All about RFID...Care labelling

Vietnam is starting to byteVolatile Organic Chemicals

The success story of Bluetooth

Most people won’t know that the technology behind Radio Fre-quency Identification (RFID) traces its roots right back to World War II. With the skies above Europe crammed with planes, devices using it were fitted in aircraft to bounce back radio signals, distinguishing friend from foe. Today RFID technology is already commonly used in gadgets like motorway-toll tags and keyless-entry devices. Shrinking these devices down to the size of a barcode has now made it possible to attach them directly to products, carrying a wealth of information about them. Yet not everyone is supportive of this potential wonder product. Civil liberty groups decry angrily plans for individuals’ ID cards that are capable of transmiting personal information.

Tagged and bagged Products fitted with RFID tags could work all kinds of magic. In a supermarket, for instance, they eliminate the need to unload the trolley and scan its content item by item. Simply push-ing the trolley up to a checkout would relay all the product and price information, so supermarkets could automate most of their tills. In a warehouse, an RFID reader would record every item loaded into a truck, and a similar device at the truck’s destination would record everything being unloaded.

The primary attraction of RFID for industry and commerce is that it allows manufacturers, ship and retailers to locate and identify the status of products at any point on the sup-ply chain between the assembly line and the retail outlet. For large-scale manufacturers and retailers the benefits are clear, particularly in meeting contractual obligations such as delivery deadlines and in identifying any problems in freight forwarding, before it’s too late. Traceability is the essence in cargo movement and here RFID truly comes into its own.

With the addition of suitable sensors, it would become possible to tell whether a product had been dropped or kept at the wrong temperature. Finding a single product in a mountain of contain-ers would become a simple matter of getting an RFID reader to analyse the contents—without even opening the doors. And combining RFID technology with GPS tracking would mean

that nothing need ever get lost in the supply chain again.

One of the biggest boosts to the adoption of RFID tags has come from Wal-Mart, which in 2004 began testing them in 150 stores around Dallas, Texas. By the end of 2006, the tests will be expanded to some 1,000 stores in America. Wal-Mart has already seen some benefits, including a 16% reduction in out-of-stock items in stores using RFID. Moreover, items with RFID tags were replenished three times faster than non-tagged items.

The technology promises other benefits, too. One is a reduc-tion in inventory “shrinkage”—the industry’s polite term for pilfering. There have been some concerns that RFID tags might breach personal privacy, but these are mostly exagger-ated. When a customer buys an item the tag can be removed, just like the anti-theft devices attached to existing products.

If Wal-Mart and other retailers greatly expand their use of RFID tags, the price of each tag will keep falling and mass adoption will move closer. Not surprisingly it is expected that within 15 years most items in shops will carry RFID tags. Many high-value goods already carry them. The aver-age cost of an RFID tag at present is around 20 cents and could fall to around ten cents next year. That may seem a small price to pay to put such a clever device on, say, a televi-sion set. But attach them to millions of cans of baked beans, and the cost starts to mount up. Some are already printed as part of a product’s label, using electrically-conductive ink.

RFID Pages2&3

Care labelling Page4

Vietnam is startingto Byte Page5

Volatile Organic Chemical Page6

The success ofBluetooth Page7

SGS in the News Pages8-11

Standard & Regulations Pages12-13

Contact Us Page14

Inside

Continued on next page...

Page 2 - RFID Consumer Compact June 2006

Tag typesRFID comes in a number of forms but principally it ap-pears as a tag, which can be attached to all manner of objects including livestock. An RFID tag carries an Elec-tronic Product Code, may be active or semi-active and contains a transmitter to send back information rather than reflecting back a signal from the person reading it.

Some tags are battery-assisted and use technology called backscatter to reflect back radio waves to a reader, usu-ally at the same carrier frequency. Battery-assisted tags have a longer reader range. Meanwhile, beacons are ac-tive or semi-active RFID tags programmed to wake up and broadcast their signals at set intervals. The obvious ad-vantage of this can be seen if the whole chain is on alert.

Ford Canada has introduced a real-time locating system at its Oakville, Ontario plant, a scheme which it believes will allow it to operate on a much more flexible basis than before. RLTS, provided by WhereNet, includes the deployment by Ford em-ployees of hand-held computers and will enable the company to streamline the assembly process and electronically man-age the flow of parts for the production of planned 2007 mod-els, the Ford Edge and Lincoln MKX as well as two existing models. Ford is to implement a so-called ‘just in time’ sys-tem which sees delivery of parts to the production line on the very day of assembly. The vir- tue of this is that it eliminates on-site storage of parts, thus freeing up factory space. The hand-held will locate trailers as they approach the plant and warn of any interference in the delivery schedule. The company believes this innovative approach which includes the de-ployment of tags that encompass a convey-ance carrier code, a trailer number, a route

code and a transponder number will create an information system that has the twin virtues of linking each trailer to the re-ceiving schedule and enhancing a flexible all-round process. A further advantage is that Ford will be able to locate any trail-ers that would be liable to the demurrage charges levied on freight carriers that have stayed on-site too long. Ford hopes to apply the same cost-cutting and flexible technology at its Dearborn, Michigan truck assembly plant in the near future.

Another dramatic current application of RFID is to be found in the alarm over a possible global bird flu pandemic. While leading conservation groups believe that by far the greatest potential source of avian flu is the factory farm-ing of poultry, others believe that migratory wild birds are also a likely source. Smart-tek of British Columbia is ap-plying RFID tagging of migratory species in north Asia, particularly China, in an effort to weigh up the evidence.

Human taggingA number of fears concerning RFID have been raised by civil liberties groups. For example, in California a bill has been in-troduced to the State Senate to block the deployment of RFID on compulsory identity cards. Supporters of the bill have asked the question: “Should State and local governments compel you to carry an identity card that broadcasts your personal information?” Valid fears of identity theft through RFID have been expressed. Surpriv, an NGO working on pro-privacy is-sues, warns that RFID needs to be very strictly regulated. The spectre of Big Brother is central to this debate. Meanwhile, the state of Wisconsin has banned the forced use of RFID tags on humans, making it a crime. Governor Jim Doyle signed the ban into law in late May. At issue is the use of Verichip tech-nology, a glass-encapsulated RFID tag that can be injected into the flesh and which can be tracked right through clothing.

As with many advances in electronic technology, RFID’s devel-opment has taken place with a low level of public awareness of its implications. Whilst this is clearly a serious concern for civil liberties groups, the rapid growth of RFID is certain to lead to its wider use in industry and commerce. The huge markets of China and India which are assuming ever higher profiles in the global economy will see a major expansion in the application of RFID as Chinese and Indian concerns seek to penetrate other markets. As a potential bringer of greater efficiency, RFID will streamline production and delivery for these emerging forces.

RFID

Page 3 - RFIDConsumer Compact June 2006

With small skimpy or scanty under garments, the care instruction label is bigger than the garment. The gar-ment, the label says, must be hand washed, in lukewarm water and then placed on a flat surface in the shade. Whatever you do, don’t squeeze or wring it out. The little diagrams on the care label are full of drama and intrigue, especially as one can only guess at their meanings. Yet on most garment ranges – regard-less of country of origin – care labelling is applied as an afterthought. Although often criticised for being misunderstood, those strange squiggles and lines on the

inside tag of your shirt do make sense. There are several care labelling systems globally but most international suppliers aim to follow International Standard ISO 3758. This has 5 main symbols rep-resenting the five different ways that clothes can be cared for. These are 1. Washing 2. Bleaching 3. Drying 4. Iron-ing 5. Dry-Cleaning.

Washing is done in a bucket or in a washing machine, which is a sophis-ticated bucket with a motor. A bucket may symbolize

a washing machine if one goes back about 50 years or so. Hence the bucket symbol. If the garment is hand wash-able, there is a picture of a hand in the bucket. Very simple. If the garment is a machine-washable garment, there is a number in the bucket, refering to the water temperature. Since most people don’t know what the degree of water temperature is, they also have the op-tion to use dots. 1 dot is cold water, 2 dots means lukewarm, 3 dots, etc. Most washing machine models also offer a multitude of wash cycle settings besides just temperature options. No line below the bucket implies you can wash a nor-mal cycle. One line under the bucket means permanent press cycle, 2 lines

under the bucket is delicate or gentle cycle.

To accelerate stain removal, bleach is sometimes added to the bucket or washing machine. Originally bleach was chlorinated, and everyone

knows that chorine is number 17 on the periodic elements chart – thus it is sym-bolized by a triangle. An open triangle means any bleach is acceptable to use. If the triangle is shaded it means “only non-chlorine bleach” can be used.

After washing and bleaching, the next logical step in the laundry process is drying. Since dry-ers are essentially a square box, the drying symbol is a square. If

the square has a circle in it, tumble dry

is ok. A square with a half moon at the top is actually a clothes line and means “line dry”, while a square with vertical lines means “drip dry”. A square with a horizontal line symbolizes a garment lying flat for items that must be laid flat to dry.

Next is ironing. Probably the least used of all the symbols in the US but not in Europe, and no doubt the

easiest to recognise. The number of dots in the iron indicates the tempera-ture. One dot is cool, 2 warm, 3 hot, etc.

This seems simple enough to everyone, but just saying to wash, bleach, dry and iron is not enough. We also need to know about the temperature, the speed, when to bleach how to dry, tumble or line or drip. This is where the interpre-tation gets slightly more abstract.

To Dry-Clean or not to Dry-CleanThe 5th remaining symbol is a circle – meaning dry-clean – and trickier to recognise. It is becoming more common as garments thought unlikely to survive washing are simply labelled for dry-cleaning, regardless of whether they are suitable for dry-cleaning or not.

But dry-cleaning uses a chemical per-chloroethylene or perc (which can be smelt on dry-cleaned clothes) that is hazardous to the environment and a health risk to the cleaners. As regulation of perc dry cleaning has intensified, so has the interest in alternatives to perc. One such alternative was professional wet cleaning—a non-toxic water-based cleaning process that uses computer-controlled washers and dryers, specially formulated detergents and specialized finishing equipment.

In the case of consumer complaints, responsibility for any garment damage during cleaning hinges on whether the damage was due to incorrect labelling or incomplete understanding of the label by the cleaner. Labelling with fibre con-tent provides valuable information to the cleaner. However, some garments are

still sold with no such label, and others carry incomplete or inaccu-rate information.

If like some consumers, you find your-self lost in the jungle of symbols, do not hesitate to consult one of our 23 textile labs who can help you determine the correct care symbols for your garments whether it is for the US, European, Aus-tralian or Japanese markets.

Care LabellingSimple Symbols or Hieroglyphics?

Page 4 - Industry News Consumer Compact June 2006

Vietnam continues to get increased attention as a source of low tech consumer products. This is be-ginning to change with higher value electronics be-ing exported from the country.Vietnam is recognised as a lower cost alternate to China for certain industries. It also is increasingly being looked as a way of diversifying the risk of having too much of a company’s investments tied up in one country, i.e China. In both the North and the South, Vietnam, with its rich natural resources and talented and willing workforce is reaping the benefits of the government’s commitment to a business-friendly investment climate and enterprise laws. Exports, as a result, have taken off.

After China & India, Vietnam boasts Asia’s best-per-forming economy – growing by an average of 7.4% a year over the last decade. A number of foreign com-panies have located in Vietnam and this has attracted considerable new investment in textiles, garments, shoes and wooden furniture. Other major exports are seafood, cashews, pepper, coffee, rice, crude oil, coal and various tropical fruits.

There are problems, of course. Vietnam is still denied membership of the World Trade Organisation and re-cently there have been trade disputes with the US and EU over dumping of certain products such as seafood. But Vietnam is still hoping to become a member of the WTO in 2006. Among other benefits, accession would allow Vietnam to take advantage of the phase out of the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing, which eliminated quotas on textiles and clothing for WTO partners at the beginning of 2005. The case for Vietnam’s membership have improved somewhat though, as it has streamlined its laws to meets WTO requirements and has spent more than $ 1 billion improving its roads and airports in recent years. At present Vietnam is in the middle of what could be the final multilateral round of negotiations membership for this global trade club.

In its trade disputes, Vietnam stands accused of ex-porting everything from catfish to bicycles at predatory prices. Yet Vietnamese exporters seem remarkably adaptable. Shrimp and textiles that are being taxed by America have instead been diverted to Europe. Farm-ers who suffered when the international coffee price fell are shifting to cocoa and pepper. Exports continue to grow at a steady rate of 20% or so a year. On these terms, Vietnam’s many trade disputes are not so much

a concern as a clear indication of how competitive the country’s exports are.

Some of the big electronic manufacturers know that Vi-etnam’s membership is just round the corner and have already made the commitment to a longer term invest-ment in sourcing electronics from Vietnam. Canon was the first to demonstrate this commitment by investing US$10 million in a laser printer assembly line. Not only was this the catalyst for other Japanese compo-nent suppliers to set up shop, but surprisingly it made the bold decision to locate the plant in the north of the country, near to Hanoi’s international airport and quick access to overseas markets. Traditionally it had always been the south and Ho Chi Minh City which attracted the lion’s share of foreign direct investment. Following in Canon’s footsteps, this year Intel stated its intention to invest US$605 million in a test and assembly line, this time in the busy south.

Another positive stimulus has been the recent free trade agreement among the 10 members of ASEAN to re-duce the tariffs on electronic goods (previously as high as 30%) to 5% or less. That will give Vietnam’s elec-tronic manufacturers greater access to a trading bloc of half a billion people. So far, the Nidec Corporation (US$200 million on precision devices for cars, PCs and digital equipment), Fujitsu Ltd. (US$200 million on cir-cuit board assembly), Cisco Systems, Nortel Networks and Motorola have all come to Vietnam, fueling a new modern electronics industry. According to the Vietnam Electronics Industries association, in first quarter of this year Vietnam earned 382 million US dollars from ex-porting electronic goods, posting a year –on- year surge of 18.1 %.

Hard working, cheap labour is the key to Vietnam’s success. And since some 74% of Vietnam’s 84 million inhabitants remain in the countryside, employed in ag-riculture, there is plenty more scope for growth in the years to come.

SGS has established offices in Vietnam in 5 locations, two of them with dedicated laboratories

Vietnamis starting to Byte

Page 5 - Industry NewsConsumer Compact June 2006

Without realising it we are un-consciously inhaling “unhealthy smells” in many indoor or out-door environments. These smells are mainly Volatile Organic Com-pounds or VOCs. VOCs have a negative effect on the environ-ment and are hazardous to health. Their use and effects varies be-tween industry and nation. Now as a result of heightened global awareness, legislation is now being enforced to control their spread.

VOCs are emitted as gases from certain solids or liquids, from a vast array of products. VOCs include a variety of chemicals, some of which may have short and long-term ad-verse health effects. In general, VOC is any compound containing at least one carbon, except carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. Con-centrations of many VOCs are con-sistently higher indoors (up to ten times higher) than outdoors. VOCs are emitted by a wide array of prod-ucts numbering in the thousands. Examples include: paints and lac-quers, paint strippers, cleaning sup-plies, pesticides, building materials and furnishings, office equipment such as copiers and printers, cor-rection fluids and carbonless copy paper, graphics and craft materials including glues and adhesives, per-manent markers, and photographic solutions. Organic chemi

cals are widely used as ingredi-ents in household products. Paints, varnishes, and wax all contain organic sol-vents, as do many cleaning, disin-fecting, cosmetic, degreasing, and hobby products. Fuels are made up of organic chemicals. All of these products can release organic com-pounds during use and, to some de-gree, when they are being stored.

VOCs are present in gas or vapour and they enter to human body by breathing. Acute VOCs exposure causes breathlessness, skin, nose & eye irritation, dry throat, nausea, dyspnoea, headaches and fatigue. VOCs can pose health risks such as heart attacks, asthma and damage to liver, kidney, lung and the central nervous system. Exposure to some commonly found VOCs such as benzene, formaldehyde and meth-ylene chloride may cause cancer.

VOCs in AutomobilesIn light of growing concern over health and environmental protec-tion, the automotive industry has augmented the ‘environmental’ features of their products, in addi-tion to focusing on safety and bet-ter energy efficiency. Government bodies from over the world are now formulating respective policies in a bid to regulate the air quality inside the vehicle. China, for instance, is compiling the “the Regulations of Air Pollutant Content and Measurement in Vehicle Compartment”.

A task force has recently conducted an analysis of inner air quality of dif-ferent car models, in which 40 dif-ferent VOC were identified in car interiors. The main VOCs found were formaldehyde, ethyl butanol and different types of benzene, in all of which dimethylbenzene ac-counted for 15 to 20%. In terms of their respective toxicity and den-sity, formaldehyde, methylbenzene, dimethylbenzene, isocyanate and

naphthalenes were amongst the main pollutants.

VOCs in FurnitureAccording to the World Health Or-ganization, the number of deaths incurred by indoor pollution reaches 2.8 million every year. Hazardous indoor pollution not only jeopardiz-es human health, but also costs the global economy billions of dollars every year. Office workers are also at risk in the workplace. Office fur-niture, including desks, chairs and cabinets may emit various kinds of volatile organic compounds (VOC) which impinge on indoor air quality of the workplace. Common health symptoms related to VOC include eye discomfort, fever, dryness, headache and tiredness.

Since 2004, SGS has been involved in the analysis of specific VOCs. To ensure that your products comply with the latest VOC regulation for your market, contact SGS.

VOC Unhealthy

Smells

Page 6 - Industry News Consumer Compact June 2006

Consumer electronics: What does the success of Bluetooth wirelesstechnology reveal about standards battles?

IT WAS born amid a blaze of hype at the height of the dotcom boom, but initially failed to thrive. Indeed, Blue-tooth, a short-range wireless technology used to inter-connect portable devices, has been declared dead on many occasions. Early versions of the technology suf-fered from compatibility problems; an ambitious dem-onstration of the technology at a trade show in 2001 failed to work. And while Bluetooth struggled despite all the hype from its backers, another wireless technology, Wi-Fi, took off on its own. Obituaries of Bluetooth have appeared many times in the technology press, usually attributing its demise to the success of Wi-Fi. “Bluetooth is in full retreat,” declared Sean Maloney, an Intel execu-tive, in 2001. “Bluetooth is dead,” said Craig Mathias, an analyst at the Farpoint Group, in 2003. Other analysts issued similar verdicts.

But reports of the death of Bluetooth proved to be pre-mature: today it is in good health. Sales of Bluetooth devices more than doubled in 2005 to reach 320m units, and the figure is expected to exceed 520m this year—equivalent to more than 10m units a week and far outstripping sales of Wi-Fi chips, for those who insist on the comparison. Around one in four mobile phones sold now support Bluetooth.

And after years of insisting that Bluetooth was more than just a way to link a wireless headset to a mobile phone, its backers seem to have been vindicated, as other uses for Bluetooth have at last begun to emerge. Last year 60% of Bluetooth chips went into mobile handsets and 15% into wireless headsets, says Scott Smyser of iSup-pli, a market-research firm, but the other 25% went into other devices, from laptop computers, keyboards and mice to Bluetooth-enabled clothing.

This success, after its rocky start, is due to a combina-tion of factors, says Stuart Carlaw, an analyst at ABI Research. In many countries Bluetooth’s fortunes were boosted by new legislation banning the use of mobile phones without a hands-free kit while driving. This prompted many people to buy Bluetooth headsets. Several carmakers, led by Audi, also began to incorpo-

rate microphones and speakers, capable of connecting to a handset via Bluetooth, into their vehicles.

As consumers became more aware of Bluetooth and began to ask for it, handset-makers started to include it as a means of differentiating their products and increas-ing their margins. Adding a Bluetooth chip to a phone now costs very little—around $2, says Mr Carlaw, down from $20 in 2001—but allows the manufacturer to in-crease the price of the handset by far more, and opens up a new market for high-margin accessories. Finally, operators began offering Bluetooth headsets (typically end-of-line products that cost very little) as incentives to new customers. Again, the perceived value of the head-set is far higher than its cost to the operator, so this increases margins.

Greater adoption has, in turn, cleared the way for the inclusion of Bluetooth in all kinds of new products. In addition to Bluetooth-enabled jackets, motorcycle hel-mets and sunglasses with built-in wireless headsets, the controllers for two next-generation video-games consoles due to be launched later this year, Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Nintendo’s Wii, will use Bluetooth. Other new applications include stereo wireless head-phones for use with MP3 players—Apple is rumoured to be working on a Bluetooth iPod—and connecting MP3 players to in-car stereo systems via Bluetooth. “Blue-casting”, the beaming of information to handsets from Bluetooth-enabled posters, once a science-fiction sce-nario, has also become feasible, now that a large pro-portion of consumers have Bluetooth-capable phones.

In March the Bluetooth Special Interest Group, the not-for-profit body that promotes and directs the develop-ment of the technology, announced that version 3.0 of Bluetooth would be based on ultrawideband radio tech-nology, which allows for data-transfer rates hundreds of times faster than is possible today. “This will open up completely new application areas from 2008,” says Alan Woolhouse of Cambridge Silicon Radio, a British com-pany that is the leading manufacturer of Bluetooth chips. Higher data rates will, for example, make it possible to transfer music to MP3 players, or beam photographs or video from digital cameras to televisions, without using wires. Whatever the doom-sayers predict, Bluetooth is most definitely here to stay. [©The Economist Newspaper Ltd.London, June 8th, 2006]

Our Main Bluetooth testing laboratory is at SGS Taiwan,for more information please contact - joe.chen@sgs.com

TM

The Success Story of

Page 7 - Industry NewsConsumer Compact June 2006

Found in TranslationThe Japanese Positive ListSGS Thailand has obtained approval for food testing from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare

Japan’s Food Sanitation Law is regulated by the Ministry of Human, Labour and Welfare, in order to control food quality and safety in both domestic production and imports. Its main objective is to protect consumer’s health from any risk created by consuming food & drinks and encouraging support for Japan food safety campaign.

To give clearer guidelines to foreign food producers, the Ministry of Human, Labour and Welfare has recently in-troduced a “Positive List System” for agricultural chemi-cal residues in food. It is a system to prohibit the distribu-tion of foods that contain agricultural chemicals above a certain level if maximum residue limits (MRLs) have not been established. This system is forced to regulate the residue level in any food by emphasizing to food manu-facturers, importers, traders, or related organizations who are importing food products to Japan must strictly conduct to this regulation. This regulation covers a vari-ety of information including by not limited to all chemical substances, the residual limitation, substances exemp-tion, enforcement date, and method analysis.

The Positive List includes 799 agricultural chemicals – pesticides, feed additives and veterinary drugs – the residues of which are prohibited in food for sale in Ja-pan. The Positive List will be enforced from May 29th 2006.

In 2005, Thailand was 5th food importer to Japan, worth US$2.4 billion, a 4.6% growth on 2004. Of these exports to Japan most are food products which are required to follow Positive List System.

During May SGS Thailand with the cooperation of SGS Japan conducted a large in-house seminar to highlight the importance of the Japanese Positive List to the Thai food industry. 250 attendees learnt from technical ad-visers with 35 years experience in Ajinomoto (Japan) how to respond to the Japanese Positive List.For more information please contact - Supawadee. Jirawiwatsaree@sgs.com

Labs news update : from SGS Philippines, Portugal, Poland,China and KoreaCTS Philippines Opens Cebu Laboratory

On the 16th of May 2006 the CTS laboratory in Lapu-lapu City, Cebu, Philippines was officially opened by SGS Philippines CTS manager, Ditas Rodriguez and SGS Financial Controller Marlen Acosta, represented SGS Philippines managing director David Robinson.

This CTS Hardlines/Packaging Laboratory is capable of physical, mechanical and performance tests on clients’ products. The laboratory office also serves as a drop off point for all test samples for Softlines, Hardlines, and Electronics. This new laboratory is one of the numerous initiatives of SGS Philippines in its continued expansion and investment in the country.

For more information please contact - Rowena.Musni@sgs.com

SGS Portugal moved its Food Laboratory Portugal’s main food laboratory has for a number of years served several key companies supplying the food chain, from primary producers, food processors, distri-bution, restaurants and hotel chains.

This successful lab has now been moved to SGS’s new headquarters in the Lisbon Technological Park (LISP-OLIS). The new SGS LAB will continue to execute a wide range of chemical and microbiological tests and analysis for agro-food products, waters and DPH products. Other services provided by CTS Food Portugal include label verification, regular legislation updates and technical support at numerous levels.

Anabela Gonçalves, Consumer Testing Services Exec-utive Director of Portugal believes that the new facilities offer better accessibility for delivery of samples, reduc-tion in turnaround times and bigger capacity to integrate new & existing food services such as quality control of agricultural products, environmental services and train-ing.

For more information please contact - anabela.gon-calves@sgs.com

Page 8 - SGS in the News Consumer Compact June 2006

SGS Poland Microbiology LabNow Ready for the Polish Market

SGS Poland - CTS department has recently opened a new Microbiology Laboratory. The new lab will be the first microbiology laboratory in Poland and is located in Ozarów Mazowiecki, near Warsaw.

The scope of capabilities include, organoleptic evalua-tion of foodstuffs, microbiological examination of food and animal feedstuffs, microbiological examination of potable water, bacteriological evaluation of the surface of carcasses (cattle, swine, sheep, goats and horses) in slaughterhouses and microbiological evaluation of foodstuff production.

The Laboratory was designed according to European co-operation for Accreditation standard for Laboratories Performing Microbiological Testing - which supplements ISO/IEC 17025. Modern and sophisticated equipment meets the requirement of international standards and ensures staff safety. For more information please con-tact - justyna.kosieradzka@sgs.com.

New Hardlines Laboratory in Anji, China

SGS China continues its ferocious expansion efforts with a new furniture and flammability laboratory in the Anji branch office opened by Helmut Chik, Chief Op-erating Officer, China and Hong Kong, US Testing of SGS.

Anji hard goods lab has the only professional flamma-bility lab in China. It can provide comprehensive flam-mability testing according to US, EU and other coun-tries standards including the recent CPSC 16CFR1633, California Technical Bulletin (TB603, TB117), BS) for mattresses and soft sofas.

The Anji lab has been accredited by the China National Accreditation Board for Laboratories (CNAL). It can provide testing services according to client’s require-ments and country standards for a range of hard good products including but not limited to furniture, bicycles, hand tools, infant products, toys, sport equipments, sunglasses, plumbing, kitchenware and ceramics.

In East China, SGS-CSTC has already set up offices in Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou, Hangzhou and Ningbo. The Anji lab will enhance furniture and hard goods testing services in East China, adding to SGS China’s strong internal network. For details please contact - lee.wyene@sgs.com.

SGS Korea’s Wireless Telecommunication Laboratory is ready for business

SGS Korea has opened a new Wireless Telecommu-nication Lab. The installation of the test platform was completed in January and ISO 17025 certification was achieved in March 2006. Membership of PVG was achieved and the lab became an approved GCF and

PTCRB for GSM/WCDMA mobile testing in May 2006.

With the arrival of this lab, SGS now has a strong net-work of 4 GSM laboratories, encircling North Asia as the main global centre for mobile telecommunication

manufacture. In a little over a year, SGS has invested heavily in the advanced technology necessary to sup-port the research and development of future genera-tions of telecommunication protocols. Four laboratories have GSM capabilities in the region – Yokohama, Tai-pei, Shanghai and now Seoul. The complete network is capable of testing for :• GSM/GPRS/WCDMA RF, Protocol, SIM/USIM, MMS, Acoustic testing service • OTA and RSTE Testing Service • SAR testing service • Bluetooth and Wi-Fi testing serviceThe Korea lab will help to ensure that your tel-ecommunication products comply with all the main standards & protocols required for either the US or EU market, including GSM/WCDMA full type approval testing, RSE and OTA testing. Contact wesley.kwon@sgs.com to learn more how our GSM lab network can help you.

Page 9 - SGS in the NewsConsumer Compact June 2006

SGS Senior Toy Expert is elected chairman of Toys Notified BodySanda Stefanovic, senior toy expert in SGS Netherlands (Spijkenisse) has recently been elected as chairman of Toys Notified Bodies, an organization of 70 members set up to enforce safety in toy products.

Safety is an important issue for toys. By harmonising safety characteristics of toys across the EU a stronger internal market has been created; this has positively con-tributed both to the development of the sector and to con-sumer protection. The Council directive of 88/378/EEC of 3 May 1988 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States concerning the safety of toys, amended by Council Directive 93/68/EEC of 22 July 1993 sets a high level of protection for consumers. The directive relies on European standards and also on the Notified Bodies appointed by Member States to undertake con-formity assessment.

Notified Bodies Notification is an act whereby an EU Member State in-forms the Commission and the other Member States that a body, which fulfils the relevant requirements, has been designated to carry out conformity assessment according to a directive. Notification of Notified Bodies and their with-drawal are the responsibility of the notifying Member State.More information please contact - sanda.stefanovic@sgs.com.

Seminar roadshow first garments, now toys A recent Softlines seminar was given a new twist. Instead of taking place in one location, it was taken on the move, moving from Hamburg, Dortmund and Munich spread-ing out to meet more clients where they are based.

Aimed at Quality Managers within the textile business, the course covered the issues of hazardous substances in apparel, shoes and accessories and the legal re-quirements for product safety. The seminar was led by Dr. Hinrichs, and through discussions participants learnt about how to better protect their products against con-sumer complaints.

Continuing the success of the Softlines roadshow, the Hardlines division will run a roadshow, this time focussing on toy safety. Two seminars will take place on 28th June in Hamburg and on 29th June in Erlangen (near to Nuremberg in South Germany).

At both of these seminars which are nearly fully booked, SGS specialists will answer questions on toys coving mandatory standards on toy legislations, especially EN 71, Part 9 to 11 and other topics about future market requirements in future European Toys Business Lines. For more information please contact - lutz.lehmann@sgs.com.

Page 10 - SGS in the News Consumer Compact June 2006

The AATCC, the American Association of Textile Chemists & Colourists is the world’s largest technical and scientific society devoted to the advancement of textile chemistry. Their services include publications, education and the development of test methods for the textile wet processing industry. For more than 70 years. The AATCC has worked with dyers, finishers, educa-tors, students, chemists, mill superintendents, laborato-ry technicians, management executives and others who are involved with the application of chemistry to textiles. The AATCC has published more than 175 test methods addressing such topics as colourfastness, staining, laundering, and electrostatics. The association is at the forefront of new ideas and innovations in textile chemis-try and colour science.

The AATCC, as part of its mission to promote in-creased knowledge and best practice for the applica-tion of dyes and chemicals in the textile sector is well known for its training courses on specific textile top-ics. Up until now these workshop sessions have been concentrated in the USA. Over the past decade an increasing number of companies outside of the US have started applying AATCC standards and test methods. This recognition and popularity has led to an increasing demand for training courses to take place in the main textile producing nations. For two years now SGS has worked as training partner with the AATCC, supported by AATCC’s approved trainer for India, Mr. Jayakumar Gopalakrishnan.

The very practical format of the training necessitates a fully equipped, on-site laboratory to facilitate the hands - on demonstration of the concepts and testing meth-ods by the trainers. SGS India Pvt Ltd, with the largest network of textile testing laboratories in India accredited to ISO 17025 was the preferred laboratory for the task. SGS’s network of labs in India have much experience of AATCC’s test methods as these are already used by various well known US brands.

The training sessions are assisted by laboratory tech-nicians, helping to demonstrate colour fastness princi-ples and appearance testing, fibre identification, colour physics and more. The success of the Textile Techni-cian Certification session emphasises AATCC commit-ment to working with SGS as partner for their training programmes in India.

To date , more than 60 professionals including technicians, merchandisers, chemists and laboratory managers have been trained, through the network of SGS labs.

The association of SGS with AATCC has been instru-mental in enhancing the SGS brand visibility amongst the textile trade in India. It has also added a new dimension to their testing services. To know more about the trainingprogrammes in India log on to www.aatcc.org/work-shops/india_programs.cfm.

AATCC and SGS The Indian Story

Page 11 - SGS in the NewsConsumer Compact June 2006

Avian influenza affects European Union

After Asia, the contagious viral disease which affects poultry has invaded 9 European countries. At the time of going to press, Avian Influenza has been identi-fied in the wild bird population of the following mem-ber states: Hungary, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Italy, Greece, France and Sweden and nearby Switzerland. Click here for details

Benzene in softdrinks causes concern

In November 2005, the U.S. Food and Drug Administra-tion received reports from private laboratories that benzene had been found in low levels in some soft drinks that contains benzoate salts (pre-servative) and ascorbic acid (Vitamin C).Click here to learn why this is an issue.

California proposition 65 for jewellerySince September 2003 a number of product recalls have occured on children’s jewellery. Millions of piec-es of children’s jewellery sold in vending machines and departments stores, as well as those through mail order and internet have been recalled. The main problem is the high levels of lead posing a risk of poisoning to young children.To read more click here

How to comply with RoHSTo prove whether a equipment is covered by RoHS or not the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) as well as the Germany Federal Environtment ministry (BMU) have given some useful tools. By following these guidelines a decision can be made whether the equipment was covered by RoHS or not. Click here to read more

International candle standard up dated newsThroughout the year, safety experts around the world have been trying their very best to set safety criteria on consumer products to try to eliminate as many potential hazards from products as possible.For more information click here

Safeguards

Page 12 - Standards & Regulations Consumer Compact June 2006

New updated version of BS3084 (zips)The standard first appeared in 1959 and has been regu-larly added to and amended ever since. The latest edi-tion due to be published in April 2006 has had a radical face lift and there have been some fundamental chang-es especially in the area of sampling and testing to destruction.Click here for details

New US mattress regulation passed

On February 16th, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Committee (CPSC) passed the large scale open flame standard, 16 CFR 1633 by a vote of 3-0. This new fed-eral standard is largely based on California’s Technical Bulletin (CATB) 603, and will apply to all mattresses manufactured, renovated, or imported to any state in the US. CATB 603 applied only to mattresses made in or imported to the state of California. Click here for details.

Standard update on European outdoor furnitureThe European Committee for Standardization has just published a new testing standard for outdoor furniture testing.Click here for further information

Child resistant lightersupdated

On 11 May 2006 the EU Commission adopted a Deci-sion requiring Member States to ensure that disposable cigarette lighters are child-resistant. The decision also prohibits the placing on the market of lighters which re-semble objects that are particularly attractive to children such as toys (so called novelty lighters). Click here to read more

California proposition 65 settlement for beverage packagingDuring the first half of 2006, two soft drink manufacturers were sued for reported violations of California Proposition 65. The reported violation revolved around the paint on the bottle labels containing high levels of lead. Click here for more information

SafeguardsPage 13 - Standards & RegulationsConsumer Compact June 2006

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© 2006 SGS SA. All rights reserved. This newsletter is a publication of SGS SA although certain contents have been submitted by third parties or have otherwise been licensed for use by SGS SA and all copyrights in such third party contents remain vested in such third parties. Contents identified as being from third parties reflect solely the positions of such third parties and SGS SA neither endorses nor disapproves of said contents. This newsletter is intended to provide general information on a particular subject or subjects and is not an exhaustive treatment of such subject (s). Accordingly, the information in this newsletter is not intended to constitute consulting or other professional advice or services. This newsletter is provided “as is” and SGS SA does not warrant that the information contained therein will be error-free or will meet any particular criteria of performance or quality. The information may not be quoted or referred to in any other publication or proceeding without the prior written consent of SGS SA.

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