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| Footwear and furniture shipments to comply with biocide DMF emergency ban |
| Writer：LANDER TESTING View：8129 Addtime：2009-4-20 |
China's footwear and furniture industry exporting their goods to the EU will be concerned by a new ban which may affect their shipments fairly quickly, including consignments that may have already been shipped. The biocide dimethylfumarate, commonly known simply as DMF, is set to be prohibited in consumer products as of 1 May this year, while stocks of such products that are already placed or made available on the market on that date will have to be withdrawn, with recalls from consumers also becoming necessary.
According to Commission Decision 2009/251/EC, which was published on 20 March 2009, furniture and footwear in several Member States, namely France, Poland, Finland, Sweden and the UK, have been identified as the cause of damage to the health of consumers. The source of such damage was discovered, pursuant to clinical tests, as being DMF, which is a biocide that prevents moulds appearing on leather goods during storage or transport in humid climates. DMF is often contained in little pouches fixed inside the furniture or added to footwear boxes. Although it evaporates, it impregnates the product (to prevent mould); in consequence, it enters into contact with consumers, penetrating through clothing onto their skin, causing painful skin contact dermatitis, itching, irritation, redness and burns, as well as, in some cases, breathing difficulties.
DMF is already outlawed as an active substance in biocides that are placed on the EU market, under the relevant Community legislation, i.e., Directive 98/8/EC (the biocides Directive). It subsequently cannot accompany products manufactured in the EU as an anti-mould agent. However, there has hitherto been no restriction when DMF is present in products (or raw materials of products) that are imported into the Community.
The Commission has stated that any restriction of DMF under the EU's chemicals legislation (e.g., REACH) would be impossible in the short term (due to the lengthy processes, both legislative and scientific, that must be gone through to have restrictions in place). The Commission has therefore decided to impose an emergency ban under Article 13 of Directive 2001/95/EC on general product safety, which is the quickest way to extend a prohibition for consumer goods across the Community. Hong Kong sellers may be aware that France, Belgium and Spain are, until now, the only Member States to have adopted specific regulatory measures to address the serious risk to consumer health arising from DMF.
Commission Decision 2009/251/EC applies to all goods intended for consumers or likely to be used by them even if not intended for them. It prohibits, as of 1 May 2009, the placing on the market, or making available on the market, of such products containing DMF. As of 1 May 2009, Member States will have to ensure that products containing DMF and already placed or made available on the market are withdrawn from the market and recalled from consumers, and that consumers are adequately warned of the risk posed by such products.
In relation to the aforementioned ban, a "product containing DMF" means any product or part of a product where either the presence of DMF is declared, such as on one or more pouches, or the concentration of DMF is greater than 0.1 mg/kg of the weight of the product or part of the product.
Commission Decision 2009/251/EC shall be applicable until 15 March 2010. That said, there is no reason precluding its renewal by the Commission for further one year periods, if another more permanent solution is not found in the meantime. Decision 2009/251/EC can be accessed at:
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2009:074:0032:0034:EN:PDF |
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