In the People’s Republic of China, the product standards adopted for footwear products produced or sold within the country are centralized by the National Footwear Standardization Technical Committee. The product labeling should conform to the requirements of QB/T 2673 “Technical Interpretation of Footwear Product Labeling.”
QB/T 2673-2023 ” Footwear Product Labeling,” as the latest version of the standard, was implemented on February 1, 2024. PFI technical experts will provide you with an in-depth interpretation of the main changes between the old and new versions.
1. Terms and definitions
PFI Interpretation:
1) Children’s footwear includes kid’s shoes and infant shoes
2) The item number is the batch number identified by the manufacturer of the product, not the barcode of the product.
2. Location and content
2023 version deleted “outer packaging” and changed “inner packaging (including tag)” to “packaging (including tag)”. Shoes and packaging (including tags) shall contain corresponding identifying information. Its provisions are as follows:
3. Forms and requirements
PFI Interpretation:
- The requirement of the validity period of the logo is removed, and only the logo is clearly visible.
- The requirement for Certificate of conformity/warranty card has been removed.
- The height requirement of the logo font is only for the packaging (including the tag), and there are no requirements for shoes.
4. Elements of Labeling
1） Product name
PFI Interpretation:
- In addition to children’s shoes cannot be marked with gender, the gender of other products is also changed to selective marking.
- Footwear products manufacturers should pay special attention to the “note” part of the article.
2）Shoe size
PFI interpretation: The Chinese shoe size is a must, and the shoe size of other systems can be independently selected by enterprises according to their needs.
The original shoe size standard GB/T 3293.1-1998 has been replaced by GB/T 43293-2022 on May 1, 2023. The main technological changes are:
- Shoe size only marked foot length market value, foot width or model enterprises independently marked.
- The requirement that the shoe size font is not less than 3mm was deleted.
Note: According to the latest shoe size standards, the end of the shoe size can not be 0 or 5.
3） Material
PFI Interpretation:
- The 2023 version stipulates that the side material must be marked in Chinese, and the Chinese mark shall prevail.
- The 2023 version has deleted the labeling requirements and examples of the lining and inner pad and outsole in the 2013 version, and has also deleted appendices A and B.
4） Origin
PFI Interpretation:
Two changes in the 2023 version:
- Domestic production has been reflected in the marked enterprise information, but the place of origin is not marked.
- Domestic production of shoes, can be directly marked “China”, can also be specific to the province or city.
5）Company name and contact information
PFI Interpretation:
1) In version 2023, annotations are no longer required for communication methods other than addresses and telephones.
2) If the registered address of the marked enterprise is A and the actual office address is B, the address and contact information of A and B can be marked at the same time.
6） Executive standard
PFI Interpretation:
- It is recommended to mark the age number of the implementation standard.
- Mandatory national standards, whether marked or not, must be enforced.
- The enterprise standard has been adjusted from the past filing system to the self-declaration system.
7） Quality level
PFI interpretation:
Added in the 2023 version, how to mark when the product standard is not divided into grades.
8） Three guarantees, production date, color
PFI Interpretation:
These three items are no longer mandatory in the 2023 version. However, for example, to avoid disputes, it is recommended that enterprises label.
