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To Protect the Safety of Children's Clothing, the Bureau of Standards, Metrology, and Inspection Amends Safety of Children's Clothing-Cords and Drawstrings on Children's Clothing-Specifications

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As indicated by statistics from international incidents report, cords and drawstrings on children’s clothing can easily cause accidents, such as in the playground (ex. slides) where entrapment of hood or neck cords may occur, or in moving vehicles (ex. bus door) where entrapment of cords and strings from waists and lower hems of garments could also take place. Therefore, the Bureau of Standards, Metrology, and Inspection (BSMI), in reference to the latest child safety standards promulgated by the European Union (BE EN 14682), amended and announced the national standard, CNS 15291, Safety of Children’s Clothing-Cords and Drawstrings on Children’s Clothing-Specifications on July 12th, 2019 to protect the safety of children’s clothing. This amendment shall also serve as a reference for other fields.

The BSMI indicated that CNS 15291 consists of specific requirements regarding cords and drawstrings on the clothing of children below 14 years of age, including designer clothing. Aside from using the standards stipulated by the European Union as a reference, the current amendment also took the national height/body size of children into consideration, at the same time referencing Anthropometric Data in the Taiwan Area as published by the Health Promotion Administration, Ministry of Health and Welfare in its revision, resulting in a national standard with the content regarding regulations on clothing that is more fitting of the height and weight of children within the country.

The content of the current CNS 15291 amendment includes 4 major revisions, which are:
1.In regards to the usage of “Adjusting Tabs” (as illustrated in picture 1), the free ends must be paired with button, toggle button, or buckle that do not cause entrapment.
2.Clothing worn from the waist down (ex. pants, skirts) shall not have free ends of drawstrings longer than 20 cm at each end when the clothing is in a natural relaxed state (as illustrated in picture 2).
3.In regards to sleeves, drawstrings, functional cords and decorative cords located below the elbow on long sleeve shall not hang below the lower edge of the cuff, with the free ends not exceeding 7.5cm (as illustrated in picture 3).
4.In regards to halter neck style clothing, as long as no free ends are present during wear, it is acceptable to use a clip or fastening for the two cords (as illustrated in picture 4).

In addition to lowering the risk of entrapment of cords and drawstrings, the aforementioned amendment gives further clarity to relevant regulations. The BSMI reminds consumers to avoid choosing clothing with overtly long cords or drawstrings when shopping, thereby preventing the occurrence of unfortunate accidents.

Relevant regulations has been placed on the "China National Standards Online Service System" of BSMI (website address: https://www.cnsonline.com.tw), we welcome everyone to visit the site and view these regulations in depth.

Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection, M.O.E.A Spokesperson
Deputy Director-General: Wang, Cong-Lin
Office Tel.: 02-2341711 Mobile No.: 0963132388

Handling Unit
Team 1 Section Chief: Ho, Hsiu-Mai
Office Tel.: 02-33435111 Mobile No.: 0978500858
Email Address: hm.ho@bsmi,gov.tw

News Release Contact Person: Lin, Ching-Yen
Office Tel.: 02-23431759 Mobile No.: 0976425601
Email Address: chingyen.lin@bsmi.gov.tw

• 編修日期：2020/02/20
• 上稿單位：標準組