South Korea plans to issue revised draft safety standards for textile products

On October 18, 2010, the Korea Bureau of Technical and Standards released a new technical regulation notice, G/TBT/N/KOR/295. The title of the notice is "Notice of a Draft Amendment to the Safety Standard for Textile Products for Infants and Young Children." This update aims to clarify the scope of textile products intended for infants and young children, with a particular focus on preventing potential hazards caused by small detachable parts. As part of this revision, it is now explicitly stated that adhesion strength tests should not be performed on small decorative elements. Specifically, if a force of 70 N ± 2 N is applied uniformly for 5 seconds and then held for 10 seconds, and the part remains attached, it will be considered a small component. If such a part is smaller than 31.7 mm in size, it may pose a choking risk and must be excluded from infant textiles. On October 19, 2010, another notice was issued—G/TBT/N/KOR/294—entitled "Notice of Draft Amendments to Standards for Textile Safety and Quality Marks." The primary goal of this amendment is to improve traceability and safety control for infant and home textiles. To achieve this, manufacturers are required to clearly mark the date of manufacture, batch number, barcode, or style number on the product. Additionally, for items that pass the small part test (components smaller than 31.7 mm), a warning label must be included: "Note! If the widget is removed, it may be swallowed." Both notifications were announced with a six-month implementation period, allowing stakeholders time to adapt to the new requirements. The updated standards are expected to be finalized and take effect in May 2011 or later. Interested parties have 60 days from the date of the notification to submit their comments or feedback. These changes reflect South Korea's ongoing efforts to enhance child safety in the textile industry and ensure compliance with international best practices.