China notifies WTO of draft national standard for harmful substance limits for carpets, related products, PVC flooring

On Aug. 27, 2024, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation issued a WTO/TBT notification of a draft mandatory national standard titled “Indoor Decorating and Refurbishing Materials—Limit of Harmful Substances of Carpets, Carpet Underlays, Adhesives and Polyvinyl Chloride Flooring”. The draft revises and combines the currently implemented standards, GB 18587-2001 and GB 18586-2001, which set harmful substance limits for carpets and related products, and for PVC flooring, respectively.

The draft tightens the harmful substance limits for carpets and related products to the Grade A levels defined in GB 18587-2001. For PVC flooring, it introduces limits on TVOC, heavy metals, phthalates, formaldehyde, formamide, polybrominated biphenyls and polybrominated diphenyl ethers.