NEWS ROUNDUP

摘要

Belarus, which is part of the three-nation Customs Union comprising of Belarus, Russia and Kazakhstan, has made it mandatory for textile imports to have documents certifying their compliance with the technical regulations of the Customs Union from July 1, 2014. The technical regulations have been designed to establish uniform application and performance requirements in the Customs Union for light industry products, in order to protect human life and health, as well as prevent the entry of products that mislead consumers, according to the BelTA. Light industry products that are covered by the technical regulations of the Customs Union are textile materials, knitwear, clothing items, machine-made coverings and carpet products, leather and leather goods, fabrics, felt and nonwovens, footwear, fur and fur products, and artificial leather. However, the technical regulations are not applicable to textile materials for packaging, woven bags, materials and products for industrial use, souvenirs and arts and crafts products, sports goods designed to equip sports teams, etc. which do not directly come in contact with human skin. Prior to release into the market, the imported light industry products would be subject to the procedure of mandatory conformity requirements of technical regulation, carried out on the territory of the Customs Union in the form of a declaration of compliance or certification, for which test methods of light industry products are mentioned in the instruments of standardization. The safety of light industry products would be ascertained on the basis of three parameters. The physical parameters include tightness, flexibility, impact strength, etc. The chemical parameters involve the maximum allowable emission of harmful chemicals into the air and/ or the aquatic environment, the list of which is determined by the chemical composition of the material, and/ or the destination of the products. The biological parameters comprise of requirements like water absorption, air permeability, water resistance, electrostatic field, the index of toxicity or local irritant effect, and color fastness. Only those products that meet the requirements under the technical regulations of the Customs Union would be issued relevant documents, and would be allowed to release in the markets of common customs territory of the Customs Union. However, textile and light industry products not meeting the technical specifications but have been imported into Belarus prior to July 1, 2014, would be allowed to be sold in Belarus until March 1, 2015.