Nike, Lego, ZARA, H&M, Crest, MUJI, GAP named for safety risks in children’s products

A number of well-known brands including Nike, Lego, Ralph Lauren, ZARA, H&M, Crest, MUJI and GAP were named by China Customs today because of the import of related children’s clothing, children’s toys, children’s toothbrushes, children’s shoes and pacifier bottles in the past year were found to have various safety problems.

According to the official website of China Customs, on the occasion of International Children’s Day on June 1st, the General Administration of Customs of China reported the unqualified quality and safety of some children’s products imported into China from June 2020 to May 2021 (See attached table), involving 81 batches of imported children’s products in 5 categories, including children’s clothing, children’s toys, children’s toothbrushes, children’s shoes, and pacifier bottles.

In the cases investigated by China Customs, the unqualified items detected in imported children’s clothing mainly include color fastness, tensile strength of accessories, instructions for use, etc.; unqualified items detected in imported children’s toys mainly include small parts, toxic and hazardous substances Content, “CCC” mark, packaging film thickness, etc.; the unqualified items detected by imported children’s toothbrushes mainly include the pass rate of monofilament top profile, the rate of monofilament bending recovery, the pass rate of brushed (flat), etc.; imported children’s shoes’ unqualified items mainly include the tensile strength of the accessories; the unqualified items detected for the imported nipple milk bottle mainly include excessive volatile substances.

In accordance with the relevant provisions of the China Commodity Inspection Law and its implementation regulations, China Customs destroy and return the unqualified imported children’s products in accordance with laws and regulations. The quality and safety of children’s products are related to the physical and mental health of children, and have attracted the attention of the whole Chinese society. China Customs has always been committed to strictly controlling the quality and safety of imported children’s products, protecting the legitimate rights and interests of consumers, and strictly preventing unqualified children’s products from entering the Chinese market.

China Customs reminds consumers to purchase related imported children’s products rationally and pay attention to the following key points when purchasing imported children’s products:

First, when buying baby clothes and children’s shoes, try to choose clothes with light colors, relatively few coating paints and safe ropes, and check whether the buttons and small decorative objects are firm; for baby clothes that can be worn next to the body, the durability label on infant clothing should not be placed in direct contact with the skin; after purchase, it must be washed carefully before wearing it to children.

Second, when buying toys, pay attention to the “CCC” logo and Chinese label logo, and focus on age groups and warning instructions when using them; try not to buy potentially dangerous toys that contain small parts, thin packaging films, and so on.

Third, when buying children’s toothbrushes, pay attention to the brush head, bristles and other parts that directly contact the child’s mouth, and choose a toothbrush with soft bristles and rounded bristles and head shapes.

Fourth, when buying a baby bottle pacifier, you must carefully read the Chinese instructions for use and material description, and choose glass, silica gel and other high temperature resistant, non-toxic, environmentally friendly, and stable-material baby bottle pacifiers.

Statistics on the unqualified quality and safety information of China’s imported children’s products from June 2020 to May 2021

Source: General Administration of Customs of China