Beijing, March 17: The eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang has seized items of imported top-end clothing made by the likes of Versace and Hugo Boss after tests showed some were of substandard quality and in one case a potential health threat.
Only 43.5 percent of the items tested by provincial authorities from stores in three Zhejiang cities passed quality tests, the Zhejiang Administration for Industry and Commerce said in a statement on its website.
It did not give quantities or values for the seized items but said the clothes were imported from countries including France, Italy, Turkey, Vietnam, India, South Korea, Egypt and Romania.
Brands caught up in the tests of everything from t-shirts to skirts and jeans including those made by Dolce & Gabbana, Tommy Hilfiger, Zara, H&M, Hermes and Trussardi.
‘The quality situation has caused people to raise their eyebrows,’ the statement said.
A least one pair of jeans tested had excess levels of formaldehyde in them, which it asserted could cause breathing and skin problems or even cancer.
The Zhejiang statement said that some seized items had more prosaic issues, such as improper labelling about size or washing instructions.
‘The Zhejiang Administration for Industry and Commerce has already seized the substandard items and will investigate sales outlets which sold them,’ it added.
A Hugo Boss spokesman said the company was recalling some items in China due to a ‘few isolated cases’ with ‘a slight deviation in quality standards’, but he added that none of the problems posed a safety issue.
‘We would like to distance ourselves from any connection between Hugo Boss products and substances that could endanger health,’ the spokesman said.
Other clothing makers could not immediately be reached for comment.
China has been rocked by numerous product safety scandals over the past few years.
At least six children died after drinking milk contaminated with the industrial chemical melamine in 2008, and about 300,000 sought medical treatment, many with kidney stones.
While the government has announced several crackdowns, it also likes to point out that the issue is a global one not limited to China.
China’s quality watchdogs frequently announce seizures of imported goods they say are not up to standard.
–Agencies