Australia Regulates Children’s Nightwear and Paper Patterns for Nightwear
March 2007 (07B-109)
Under the Trade Practices (Consumer Product Safety Standards) Regulations, Australia now mandates and is instituting safety requirements that will apply to both children’s nightwear, and paper patterns for children’s nightwear. The safety regulations consist of applicable sections of the Australian/New Zealand standard, AS/NZS 1249, Children’s Nightwear and Limited Daywear Having Reduced Fire Hazard. The regulations are effective as of March 1, 2007.
Defining Children’s Nightwear
Summarizing from the Regulations, (see AS/NZ 1249 for specifics), the definition of children’s nightwear is:
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a garment in size range 00 to 14;
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not a second-hand garment; and
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apparel commonly recognized as nightwear garments; such as pajamas, pajama-style overgarments, nightdresses, nightshirts, dressing gowns, bathrobes and infant sleepbags, and garments such as all-in-ones and boxer shorts which may be suitable for daywear or nightwear.
Flame Spread Requirements
The Regulations stipulate flammability testing for the nightwear in accordance with ISO 6941, where the flame spread time shall be 12 seconds or greater in the lengthwise direction and the widthwise direction, and no one determination of time to burn a test specimen shall be less than 10 seconds in either direction. The regulation also provides test details for when a sample is of insufficient length, and butt-jointing of pieces is permitted.
Material is said to pass the flame spread time test when three or more specimens fail to burn to the third marker thread in a lengthwise direction, and three or more specimens fail to burn to the third marker in a widthwise direction.
Transition Period for Usage of 2003 Standard
The regulations, which are based on sections of AS/NZ 1249, are effective immediately. However, there is a grace period allowing the cited sections to be used from the older version AS/NZS 1249:1999 or from the newer version, AS/NZS 1249:2003, until February 29, 2008. After March 1, 2008, the later version, AS/NZS 1249:2003, must be used.
There are minimal differences in the clauses cited by the regulations between the 1999 and 2003 versions of AS/NZS 1249. However, the 2003 version adds infant sleepbags to the definition of nightwear, which is absent from the 1999 definition. In addition, for fabrics which are overlayed (e.g., quilted), flammability testing will proceed as a composite of layers.
For More Information: Please contact your services representative or Ellen Roaldi, Senior Global Technical Consulting Specialist, Softlines, at 716-505-3670 or via email: ellen.roaldi@us.bureauveritas.com
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