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Competing for tomorrow

Product safety: A burning issue

J C Sharma

Keeping pace with the changing business environment is a challenge for every Indian exporter these days. Achieving goals with the required product specification has become an uphill task for the manufacturers. Among the given specification, product safety is regarded as the most important criteria for a buyer today. "Customers are entitled to expect safe products" is the slogan of the NGO’s, government bodies and consumers worldwide.

In the past, many unsafe products have endangered people’s health and well being and lead to a serious legal consequence. Furthermore it also had a severe impact on the reputation of retailer as well as the exporters. A few examples:

International scene if the product is identified as unsafe

1. XXXX brand announced the recall of two-piece fleece pant set

Type of product: Two-piece fleece pant set with long waist drawstring on jacket.

Country of origin: India

Hazard: Waist drawstring on jacket is longer than 3 inches, when the waist is expanded to its fullest width. Also there are toggles and knots at the end of the un-tacked drawstring which can cause the drawstring to catch on protrusions (such as bus doors or handle) potentially causing injury or death if the person is dragged by the vehicle.

Incidents/Injuries: None reported with this product.

Remedy: Pull the waist drawstrings out of the jacket.

2. XXXXX brand announced the recall of girl’s loungewear

Type of product: Girl’s loungewear (15 different styles)

Country of origin: India

Hazard: The loungewear failed to meet federal flammability standards for children’s sleepwear posing a risk of serious burn injuries to children. The standard requires sleepwear, including loungewear, to be flame resistant and if the garment ignites, the flame must self-extinguish.

Incidents/injuries: No injuries reported. The recall was conducted to prevent the possibility of injury.

The above incidents have been the major causes for customer warnings and product recalls. Therefore in accordance with the high level of consumer protection, all suppliers need to meet safety requirements as part of their own product responsibility.

Let’s see what product safe product means

Safe product shall mean any product, which under normal or reasonably foreseeable conditions does not present any risk or posses minimum risks compatible with the product’s use. The product is considered to be acceptable, if it provides high level of protection for the safety and health of a consumer.

Other than above, following points should be taken into consideration:

- The characteristics of the product, including its composition, packaging, instructions for assembly and where applicable, installation and maintenance

- The effect on other products, where it is reasonably foreseeable that it will be used with other products

- The presentation of the product labelling, any warnings and instructions for its use and disposal

- The categories of consumers at risk when using the product, in particular for children and the elderly

Few examples of the types of safety hazards a garment can possess

Mechanical hazards:

- Neck, waist and hem cords
- Safety pins, especially on children’s garments
- Trimmings, security of buttons, toggles, bows, attachments, especially on babies and children’s garments
- Zips, sharp zip tops or coil/open ended zips: All must have a dimpled top stop to prevent detachment of slider, or the garment be so designed that the teeth or coil at the top are finished in such a manner that the slider cannot be removed
- Glass embellishments attached to children’s items
- Liquids, e g bubble patches on garments or bags: The coloured liquids contained there in must be tested for toxicity and environmental impact ?? Ribbons should be finished in a way that they will not fray
- Studs must be secured especially on children’s garments
- Bones or other stiffening materials should not have any sharp edges
- Buttons, trims and zippers must comply with certain physical performance standards
- Sharp edges must be prevented in the kids accessories
- A number of products, including certain crossbows, and bangles containing glitter are now banned from sale.

Other types of hazards:

- Heavy metal such as arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, copper, cobalt, nickel, chromium, nickel are banned after certain permissible value. Their direct contact with the skin is hazardous

- There are 24 identified amines, such as aminophenyl, 2- naphthylamine, benzedine, chloro-o-toluidine, o-aminoazotoluen etc, and these are strictly banned in the European market

- Substances like formaldehyde, pesticide residues are harmful. Tolerance values are given depending on the end use of the garment under classification such as children clothing, upholstery, outer wear etc

- Flammability is another concern of a buyer, particularly for the cloth like night-dresses, baby and children clothing, bath robes and dressing gowns and similar category of clothing

- For the washes like stone wash, foreign body contamination is seen. Stone washed garments must be thoroughly examined to be free from stones and pumic residue

- Any wooden storage areas or furniture in the factory should be smooth and varnished to eliminate the risk of splinters in the garments

- Metal contamination is not acceptable. Pins, staples, clippers, razor blades should be avoided in sewing areas

- Toxicity limits in any painted component or accessory etc must be free from any toxic components.

Hurdles for product safety standards

A safe product enables a supplier to create value for customers and to earn lifetime loyalty from the buyer or the retailer. Inspite of the severity involved, product safety standards have not been implemented in the exports of unsafe products. The common reasons stated are cost and the barriers to trade.

Cost: Excessive regulation can lead to unnecessary compliance costs to business and ultimately to the consumer. Furthermore, mandatory standards are costly to make and to enforce, and these particular costs are met by the taxpayer rather than by the purchaser of the product or service.

Barriers to trade: Internationally there is an increasing tendency towards less government regulation. This follows from the trend towards free trade and the breaking down of regulatory trade barriers. There is also a tendency to avoid mandatory standards because they act as trade barriers. Nevertheless, commitments to free trade have to be balanced by the need to ensure consumer safety.

Social responsibility

Achieving the goal of "Safe Products Used Safely" requires positive action on a variety of fronts. The supplier should work in many different ways to achieve this goal. The implementation of careful checking and monitoring systems tailored to the specific need of the trader helps the exporter achieve the given compliance.

Overall, the only sure way of achieving safety is when all parties involved in the regulation, importation, manufacture, sale and use of products work together and actively contribute to making sure that products are made and used safely. Its our social responsibility.

Societe Generale de Surveillance (SGS) is the world’s leading inspection, testing, certification and verification organisation - offering a wide range of quality, quantity and related technical services. Established in 1878, SGS has its global corporate head office at Geneva, Switzerland and operates in 140 countries with 300 companies more than 1220 offices, 342 laboratories and more than 36,000 employees. SGS can truly claim to be global, by being local everywhere. But, alongside that undoubted geographical coverage, SGS believes that its true strength is not in bricks and mortar, but comes from its values and from meeting client’s individual needs locally with a global knowledge.

SGS India limited is one of the affiliated companies of the group SGS worldwide, and has been providing its services in India for more than 53 years. With its corporate head office at Mumbai, SGS India has a network of 17 offices and 15 laboratories, spread over India and manned by more than 1600 personnel.