Press briefing of Cabinet Decision taken on 2017-12-12

Establishment of a Certification System on Health and Safety in the Textile and Apparel Products

- It is a complicated matter to identify the qualitatively right clothes for use out of the varieties of clothes found in the market. Attention must be paid on the health safety on the raw materials and the other chemicals used specially in the manufacture and pacing of fabrics and the manufactures and consumers should be provided with adequate knowledge of this matter.

Accordingly, the proposal made by Hon. Rishad Bathiudeen, the Minister of Industry and Commerce, to make health and safety certification as a mandatory requirement for locally manufactured and imported textile and apparel products prior to gaining entry into the local market, to authorize the Sri Lanka Institute of Textile and Apparel as the agent responsible for certification, to decide relevant criterion with the assistance of the Sri Lanka Standards Institute and to make the process enforceable through the Consumer Affairs Authority, was approved by the Cabinet.