2013 Surveillance Summary: CIQ Inspection of Imported Apparel at China Customs
Vol. 781 | July 28, 2014
On July 4, 2014, the General Administration of Quality, supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) of the People’s Republic of China published a white paper, 2013 Quality Performance of Imported Apparel, reporting the surveillance summary of imported apparel conducted by the Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau (CIQ) at China Customs.
In 2013, apparel products from more than 100 brands, including well-known global brands, were inspected by CIQ at China Customs; fast-fashion items had a higher rate of non-compliance. Of the 22,472 batches of imported clothing inspected, 8.27% (1,859 batches) were identified as violating China safety and quality requirements.
Following is a breakdown of non-compliance based on major categories, such as country, product category and product requirements.
I. Non-compliance based on the country origin
The top 10 importing countries of apparel to China are China (re-import), Italy, Turkey, Bangladesh, Portugal，India, Vietnam, Thailand, Tunisia and Romania. Apparel imported from Italy was found to have the highest rate of non-compliance at 16%, followed by Bangladesh with 14.4%, and India and Turkey, each with 12.2%.
II. Non-compliancebased on the product category
A total of 4,484 batches of apparel were identified as violating safety, labeling or quality requirements. The largest non-compliant apparel category was shirts and T-shirts, which accounted for 50.9% of violations, followed by 10.6% infant and children’s clothing, 8.5% intimates and 2.7% sleepwear. The remaining 27.3% were in other categories.
III. Non-compliance based on product requirements
For the clothing inspected during the CIQ inspection, among non-labeling violations, fiber composition had the highest non-compliance rate of 49.96%, followed by colorfastness, pH, formaldehyde, forbidden amines and odour. In comparison with previous years, fewer labeling violations had been identified, although they still accounted for 10% of total non-compliant items due to missing or inaccurate information.
For further inquiries, please contact:
Shanghai: Ms. Dora Tang
Tel: +86 21 6091 7076
dora.tang@intertek.com
Guangzhou: Ms. Liu Hui Li
Tel: +86 20 2820 9274
huili.liu@intertek.com
Tianjin: Mr. Howard Xing
Tel: +86 22 8371 2820
howard.xing@intertek.com
US: Ms. Megan Liu
Tel: +1 847 871 1034
megan.liu@intertek.com