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Formaldehyde in China-made clothes confirmed, but no decision made
The Hanoi Market Control Sub-agency has affirmed that China-made clothes contain formaldehyde, a substance which is harmful to human skin, with the content ratio of less than 2 percent. No official conclusion has been released because no regulation covers this issue.
Trinh Ba Quang, Senior Official from the Hanoi Market Control Sub-agency, said that the sub-agency joined forces with the Standard Measurement and Quality Department (STAMEQ) to take clothes samples from markets for testing and found that all the samples contained formaldehyde.
Quang said that all the samples were taken from Hoan Kiem street, a wholesale centre from which clothes are sent to many places.
However, no official conclusion has been issued.
“There are no concrete regulations about the safety level of products and the allowed levels of substances, including formaldehyde, which has created difficulties for government management agencies,” Quang said.
“We are still awaiting instructions from a higher level. If there were clearly stipulated standards for product quality, clothes that did not meet the required standards would be seized and demolished,” Quang added.
Meanwhile, when talking to local newspaper VnExpress, Tran Van Vinh, Deputy General Director of STAMEQ, said that as Vietnam is now a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Vietnam will consider the quality standards set by the countries from which it imports products.
In this case, the clothes are imported from China, so Vietnam will refer to Chinese standards to reach a conclusion about the safety line for consumers.
The information about the toxic China-made clothes was spread in Vietnam on May 28 after Chinese press agencies reported that 1/3 of the products for children’s use made in Guangdong, China contained substances harmful to human skin. The information immediately shocked Vietnamese consumers because the majority of clothes available in Vietnam’s market are from China.
VietNamNet, VNE
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