DEAS 984 -1: 2019 
ICS 55.120  
 
© EAC 2019                                                                                                                          First Edition 2019 
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Packaging ancillary materials — Specification ― Part 1: Pressure 
sensitive adhesive tape  
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  DEAS 984 -1: 2019  
ii © EAC 2019 – All rights reserved  
 Copyright notice  
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Reproduction for sales purposes may be subject to  royalty payments or a licensing agreement.  
Violators may be prosecuted . DEAS 984 -1: 2019  
 
© EAC 2019 – All rights  reserved  iii 
 Foreword  
Development of the East African Standards has been necessitated by the need for harmonizing requirements 
governing quality of products and services in the East African Commun ity. It is envisaged that through 
harmonized standardization, trade barriers that are encountered when goods and services are exchanged 
within the C ommunity 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 representatives from the public and private sector 
organizations  in the community . 
East Af rican Standards are developed through  Technical Committees that are representative of key 
stakeholders including government, academia, consumer groups, private sector and other interested parties. 
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 procedures for develop ment of East African Standards.  
East African St andards 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 standards 
they are implementing . 
The committee responsible for th is document is Technical Committee EASC/TC 06 6, Packaging  
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 984 -1: 2019  
 
 
© EAC 2019 – All rights  reserved  1 
 Packaging ancillary materials — Specification -Part 1: Pressure sensitive 
adhesive tape  
1 Scope  
This Draft East African Standard specifies the requirements, methods of sampling and test for pressure 
sensitive adhesive cellulose, plasticized PVC (polyvinyl c hloride) unplasticized PVC, polyester, polyethylene, 
polypropylene tapes used in packaging.  
This standard does not apply to tapes with adhesives on both surfaces.  
2 Normative references  
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that  some or all of their content constitutes 
requirements of this document.  For dated references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, 
the latest edition of the referenced document (including any amendments) applies.  
ISO 29864, Self adhesiv e tapes ― Measurement of breaking strength and elongation at break  
3 Terms and definitions  
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions given in ISO 1998 and the following apply.  
ISO and IEC maintain terminological databases for use in standardizat ion at the following addresses:  
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at http://www.iso.org/obp . 
3.1 
pressure sensitive adhesive tape  
tape intended to seal packages  
3.2 
ancilliary materials  
materials associated wi th packaging operations but are not intended to be part of the final product. These 
includes but not limited to dessicants, staple pins, adhesives, pr essure sensitive adhesive tapes , straps, 
packaging machinery  
3.3 
adhesive  
substance capable of holding ma terials together by surface attachment  
3.4 
pressure sensitive adhesive tape  
adhesive tape which adheres to a surface upon application of pressure   
2 © EAC 2019 – All rights reserved  
 3.5 
adhesive strength  
the minimum force required to cause failure of the adhesive bond  
4 Requirements  
4.1 Gene ral requirements  
4.1.1 Workmanship  
4.1.1.1   The pressure  sensitive adhesive tape shall consist of a base film, coated uniformly on one side with a 
suitable pressure sensitive adhesive composition, requiring no moisture, heat or other special preparation 
prior to application . 
4.1.1.2  The pressure  sensitive adhesive tape  shall be free from defects that may affect its functionality . The 
entire area of one side of the tape shall have a smooth, continuous and uniform coating of adhesive.  
4.1.1.3   The gummed side  of the tape shall face the core. The edges of the roll shall be neatly cut and free 
from fluff . 
4.1.2 Splices  
A roll of tape shall not have more than one splice in 20 m and not more than 3 in a roll. The splices shall be so 
made so as not to separate whe n unwound from the roll.  
4.1.3 Base  material  
The tape shall consist of base material that resist penetration of the adhesive and shall be flexible to ensure 
folding . 
4.1.4 Adhesive  
4.1.4.1  The adhesive used shall be homogeneous and free from solid partic les so as to give a smooth finish 
on application to the base material.  
4.1.4.2  The adhesive shall emit no objectionable odour and shall not be toxic.  
4.1.4.3  The adhesive shall readily adhere to the base material and the tape shall adhere immediately and  
firmly to clean, dry surfaces without wrinkling, curling, breaking or lifting.  
4.1.4.4  The adhesive shall be such that on unwinding a roll of the tape, adjacent layers shall show no sign of 
adhering to each other.  
4.2 Specific requirements  
When tested in  accordance with the methods specified in Table 1, the pressure sensitive adhesive tape shall 
meet the requirements specified therein.   
© EAC 2019 – All rights  reserved  3 
 Table 1 — Physical requirements for Pressure sensitive adhesive tape  
S/ 
NO. Parameter  Type of Base Material  Test 
Method  
Cellulose  Plasticized 
PVC Unplasticized 
PVC Polyester  Polyethylene  Polypropylene  High density 
polypropylene  
i Minimum 
tensile 
strength N 
per 10 mm 
width  25 13 25 25 10 25 95 ISO 29864  
ii Minimum 
elongation 
percent  - 100 15 50 100 10 10 ISO 29864  
iii Minimum 
adhesive 
strength to 
metal and 
self N per 10 
mm width  2 1.8 2 2 1.4 2 1.9 Annex A  
iv Width, mm,  
 ± 0.1  2.5 Annex B  
v Length, mm, 
min. 15,000  Annex C  
 
5 Packaging  
Pressure sensitive adhesive tape shall be packed in materials that prevents it fro m contamination and damage 
during normal handling, storage and transportation.  
6 Labelling and marking  
6.1 Marking  
The core of each roll of pressure sensitive adhesive tape shall be marked on the inside or on the edge with 
the following information:  
a) manufactures/suppliers name or trade mark or both;  
b) words, “Pressure sensitive adhesive tape”;  
c) length and width of the pressure sensitive adhesive tapes;  
d) base material;  
e) best before date and  
f) country of origin  
6.2 Labelling on the package  
Pressure  sensitive adhesive tape shall be legibly and indelibly labelled with the following information:   
4 © EAC 2019 – All rights reserved  
 a) manufactures/suppliers name or trade mark or both;  
b)  batch/code number;  
c) words, “Pressure sensitive adhesive tape”;  
d) month and year of manufacture;  
e) best before date  
f) length and width of the pressure sensitive adhesive tapes; and  
g country of origin . 
7 Sampling  
7.1 Lot 
7.1.1  In any consignment, the rolls of tape made from the same base material and one lot of adhesive and 
manufactured under the same  conditions shall constitute a lot.  
7.1.2  Tests for determining the conformity of the lot to the requirements of the specification shall be done on 
each lot separately. The number of rolls to be se lected from a lot shall depend upon the size of the lot and  
shall be in accordance with Table 1.   
© EAC 2019 – All rights  reserved  5 
 Table 2― Sampling criteria for pressure sensitive adhesive tapes  
Lot size  
N Number of rolls to be selected  
n 
Up to 100  2 
101-500 5 
501-1000  7 
1001 and above  10 
 
7.1.3  The rolls shall be selected at random and in order to ensure the randomness of selection, a  random 
number table shall be used. In case such a table is not available, the following procedure may be adopted: 
Starting from any roll, count them in one order as 1, 2, 3, _ up to r and so on, where r is the integral part' N/n 
being the lot size and n th e number of rolls to be selected. Every rth roll thus counted shall be withdrawn to 
give samples for test.  
7.2 Acceptance criteria  
Acceptance shall be based on conformity of the lot to the requirements of this standard.   
6 © EAC 2019 – All rights reserved  
 Annex A  
 
(normative)  
Measurement of adhesive strength to metal  
A.1  Solvents  
One of the following solvents is required:  
A.1.1   methanol  
A.1.2  butanone (ethyl methyl ketone)  
A.1.3  acetone  
A.1.4  Sulphur free toluene  
A.2  Apparatus  
A.2.1  Five rectangular test plates of stainless steel , within  the following compositional limits:  
a) carbon 0.16 %, max.;  
b) silicon 0.20 %, min.;  
c) manganese 2.00 %, max.;  
d) nickel 8 % to 14 %;  
e) chromium 11 % to 19 %.  
A convenient size of plate is 200 mm x 50 mm; the thickness shall be not less than 2 mm. Th e plate is marked 
at equidistant intervals of 12.5 mm, along both of the longer edges, the first mark being made at 50 mm from 
end A (see Figure A.1). The central 40 mm of the test plate width shall be free from marks.  
  
 
© EAC 2019 – All rights  reserved  7 
 Figure A.1 — Steel test plate  
The test surface of the plate shall be polished to give an abrasive satin finish (180 grit), the direction of gritting 
being parallel to the longer side of the plate. The surface roughness shall be determined from the mean line of 
the profile and shall comply with the following:  
0.05µm<R a<0.40µm  
Rmax. < 3 µm  
where,  
Ra  is the arithmetical mean deviation;  
R max.   is the maximum height of irregularities.  
A.2.2  Solid brass roller , 80 mm in diameter and 44 mm in width, covered with rubb er approximately 6 mm 
thick having an IRHD (International Rubber Hardness Degree) of 60 ± 5; the mass of the roller shall be 
approximately 2 kg.  
A.2.3  Power driven tensile testing machine , but with the back stop or ratchet pawl removed in the case of a 
pendulum test machine.  
A.2.4  Cleaning materials  
A.2.4.1  4-hydroxy -4-methylpentan -2-one (diacetone alcohol).  
A.2.4.2  Pharmaceutical quality, lint free cotton wool or paper tissue . 
A.3  Preconditioning  
Immediately before pieces for testing are taken, conditio n each sample roll for at least 24 h at 23 ± 2 °C and 
50 ± 5 % r.h. for at least 2 h immediately before testing. Remove and discard the three outer turns before 
cutting the test pieces from the conditioned roll.  
A.4  Test pieces  
Take five strips of tape 45 0 mm long, unwound radially from the roll at intervals of 300 mm at a rate of 
approximately 300 mm/s. Avoid contamination of the adhesive surface and do not allow it to touch the fingers. 
If the tape is wider than 38 mm, cut a test piece 25 mm wide from it , using a sharp tool to produce clean cut 
edges. If the tape is 38 mm wide or less, use the tape in the width received.  
A.5  Procedure  
A.5.1 General  
Test each strip on a separate plate as described in A.5.2, A.5.3 and A.5.4. 
A.5.2  Cleaning of the plate  
Wipe the test surface of the plate with a fresh piece of lint free cotton wool saturated with 4 -hydroxy -4-
methylpentan -2-one (diacetone alcohol).  Dry the plate with fresh cotton wool, then wipe the test surface with 
a fresh piece of cotton wool saturated wi th one of the solvents listed in A.1. Dry the plate with fresh cotton 
wool, then repeat for a total of three cleaning operations with this solvent. Maintain the plate at a temperature 
of 23 ± 2 °C for at least 5 min before proceeding with the adhesion test  procedure.  
NOTE 1  Paper tissue may be substituted for cotton wool.   
8 © EAC 2019 – All rights reserved  
 NOTE 2  Cleaning shall be carried out in an area with good fume extraction.  
A.5.3  Application of test piece  
Apply the test piece as follows:  
A.5.3.1  Place the plate, with the prepared su rface upwards, at the edge of a bench with end B nearer the 
operator (see Figure A.1); 
A.5.3.2  Immediately after obtaining the test piece, apply it, adhesive surface downwards, to the plate with 
one pass of the roller, allowing approximately 250 mm to over hang end B.  Ensure that th e tape lies centrally 
on the plate and  parallel to the  longer sides and also that no air  bubbles  are trapped between the tape and 
the plate;  
A.5.3.3  Place the roller centrally across the test piece on one end of the plate and, ta king care not to 
apply any additional pressure with the hand . Pass the roller at constant sp eed three more times over the test 
piece (making a total of twice in each direction) so that each  traverse takes from 10 s to 12 s, ensuring that it 
travels in the exact line of the test piece . Cut off the excess tape overhanging end A.   
A.5.4  Stripping of test piece  
A.5.4.1  Allow the plate with the applied test piece to remain undisturbed for 5 min in the conditions given 
in A.5.3 and complete the test without remo val from those conditions.  
A.5.4.2  Double back the free end of the test piece and strip 25 mm to 50 mm from the plate at end B.  
A.5.4.3  Attach end B of the plate to the moving jaw on the testing machine and grip the free end of the 
test piece in the fixed jaw, ensuring, by inserting packing in the moving jaw (see Figure A.2), that the free tape 
is parallel in both planes to the applied tape.  
A.5.4.4  Set the traversing jaw in motion and record the readings at five consecutive 12.5 mm interval 
marks.  
A.6 Resu lts 
Record the five readings for each of the five tests. Arrange in ascending order the five readings for each test 
and take the central value of each group. Arrange the five central values so obtained in ascending order and 
take the central value and divi de it by the width of the test sample measured in centimetres.   This figure is the 
adhesi ve strength to steel measured in Newton’s per 10 mm width.   
© EAC 2019 – All rights  reserved  9 
  
Figure A.2 — Typical arrangement for stripping the tape from the plate  
 
 
10 © EAC 2019 – All rights reserved  
 Annex  B 
 
(normative)  
Measurement of width  
B.1 Measure to the nearest 0.5 mm, the width, (parallel to the cross direction of the pressure sensitive 
adhesive tape ) of each five test specimen taken across full width of five separate rolls and record the average 
of the results.  
B.2 Measure to the neares t 0.5 mm, the width of each of the five rolls and record the results. Check for 
compliance with table 1.   
© EAC 2019 – All rights  reserved  11 
 Annex C 
 
(normative)  
Measurement of length  
C.1 Measure to the nearest  100 mm , the length , (parallel to the cross direction of the pressure sensitive 
adhesive tape ) of each five test specimen taken across full length  of five separate rolls and record the 
average of the results.  
C.2 Measure to the nearest 1 00 mm, the length  of each of the five rolls and record the results. Check for 
compliance with table  1.  
12 © EAC 2019 – All rights reserved  
 Bibliography  
[1] IS 13262 , Pressure sensitive adhesive tapes with plastic base  — Specification  
 
. DEAS 984 -1:2019    
 
© EAC 2019 – All rights  reserved