DEAS 356: 2023 
ICS 59.080. 01 
 
© EAC 2023                                                                                                                             Third  Edition 2023  
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Textiles — Requirements for inspection and acceptance of used 
textile  products  
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  
 
 DEAS 356: 2023 
ii © EAC  2023 – All rights reserved  
 Copyright notice  
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© East African Community  2023 — All rights reserved  
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 DEAS 356: 2023 
© EAC 2023 – All rights reserved  iii 
 Contents  Page 
Foreword  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  iv 
1 Scope  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  1 
2 Normative references  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  1 
3 Terms and definitions  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  1 
4 Requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  2 
5 Packaging  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  3 
6 Labelling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .................  3 
7 Sampling and inspection  ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  3 
7.1 Sampling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................  3 
7.2 Inspection  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  4 
8 Criteria for acceptance ................................ ................................ ................................ ..........................  4 
Annex  A (normative)  Defects  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  5 
Bibliography  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................  6 DEAS 356: 2023 
iv © EAC  2023 – All rights reserved  
 Foreword  
Development of the East African Standards has been necessitated by the need for harmonizing req uirements 
governing  quality of products and services in the East African Community. It is envisaged that through 
harmonized standardization, trade barriers that are encountered when goods and services are exchanged 
within the Community will be removed.  
The Community has established an East African Standards Committee  (EASC)  mandated to develop and 
issue East African Standards  (EAS) . The Committee is composed of representatives of the National 
Standards Bodies in Partner States, together with the representa tives from the public and private sector 
organizations  in the community .  
East African Standards are developed through  Technical Committees that are representative of key 
stakeholders including government, academia, consumer groups, private sector and othe r interested partie s. 
Draft East African Standards are circulated to stakeholders through the National Standards Bodies in the 
Partner States. The comments received are discussed and incorporated before finalization of standards, in 
accordance with the Principles and procedu res for develop ment of East African Standards.  
East African Standards are subject to review, to keep pace with technological advances. Users of the East 
African Standards are therefore expected to ensure that they always have the latest versions of the sta ndards 
they are implementing .  
The committee responsible  for this document is Technical Committee EASC /TC 061, Textiles , textile products 
and accessories . 
This third edition cancels and replaces the second  edition (EAS 356: 2019), which  has been technicall y 
revised . 
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be subject of patent 
rights. EAC shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.  
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  DEAS 356: 2023 
 
© EAC 2023 – All rights reserved  1 
 Textiles — Requirements for inspection and accep tance of used 
textile  products  
1 Scope  
This Draft East African Standard specifies the requirements and sampling meth od for the inspection and 
acceptance of used textile products . 
2 Normative references  
There are no normative references in this document . 
3 Terms and definitions  
For the purpose s of this document , the following terms and definitions  shall apply . 
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:  
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at  http://www.iso.org/obp  
3.1  
used textile product  
textile  product, including apparel, apparel accessories (such as but not limited to, gloves, hat, bags, belts   
among others), soft furnishings (towels, beddings, curtains , carpets among others), which has been used 
previously and that is to be offered to a subse quent user  
3.2  
defect  
departure of quality characteristic that results in a textile product not complying with its intended normal usage  
requirements  
3.3  
inspect ion 
activities such as measuring, examining, gauging one or more characteristics of a produc t or service and  
comparing these with specified requirements to determine conformity  
3.4  
consignment  
part or all of the goods sent to a person or a place for any p urpose. All used textile products received by  
whatever means through any port of entry or th at are on transit shall be understood to be consignments.  
3.5  
lot 
collection of bales from which samples shall be drawn and inspected to determine conformance to t he 
acceptable criteria  DEAS 356: 2023 
2 © EAC  2023 – All rights reserved  
 3.6  
bale 
collection of used textile products packed together in a su itable material, and may or may not be bound with  
metallic or textile strips  
3.7  
sleepwear  
clothing designed to be worn while sleeping such as nightgowns, pyjamas  
3.8  
hospital textiles  
products including patient wear, hospital staff wear and hospital b eddings  
3.9  
high visibility garments  
garments  designed to make the wearer more visible and more noticeable in their work environment  such as 
reflective jackets, tr ousers and vests  
3.10  
undergarments  
all types of garments that are worn in close contact with the skin such as ladies briefs, gents briefs, brassieres 
camisoles, socks, stockings, swimwear, etc 
3.11  
grade  
indicator of category or rank related to features  or characteristics that cover different sets of needs for 
products or services intended f or the same functional use  
3.12  
country of supply   
country that sources used textile products from other countries fumigate and package for exportation  
4 Requirement s 
4.1 No package shall contain used undergarments, nightwear, bath towels, hospital text iles, high visibility 
garments , handkerchiefs  and facemask s. 
4.2 Each bale shall contain only garments intended for one category of users, for example, men, women, 
children wear.  
4.3 Each consignment shall be accompanied by a fumigation  certificate from a competent authority of the 
country of origin or export.  
4.3.1 Methyl bromide  and phostoxin shall not be used as fumigants.  
Note  Acceptable (but not limited to) fumigant s include cypermethrin , permethrin , tetramethrin  and d-cis/trans -
allethrin . 
4.3.2 The fumigate certificate shall state the type of chemical used . 
4.4 No consignments shall be accepted from countries experiencing an epidemic/endemic relating to Ebola, 
lepro sy or anthrax or any radioactive disaster.  
4.5 The textile products in the consignm ent shall be dry and free from dirt and soiling.  
4.6 A bale shall have a gross mass of not more than 50 kg .  DEAS 356: 202 3 
© EAC 2023 – All rights reserved  3 
 4.7 The permissible number of defects in used textile products s hall be as given in Table 1 when visually 
examined for defects listed in Annex A.  
Table 1 — Permissible number of defectives  
Consignment 
(Number of 
bales)  Sample lot 
size (Bales)  Number of 
samples 
(Garments)  Permissible number of defectives  
Serious  Major Minor  
1 to 3  1 2 0 1 2 
4 to 9  2 4 1 2 3 
10 to 27  3 6 2 3 4 
28 to 81  4 8 2 4 5 
82 to 243  7 14 3 5 7 
244 to 729  10 20 5 7 10 
Above 730  15 30 7 8 15 
 
5 Packaging  
The bale covering shall be of suitable packaging material so as to protect the content s from any type of 
contamination . 
6 Labelling  
Each bale shall be legibly and i ndelibly labelled with the following information:  
a) mass of bale in kilograms;  
b) category of garments, for example men ’s wear, ladies wear, children ’s wear;  
c) supplier’s name and addre ss; 
d) importer’s or consignee’s name  and address ; and  
e) country of origin and/or c ountry of supply . 
7 Sampling and inspection  
7.1 Sampling  
7.1.1  The number of bales shall be selected at random from each lot in accordance with the sampling plan 
given in Table 2. 
7.1.2  Each bale in the sampled lot shall be opened and two garments shall  be drawn at random for 
inspection and testing.  DEAS 356: 2023 
4 © EAC  2023 – All rights reserved  
 Table 2 — Sampling plan  
Volume of consignment (bales)  Lot size (bales)  
1 to 3  1 
4 to 9  2 
10 to 27  3 
28 to 81  4 
82 to 243  7 
244 to 729  10 
Above 730  15 
 
7.2 Inspection  
If the inspector’s assessment re veals that the garments are new or a mixture of used and new garments, the 
whole consignment shall be rejected.  
8 Criteria for acceptance  
The consignment shall be declared as accepta ble if it complies with all the requirements of this standard.  DEAS 356: 202 3 
© EAC 2023 – All rights reserved  5 
 Annex  A 
(normative)  
 
Defects  
Classification  Physical defect  
Serious  Holes  
Tear 
Stain  
Burns  
Major  Bad odour  
Mottled Appearance  
Dropped stitch  
Missing /defective  ancillaries  
Minor  Slub 
Double Y arn 
Straying End  
Bruise  
 
 DEAS 356: 2023 
6 © EAC  2023 – All rights reserved  
 Bibliography  
 
 DEAS 356: 2023   
 
© EAC 2023 – All rights reserved