Recently, the American Apparel and Footwear Association (AAFA) announced the revised fourth edition of its global Restricted Substances List (RSL). This list includes chemicals and chemicals that have been restricted by governments in the form of laws or regulations. Other substances contained in the product include substances that are currently considered harmful by most countries and regions in the world, such as formaldehyde, pesticides, heavy metals, flame retardants, asbestos, and DMF (rich) which was recently banned by the EU. Dimethyl malate) and other substances, the final products involved mainly include home textiles, clothing, shoes, etc.
Compared with the third edition, the fourth edition has some minor changes, which mainly reflect the changes in the CPSIA charter of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and increase the limits on the content of lead and phthalates in textiles, down products, and plastic parts. In addition, the limit requirements for heavy metals in textiles have also been increased.
AAFA was established in 2000 by the merger of the American Apparel Manufacturers Association and the American Footwear Industry Association. Currently, AAFA has thousands of member companies in the United States, the vast majority of which are sellers and importers, and own about 80% of clothing and footwear brands in the United States. As the most influential association in the United States, AAFA is the first organization to issue RSL. This list is also considered an alternative to the most restrictive international regulations. As the demand for harmless textiles in the United States increases, the Oeko-Tex standard setters have also supplemented the Oeko-Tex100 standard to be more consistent with the relevant regulations of RSL and AAFA.
The United States is China’s main export market for textiles, clothing, and footwear. In 2008, China’s textile and clothing exports to the United States were US$25.36 billion, accounting for 13.7% of China’s total textile and clothing exports. Therefore, the majority of textile, clothing, and shoe-making enterprises exporting to the United States should pay more attention to the relevant technical regulations of major importing countries, understand the latest updated technical requirements, and carry out corresponding improvement work in a timely manner to avoid product exports being blocked due to exceeding standards.
