CONSUMER PRODUCTS AND RETAIL E-SSENTIALS

Argentina: Regulatory framework setting quality and safety standards for furniture

September 2018- Relevant for: hardlines

On 28 August 2018, Argentina informed WTO on the national regulatory framework establishing the minimum quality and safety principles and requirements for furniture¹  in accordance with Annex 1 of the notified text².

Furniture mean any products used to store, place or hang items, and/or provide surfaces on which users can rest, whether for indoor or outdoor use with the following exclusion as listed in Article 2:

Specific regulations shall be issued, which, owing to their particular characteristics, are considered relevant, based on the guidelines established in the Annex 1, including but not limited to the following aspects:

Products must withstand the stress to which they are subject to during their life of using, minimum including:

• Resistance to tearing, fatigue to wear and friction wear,
• Resistance to maximum load for the product is expected,
• Physical integrity and resistance to relevant condition of use.
• Flammability.
• Health and environmental requirements, such as identifying components with possibility of recycling, restrict the use of substances with heavy metal and organic volatile compounds; disclosure of the concentration of potentially toxic, carcinogenic and mutagenic substances; and ensure that materials used in the product are safe for users (e.g. paints, adhesive, resins etc).
• Product should list the component parts and indicate the percentage weight of each constituent material. The design should pose dimensional stability, and not have any pointed parts, sharp edges, chamfers or potentially hazardous finishes.
• Must include information on assembly and disassembly, cleaning and maintenance and the max. admissible loads.

Domestic manufacturers and importers of the products covered by the notified measure are responsible for ensuring compliance with the technical requirements and conformity assessment procedures that will be established by the specific regulations. The notified measure will be implemented within the deadlines established in each of the regulations issued.

[1] Resolution 484-2018

[2] G/TBT/N/ARG/342