EU new regulations impact Shaoxing textile and garment industry

April 21 The European Union has recently issued new regulations. In the REACH Regulation, any person who has been listed in the SVHC exceeds the standard must notify the European Chemicals Agency before June 1 this year. Products will not be able to enter the EU market. This undoubtedly quietly built a trade barrier before the textile and garment export enterprises in our county.

REACH Regulations Impact on Textile and Apparel Exports It is understood that the REACH Regulations are entitled “Regulations on Chemicals Registration, Evaluation, Licensing and Restriction”. At the end of 2008, the REACH Regulation published the first batch of 15 SVHCs for substances of very high concern, of which 13 were related to textiles. This year, eight new substances of high concern have been added.

According to the analysis, the impact of the REACH regulation mainly includes three aspects: First, the inspection and test costs for the chemical content of textiles and the price of using qualified chemicals have been greatly increased, and the direct cost of export commodities has been increased; the second is the use of textiles in the production process. The chemicals proposed more extensive and strict requirements and restrictions; the third is that the REACH regulation legally protects the interests of the importing party and greatly increases the difficulty of exporting textiles and clothing to the EU.

The EU market is indispensable. "The EU is Shaoxing's second largest export market," said the person in charge of the Shaoxing County Bureau of Commerce. According to statistics, last year Shaoxing exported 1 billion U.S. dollars to the EU, accounting for 12.5% ​​of total exports. In January-February this year, the county exported 168 million U.S. dollars to the EU. The EU market is also a base for Shaoxing textile companies to create high value-added exports. The profit rate is generally 2 to 3 percentage points higher than other markets.

“For the textile export enterprises in our county, the EU market is indispensable,” said the relevant person in charge of the Shaoxing County Bureau of Commerce. However, from the point of view of the growth rate of export markets, Shaoxing’s textile and apparel exports gradually showed a weak growth. The growth rate was 22.5% last year, which was lower than the average level of the county by nearly 10%. The growth rate in January-February this year was only 5.3%, lower than the county average of 1 times. “The textile industry will inevitably contain some chemical substances in every process from raw material production and processing to finished apparel products. In the short term, REACH regulations will bring certain impact to textile and garment companies.” According to industry insiders.

Shaoxing enterprises respond passively to this. At present, many companies actively adopt tests to ensure that products comply with the EU REACH regulations. For example, Shumei Knitting Co., Ltd. of Binhai Industrial Park invested 100,000 yuan in July last year, imported testing equipment from abroad, and set up a testing center to meet the high standard requirements of international well-known brand clothing, such as fabrics, environmental protection, etc. , to ensure that the fabric of the indicators meet international requirements, to a more environmentally friendly, comfortable transition.

However, at present, most enterprises in Shaoxing do not pay enough attention to REACH regulations. Even a considerable number of companies have never heard of the REACH regulation. A considerable number of enterprises in our county are passively tested. Usually, they are only tested when the customer has mandatory requirements.

According to relevant experts, as a textile and clothing company, it is necessary to keep abreast of the REACH regulations, to grasp the relevant parts of the textile and garment industry, and to be able to penetrate into the production process, and to control the product quality from the source to meet the requirements of the REACH regulations, so as to become passive For the initiative.