Yesterday, one of my clients called me to get my opinion on an issue they are facing. He imports garments into the EU, and the composition written on the labeling has to be true within 3 percentage points. For example, he is not in compliance if he writes 92% polyamide & 8% Elastane when it actually is 88% polyamide & 12% Elastane.

Up until now, he has told his Chinese suppliers to declare the composition of each fabric, without requiring chemical testing. However some of his own customers in the EU have run tests on what they purchase, and in some cases the declared composition was outside the 3% tolerance.

He knows he is running risks. If the customs test the composition on an incoming shipment, or directly in his warehouse, the products might be confiscated and many complications might arise.

On the other hand, the suppliers don’t run any risk. This importer never uses contracts (he issues many orders to maybe a dozen suppliers, and most of the time an order is below USD10,000). So the suppliers have no incentive to make any effort.

My client decided to push his suppliers to pay for lab tests. They refused it.

My client told his suppliers he would proceed to random lab tests, and apply penalties whenever the composition is found wrong. They protested loudly.

In conclusion, the only option to be 100% safe is for the purchaser to pay for the lab tests himself. This is hard to swallow for a European company: shouldn’t the supplier be responsible for what he sells?? Why don’t most Chinese companies hear this logic?

First, Chinese exporters usually purchase the components of the final product from their own suppliers. In 99% of cases, the choice of the sub-supplier is either based on price, or guided by a personal relationship. In any case, the reliability of the specs promised to the customer is not the priority.

Second, Chinese companies are big fans of the “it’s not my fault, it’s my supplier” excuse. They generally refuse to recognize any responsibility on their part. It is convenient to save face and to avoid penalties.

Third, this importer places small orders and systematically negotiates prices… He is notseen as a good customer, and it is obvious that most Chinese suppliers will consider him the same way. “Why give him a favor when we know he has no better alternative?”, they think.

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To learn more about compulsory laboratory tests: How to deal with laboratory tests?