The mandatory national standard GB 20400-2026 Safety Technical Specification for Leather and Fur Products was released on March 31, 2026. It will come into effect on April 1, 2027, and will fully replace the previous standard GB 20400-2006.
This first revision since 2006 expands controlled items from 2 to 8, comprehensively upgrades safety technical requirements, and greatly raises the product safety access threshold.
1. Scope of application:
This standard applies to the accessible leather and fur parts of daily-use leather and fur products and related articles, and also applies to the regenerated leather parts of regenerated leather products and their articles.
Exemption scope: Leather, fur and regenerated leather products and their articles for special industrial use.
2. Product classification:
Products are divided into the following three categories according to their final use:
- Category A: Leather and fur products for infants and young children;
- Category B: Leather and fur products that come into direct contact with the skin;
- Category C: Leather and fur products that do not come into direct contact with the skin.
3. Controlled substances: Previous vs. New Requirements
The safety technical requirements for leather and fur products and a comparison of the new versus old version requirements are shown in the table below.
|
Item
|
New version GB 20400-2026
|
Previous version GB 20400-2006
|
|---|---|---|
|
Carcinogenic aromatic amines that can be decomposed
|
≤30 mg/kg， 24 substances
|
≤30 mg/kg， 23 substances
|
|
Formaldehyde
|
Cat. A: ≤20 mg/kg
Cat. B: ≤75 mg/kg Cat. C: ≤300 mg/kg |
Cat. A: ≤20 mg/kg
Cat. B: ≤75 mg/kg Cat. C: ≤300 mg/kg White sheep shearing: ≤600 mg/kg |
|
Hexavalent chromium
|
Cat. A: ≤3.0 mg/kg
Cat. B/C: ≤10 mg/kg |
/
|
|
Short-chain chlorinated paraffins
|
<0.15%
|
/
|
|
Chlorophenols
• Pentachlorophenol • Total tetrachlorophenols • Total trichlorophenols |
≤0.5 mg/kg ≤0.5 mg/kg ≤1.0 mg/kg |
/
|
|
Phthalate plasticizers
• DINP+DIDP+DNOP • DEHP+DBP+BBP+DIBP |
Cat. A: <0.1%
<0.1% |
/
|
|
Total heavy metals
• Lead • Cadmium |
Cat. A: ≤90 mg/kg Cat. A: ≤100 mg/kg |
/
|
|
Dimethyl fumarate
|
≤0.1 mg/kg
|
/
|
4. Implementation and transition period
For products that have been produced or imported before the implementation date of this standard, the standard will apply starting from the 19th month after the implementation date (i.e., October 1, 2028).
5. Recommendations
GB 20400-2026 marks a new phase of whole-chain management for China’s leather and fur product safety standard system. The new standard imposes higher requirements on the entire industry chain of leather, fur and regenerated leather. Therefore, it is recommended that relevant enterprises promptly disseminate and implement the new standard and take corresponding measures to address its impacts.
