EU – EN 14682:2014 Safety of Children’s Clothing – Cords & Drawstrings on Children’s Clothing Harmonised

Vol. 845 | 05 Aug 2015

 

The EU Commission has approved that EN 14682:2014 should be adopted as a harmonised standard and will be published with the list of standards which are harmonised under the General Product Safety Directive. The Commission decision is effective from 24 August 2015.   

EN 14682 was originally developed as a response to a European Mandate, the standard was made available in 2004 and harmonised in 2006. The standard was then revised in 2007 giving users more clarity, but with no technical changes, and was harmonised in 2011. The 2014 version of the standard gives even greater clarity, but with some technical changes and was harmonised in 2015.

EN 14682 covers all children’s clothing including disguise costumes and ski apparel up to 14 years of age. The standard does not apply to child use and child care articles, footwear, hats, gloves and scarves, to name but a few.

Key technical changes include (but not exclusive):

• Belts (with the exception of tied belts or sashes) are excluded from the standard
• Inclusion of ‘back of the head/neck’ in body Zone A, rather than Zone D
• ‘Fringes’ are now to be classified as a series of decorative cords
• Free ends of fixed bows are considered as decorative cords

For more information on the subject, please contact:

Dr. Carol Graham
carol.graham@intertek.com