testing services for eco-textile compliance are expanding fast. Most exports, especially those to Europe and the U.S. are all required to submit to eco-safety testing. Because testing reports issued by Chinese testing organizations are still not accepted by most international buyers, eco-safety testing for Chinese textiles and garments are mostly undertaken by the laboratories set up in China by world-recognized third party testing and inspection services. Among them, Intertek has a 60% market share, and the rest is divided among SGS, BV, TUV and the local Chinese administrations of quality supervision, inspection and quarantine, etc. In the mean time, various eco-textile certifications have emerged in mainland China by different organizations, but the standards that mainly apply are GB18401-2003 National General Safety Technical Regulations for Textile Products and GB/T18885-2002 Technical Requirements for Eco-textiles and HJBZ 30-2000 Certifiable Technical Requirements for the Environmental Labeling of Products - Ecotypic Textile. Because they were not obligatory, promotion of these certifications didn't bring the desired results; they are unrecognized by international buyers and most Chinese enterprises, and their potential for profit-making to Chinese companies is minimal. Most certification organizations do not have the basic expertise and testing ability, and are unable to solve practical problems for companies. Most of the certifications issued were only based on the testing of samples without factory audits; so in a market of questionable integrity, this kind of certification is unable to provide indication of the real quality of an enterprise or product.

This was also a common problem in other countries. With different aims of certification, standards, processes and abilities, there was still no mature and universally accepted standard at this time. To ameliorate this situation, Intertek developed the Intertek Eco-Certification Scheme in 2004, which is more comprehensive, flexible and widely applicable with strict on-site factory audits and post inspection processes. Through these practices, this scheme has become acceptable to more and more international buyers and Chinese enterprises.

From May 1, 2006, the General Administration of Quality Supervision and the Inspection and Quarantine Administration of China implemented a new industry standard, SN/T1649-2005 Safety Inspection Regulations for Imported and Exported Textiles, which is an improvement in eco-textile testing. According to the Regulations, all textile products coming into China will be tested against GB18401-2003 in sample batches, by a percentage of 5-15%. At the same time, textile products for export will also be required to undergo testing at the same percentage for compliance with the laws and standards of the importing countries. Textile manufacturers, exporters, and distributors already operating in or preparing to enter the China market should note that that all textile products sold in China shall meet three obligatory standards in addition to related quality requirements: national standards GB18401-2003, GB5296.4-1998 Usage Instructions on Consumer Goods - Textiles and Garments, and Chinese textile industry standard FZ/T01053-1998 Textile - Labeling of Fiber Content. The above three standards are the basic indicators for market random sample testing of textile products by related authorities.

In 2005, China's textile and garment exports exceeded 117.5 billion U.S. dollars, including 18.863 billion going to the EU and 19.576 billion going to the U.S. It is estimated that China's textile and garments exports will surpass 140 billion US dollars in 2006 with 20% increase to EU and 10% increase to the U.S. For textile exports to EU and U.S, eco-safety has become a basic requirement, and it is believed that in the coming few years, eco-safety will also become a basic requirement for textile products in the Chinese market.