| The
								
								
								
								American Apparel & 
								Footwear Association (AAFA) 
								announced plans to present a new International 
								Product Safety & Restricted Substances Seminar 
								Series in China.  Collaborating with the 
								
								
								
								Apparel & Footwear 
								International RSL Management Working Group 
								(AFIRM), AAFA will 
								host seminars
								
								March 26 - 27 in Dongguan 
								and
								
								March 30 31 in Hangzhou.
 
								
								
								United States product safety regulations are 
								changing quickly and it seems the government is 
								issuing new guidances every week, said 
								Kevin M. Burke, 
								President and CEO, AAFA.  At these 
								seminars experts will present the latest 
								information to ensure everyone understands the 
								new rules and how to comply.  
								
								
								Product safety issues are dynamic and chemical 
								management systems, such as the AAFA Restricted 
								Substances List (RSL), are imperative for a 
								business to maintain compliance not only with 
								standards around the world, but also to be 
								competitive.  The conferences will feature 
								speakers from world leaders including
								
								AFIRM,
								
								
								Bureau Veritas Group,
								
								
								Intertek,
								
								
								Oeko-tex,
								
								
								Pou Chen Group 
								and
								
								
								SGS.   
								 
								
								
								Conference topics on the agenda include: 
								 
								
								
								-         
								
								U.S. government
								
								product safety standards, regulations, 
								and result of non-compliance;  
								
								
								-         
								
								Retail 
								Perspective: a panel discussion with major U.S. 
								retailers, including a review of respective 
								standard operating procedures (SOP) and 
								consequences of not complying;  
								
								
								-         
								
								RSL the tool: 
								what you need to know, how to use it, and 
								implementation guidance;  
								
								
								-         
								
								Testing 
								Perspective: a panel discussion with 
								international testing labs; and 
								 
								
								
								-         
								
								Case studies 
								examining
								
								retail quality control SOP and more. 
								
								
								The
								
								American Apparel & Footwear Association 
								membership is truly international, with 
								suppliers and customers all over the global, 
								explained Burke.  By offering seminars in China 
								, we make this membership benefit more 
								accessible to our Asia-based member employees 
								and their suppliers.      
								
								
								These conferences are an opportunity for brands 
								and their manufacturers to gather, learn and 
								discuss product safety issues, continued 
								Burke.  This kind of productive communication 
								regarding the benchmarks and standards, as well 
								as best case practices and solutions, is AAFA's 
								pragmatic approach to a very challenging issue. 
								
								
								International Product Safety & Restricted 
								Substances Seminar Series presented with support 
								by the American Chinese Apparel and Footwear 
								Association.  
								
								
								Registration and sponsorship information is 
								available on the
								
								
								AAFA website. 
								
								 
								
								
								For more information on the Dongguan event, 
								please visit:   http://www.apparelandfootwear.org/events/event.asp?event_iD=265&.
								
								 
								
								
								For more information on the Hangzhou event, 
								please visit:
								
								
								
								http://www.apparelandfootwear.org/events/event.asp?event_iD=264&. 
								
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