SAMR’s Call for Comments on Key Mandatory National Standards

On 30 January 2025, the Standards Technology Management Department of the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) launched a Call for Comments on 11 mandatory national standards projects. These projects cover key production materials, industrial production safety, and limit of harmful substances of adhesives. The deadline of the Call for Comments was 1 March 2026.

Project No. 1: Limits for Prohibited and Restricted Substances in Leatherette (人造革合成革禁限用物质限量)

Proposal Unit:the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology
Standards-Making Unit:National Technical Committee on Plastics Products Standardization (TC48)
Affected Areas: Development, production, inspection, sales and service of artificial leather and synthetic leather in industries such as plastics, textiles, coatings, adhesives, automobiles, daily household clothing, decoration and renovation
Significance:
To address the environmental risks posed by China’s leatherette and synthetic leather production and to rectify the obsolescence of GB 21550-2008The restriction of hazardous materials in polyvinyl chloride artificial leather, this standard revision strictly adheres to the Product Quality Law, Standardization Law, Law of People’s Republic of China on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests, and the State Council’s Program on Deepening the Reform of Work of Standardization.

The revision aims to confine mandatory standards to the bottom line of safeguarding ecological safety and human health. By introducing new requirements for prohibited and restricted substances and enforcing the standard in its entirety, this update regulates the entire industry chain from design and production to recycling, thereby enhancing product quality and resource circulation while providing a legal basis for government supervision to govern pollution at the source and drive the industry toward a green, low-carbon transformation.

Project No. 2: Limits for Harmful Substances of Adhesives (胶粘剂中有害物质限量)

Proposal Unit:the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology
Standards-Making Unit:National Technical Committee on Adhesive Standardization (TC185)
Affected Areas:
Design, production, inspection, and sales of solvent-based, water-based, and reactive (body-type) adhesives. The standard applies universally across all industries utilizing these products—ranging from industrial manufacturing, construction, and decoration to footwear, luggage, healthcare, and special engineering—replacing previous industry-specific classifications to cover the entire adhesive product chain.
Significance:
To simplify and integrate 3 existing mandatory standards and to resolve their conflicts in VOC limit indicators and inconsistencies in test methods with – GB 33372-2020 Limit of volatile organic compounds content in adhesive. An integrated revision of the current standards is urgently needed. Below are the 3 mandatory standards affected.

- GB 18583-2008 Indoor decorating and refurbishing materials
- GB 19340-2014 Adhesives for footwear and case and bag
- GB 30982-2014 Limit of hazardous substances in construction adhesive

This upgrade aims to overcome the obsolescence of the old standards by expanding their scope, adding testing items for emerging hazardous substances, and unifying test methods, thereby strictly limiting hazardous substance content at the source and driving the adhesive industry toward a green and sustainable transformation.

Standards Series Project: Safety in industrial electroheating installations (工业电热装置安全要求第1部分：总则)

In addition, the Call for Comments also introduced a mandatory standards series on the safety of industrial electroheating installations. The standards series included 6 parts and they are:

- Part 1: General safety specifications
- Part 2: Arc heating installations
- Part 3: Induction heating and – electromagnetic processing installations
- Part 4: Resistance heating installations
- Part 5: Plasma and electron beam heating installations
- Part 6: High-frequency dielectric and microwave heating installations
Propsal Unit:the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology
Standards-Making Unit:National Technical Committee on Industrial Electroheat Equipment Standardization (TC121)
Affected Areas:
Design, manufacturing, installation, operation, maintenance, inspection, and acceptance of industrial electric heating devices (including arc heating, induction heating, electromagnetic processing, resistance heating, plasma and electron beam heating, high-frequency dielectric, and microwave heating devices) across industries such as equipment manufacturing, shipbuilding, automobiles, steel, non-ferrous metals, aerospace, and light industry.
Significance:
To address the critical safety risks associated with extreme operating conditions (such as high voltage, overheating, and strong electromagnetic fields) and to rectify the potential hazards of electric shock, burns, fire, and explosions, this mandatory standard series strictly adheres to the principle of safeguarding human health, property safety, and ecological security.By establishing comprehensive safety requirements throughout the entire lifecycle—from design and manufacturing to installation, operation, and maintenance—the standards aim to achieve an optimal balance between personnel, environment, and product safety. This series provides a unified technical basis for manufacturers and users to identify and mitigate unsafe factors, effectively preventing major accidents even under single-fault conditions.Furthermore, it fosters a fair market environment by curbing malicious competition based on compromised safety quality, thereby driving the sustainable, high-quality, and green development of key industrial sectors.