EUROPEAN UNION (EU) CONSUMER ISSUE –

RISKS FROM CORDS AND DRAWSTRINGS IN CHILDREN'S CLOTHING

1.         Recently, a market surveillance exercise was undertaken by European Union (EU) particular to check on the safety of children's clothes with cords and drawstrings. The EU market surveillance authorities has received notifications of accidents where cords or drawstrings on children's clothes become entangled in bicycles, doors, car doors, or playground equipment, which lead to severe injury or death.  

2.         The project was carried out between August 2008 and February 2010 in 11 EU member States. The chosen member States were Austria, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Greece, Ireland, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Portugal. The authorities did a total of 4,642 inspections not only on the retailers but also wholesalers, manufacturers and importers. A total of 61 inspections were done at EU borders together with customs authorities. In all, a total of 16.300 garments were checked and 2188 did not comply with one or more of the requirements of the EU safety standard. Nearly 70% of the non-compliant garments were clothes for babies and young children.

3.                  Upon the inspections, corrective actions were taken by the respective national authorities. The manufacturers, distributors, importers and retailers for children clothes to ensure that the cords and drawstrings used in the clothes must comply with the European standard number EN 14682:2007. Among the standards outline include:

• Clothes for children up to 7 years (height 1.34 m) should not have cords or drawstrings in the hood and neck area.

•  Clothes for 7 and 14 year olds should not have cords longer than 75 mm (7,5 cm) in the hood and neck area or drawstrings with free ends. Cords in the hood and neck ar ea should not be elastic except for shoulder straps and halter necks.

•  Clothes for children should not have cords or drawstrings with free ends longer than 140 mm (14 cm) in the chest and waist area.

• Halter neck-style children’s clothes should not have loose ends in the hood and neck area.

• Children’s clothes intended to be tied at the front should not have tied belts or sashes longer than 360mm (36 cm).when measured untied from the point where they are to be tied 6.

Malaysian manufacturers of clothing particularly children clothing must ensure that they comply with the European standard in order to avoid their products being rejected by the relevant authorities.