Textiles, Apparel and Footwear: China Updated Two Mandatory Standards for Footwear

On May 28, the National Standard of the People's Republic of China has published two mandatory standards for footwear.

The standards are:

1. GB 30585-2024 - Safety technical specifications for infants' and children's footwear

   This document defines the terms and definitions of children's footwear safety, stipulates product classification, technical requirements and determinations, and describes the corresponding test methods.

   This document applies to footwear products made of various materials for children and infants under 14.

   The main changes related to chemical requirements are summarized below:

   GB 30585-2024 - Safety technical specifications for infants' and children's footwear

   Parameter	Requirement old version	Requirement new version
   Chromium (VI)	Leather ≤10 mg/kg	Leather ≤3 mg/kg
   Aromatic Amines	Leather ≤30 mg/kg Textile ≤20 mg/kg	Leather ≤30 mg/kg Textile ≤20 mg/kg
   Formaldehyde	Infant ≤20 mg/kg	Infant ≤20 mg/kg
   Formaldehyde	Materials in direct contact with the skin ≤75 mg/kg	Materials in direct contact with the skin ≤75 mg/kg
   Formaldehyde	Materials not into direct contact with the skin ≤300 mg/kg	Materials not into direct contact with the skin ≤300 mg/kg
   Lead	≤100 mg/kg	≤90 mg/kg
   Cadmium	≤100 mg/kg	≤100 mg/kg
   Arsenic	≤100 mg/kg	Not Requested
   PentaChlorophenol	Not Requested	Textile and Leather ≤0.5 mg/kg
   TetraChlorophenol	Not Requested	Textile ≤0.5 mg/kg
   Dimethylfumarate	≤0.1 mg/kg	≤0.1 mg/kg
   Nitrosamines	≤0.5 mg/kg	≤0.5 mg/kg
   Phthalates	≤0.1 %	≤0.1 %
   SCCP	Not Requested	≤0.15 %

2. GB 25038-2024 - General safety requirements for footwear

   This document defines the terms and definitions related to footwear, stipulates the technical requirements and determination of general safety of footwear and describes the corresponding test methods.

   This document applies to footwear products made of various materials. It does not apply to protective shoes and footwear products for children under 14 years old.

   The main changes related to chemical requirements are summarized below:

   GB 25038-2024 - General safety requirements for footwear

   Parameter	Requirement old version	Requirement new version
   pH	4.0-9.0	Not Requested
   Chromium (VI)	Not Requested	Leather ≤10 mg/kg
   Aromatic Amine	Textile synthetic leather and artificial leather ≤20 mg/kg	Leather ≤30 mg/kg Textile ≤20 mg/kg
   Formaldehyde	Product for Infant ≤75 mg/kg	Materials in direct contact with the skin ≤75 mg/kg
   Formaldehyde	Products with direct contact to skin ≤150 mg/kg	Materials not into direct contact with the skin ≤300 mg/kg
   Lead (extractable)	1 mg/kg	Not Requested
   Cadmium (extractable)	0.1 mg/kg	Not Requested
   Arsenic (extractable)	1 mg/kg	Not Requested
   PentaChlorophenol	Textile synthetic leather and artificial leather) ≤0.5 mg/kg	Textile and Leather ≤0.5 mg/kg
   TetraChlorophenol	Synthetic leather and artificial leather)  ≤0.5 mg/kg	Textile ≤0.5 mg/kg
   Dimethylfumarate	Not Requested	≤0.1 mg/kg
   Nitrosamines	≤0.5 mg/kg	≤0.5 mg/kg
   Phthalates	Not Requested	≤0.1 %
   SCCP	Not Requested	≤0.15 %

Both standards will be implemented on June 1, 2025.

Official source

GB 30585-2024

GB 25038-2024