The American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) has published its fourth release of the global AAFA Restricted Substances List (RSL), covering home textiles, apparel and footwear. The free list, together with a growing set of other chemical management tools, can be downloaded at the AAFA website, http://www.apparelandfootwear.org/Resources/RestrictedSubstances.asp.
The AAFA RSL, first released in the summer of 2007, is the first of its kind. The list covers chemicals and other substances whose presence in a product is regulated through a government standard or law. The list identifies the most restrictive iteration of that regulation internationally. Every six months, the publication is reviewed, updated and the latest version is made available on the AAFA website.
"Operating a business globally creates critical, complex compliance issues relating to the environment, sustainability and product safety," explained Kevin Burke, president and CEO of AAFA. "The AAFA RSL is an important tool to navigating the murky and often shifting landscape of government regulations."
This fourth release has been updated to reflect changes made by the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) and now includes U.S. state chemical regulations where appropriate. There are other more minor changes from the previous edition. Future editions will include new enhancements, such as foreign language translations.
In addition to the global RSL, AAFA continues to offer training sessions and workshops on regulating restricted substances in textiles, apparel and footwear products as well as on broader product safety, sustainability, and environmental compliance issues.
Registration is now open for the AAFA Intertek CPSIA Power Dinner (New York City, March 9) and International Product Safety & Restricted Substances Seminars (Dongguan, China, March 26-27/ Hangzhou, China, March 30-31).
