GB Testing on Footwear for the China Market

Intertek provides GB testing services for footwear sold in China to ensure these products comply with safety, labeling and quality requirements

Safety – Safety of footwear is specified in a number of mandatory standards:

• Leather or fur components in shoes need to comply with GB 20400 Leather and Fur – Limit of Harmful Matter.
• Shoes made of PVC leather need comply with GB 21550 Restriction of Hazardous Materials in Polyvinyl Chloride Artificial Leather.  
• Vulcanized shoes need to meet requirements in GB 25038-2010.
• Children’s canvas vulcanized shoes must comply with GB 25036-2010. 
• GB/t 28011-2010 outlines requirements for steel shanks in footwear.
• Newly approved GB 30585-2014 Safety Technical Specification for Children’s Footwear which will take effect on January 1, 2016.

Labeling – Labeling requirements for footwear are set forth in:

• QB/T 2673-2013 Footwear – Specification of Marking, which becomes effective July 1, 2014, superseding QB/T 2673-2004.
• “GB 28011 Shanks for Footwear” shall also be disclosed on the label if steel shank used in shoes.
• Additional marking requirements on vulcanized shoes are specified in HG/T 2403-2007.

Quality – Footwear product quality and performance requirements are specified in related mandatory standards or product standards. There are more than 50 product standards from which an appropriate product standard can be chosen and declared as the executive standard based on material, gender, intended use, targeted consumer age group, style and more. Selection of appropriate executive standard is crucial to ensure footwear compliance.

During China market surveillance, through which footwear compliance is enforced by China government, labels, shoe size, appearance, whole shoe flex resistance, peeling strength outsole abrasion resistance, midsole-outsole adhesive strength, outsole thickness, are reported to have high risk of non-compliance.

Intertek has footwear laboratories in Shanghai, Guangzhou and Italy accredited to conduct GB footwear tests and technical experts in various regions to support your needs to ensure your products comply with China requirements. In addition to GB footwear testing, Intertek provides supplemental services, including preparation of label templates, translation of labels into Chinese to meet GB standards, enterprise standard application, on-site technical support such as product and label review, training and others as needed to assist you to successfully export footwear to China.