DEAS 862 :2021  
ICS 85.080.20  
 
© EAC 2021                                                                                                                         Second  Edition 2021  
  DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Facial tissue paper — Specification   
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  
 
 
 
 DEAS 862 :2021  
ii © EAC  2021 – All rights reser ved 
 Copyright notice  
This EAC document is copyright -protected by EAC. While the reproduction of this document by 
participants in the EAC standards development process  is permitted without prior permission from EAC, 
neither this document nor any extract from it may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form for 
any other purpose without prior written permission from EAC.  
Requests for permission to reproduce this d ocument for the purpose of selling it should be addressed 
as shown below or to EAC’s member body in the country of the requester:  
© East African Community  2021 — All rights reserved  
East African Community   
P.O. Box 1096 , 
Arusha  
Tanzania  
Tel: + 255 27 2 1621 00 
Fax: + 255 27 2162190  
E-mail: eac@eachq.org  
       Web: www.eac -quality.net  
Reproduction for sales purposes may be subject to royalty payments or a licensing agreement.  
Violators may be prosecuted . DEAS 862 :2021  
© EAC 2021 – All rights reserved  iii 
 Contents  Page 
Foreword  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  iv 
1 Scope  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................  1 
2 Normative references  ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................  1 
3 Terms and definitions  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  1 
4 Requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .........  2 
4.1 General requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  2 
4.1.1  Material  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................  2 
4.2 Specific requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  2 
4.3 Dimensional requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................  3 
5 Packaging and labelling ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................  4 
5.1 Packaging  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  4 
5.2 Labelling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .................  4 
5.2.1  Holders  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................  4 
5.2.2  Bulk packages  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ....... 4 
6 Sampling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................  5 
6.1 General  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................  5 
6.2 Sampling for facial tissue paper  ................................ ................................ ................................ ..........  5 
Bibliography  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................  6 
 
 DEAS 862 :2021  
iv © EAC  2021 – All rights reser ved 
 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 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 repr esentatives of the National 
Standards Bodies in Partner States, together with the representatives 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 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 development of East African  Standards.  
East African Standards are subject to review, to keep pace with technological advances. Users of t he 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 this document is Technical Committee EASC /TC 065, Paper and p aper 
Products.  
Attentio n 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.  
This second edition cancels and replaces the first edition (EAS 862:2 017), which has been technically revised 
The main changes compared to the previous edition are as follows:  
Under Table 1, the following changes have been made:  
—the grammages for virgin, blended and recycled facial tissues have been differentiated  
— the un its of Tensile strength have been changed to N/m 
—the parameter “Water absorptiveness, g/m2” has been changed to “Water absorption rate, mm/min.”  
—In Table 2, more dimensions and number of sheets were included  
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  DEAS 862 :2021 
 
© EAC 2021 – All rights reserved  1 
 Facial tissue paper — Specification  
1 Scope   
This Draft East African Standard specifies requirements , sampling and test methods  for facial tissue paper in 
sheet form for facial hygiene.  
2 Normative references   
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of thei r 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 187, Paper board and pulps — Standard a tmosphere for conditioning and testing and procedure for 
monitoring the atmosphere and conditioning of samples    
ISO 287, Paper and board — Determination of moisture content of a lot — Oven -drying method   
ISO 6588 -1, Paper, board and pulps — Determination of pH of aqueous extracts — Part 1: Cold extraction   
ISO 11093 -4, Paper and board — Testing of cores — Part 4: Measurement of dimensions  
ISO 12625 -1, Tissue paper and tissue products — Part 1: General guidance on terms   
ISO 12625 -4, Tissue paper and tissue  products — Part 4: Determination of tensile strength, stretch at break 
and tensile energy absorption   
ISO 12625 -5, Tissue paper and tissue products — Part 5: Determination of wet tensile strength   
ISO 12625 -6, Tissue paper and tissue products — Part 6: De termination of grammage   
ISO 12625 -7, Tissue paper and tissue products — Part 7: Determination of optical properties — Measurement 
of brightness and colour with D65/10 ° (outdoor daylight)  
ISO 12625 -8, Tissue paper and tissue products — Part 8: Water -absor ption time and water -capacity, basket  
immersion test method .  
3 Terms and definitions   
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions and those in ISO 12625 -1 shall apply.  
3.1  
cross -direction (CD)  
direction in the plane of a paper  perpendicular to the machine direction   
3.2  
machine direction (MD)  
direction in a paper or a board parallel to the direction of travel of the web on the paper or board machine   
2 © EAC  2021 – All rights reser ved 
 3.3  
holder  
package of facial tissue paper of the same dimensions and colo ur  
3.4  
lot  
aggregate of facial tissue paper of a single kind and size and having same or different colours. A lot comprises 
of one or more similar cartons, each of which contains one, or more packages or boxes packed with facial 
tissue of the same kind  
3.5  
sheet  
two or more plies of facial tissue paper in rectangular form  
3.6  
hole  
area in the sheet void of fibres and having a specified diameter  
4 Requirements  
4.1 General requirements  
4.1.1  Material  
4.1.1.1  Facial tissue paper shall be made from  processed virgin pulp, blended or recycled pulp.  
4.1.1.2  All ingredients including dyes and other additives used in the manufacture and packaging of facial 
tissue paper shall not cause irritation of the skin.  
4.1.1.3  Facial tissue paper shall be:  
a) white  or coloured;  
b) creped and highly absorbent; and  
c) free from defects such as abrasive particles, lint, fibre bundles, holes and specks.  
4.1.1.4  It may be perfumed.  
4.1.1.5  Facial tissue paper shall not at any time during manufacture and packing be exposed to 
conditions that do not conform to good hygienic practice.   
4.2 Specific requirements  
The facial tissue paper shall comply with the requirements given in Table 1 when tested in accordance with 
the methods specified therein.  
 
 
 
  
© EAC 2021 – All rights reserved  3 
 Table 1 — Specific requir ements for facial tissue paper  
S/No.  Property  Requirement  Test methoda 
i.  Grammage  per ply , g/m2, Min.  Virgin  12  
ISO 12625 -6  Blended  13 
Recycled  14 
ii.  Tensile strength  for single ply 
,dry, N/m, Min.  C.D  96   
ISO 12625 -4  M.D  188 
 Tensile strength  for single ply , 
wet, N/m, Min.  
 M.D 45 ISO 12625 -5 
iv.  Average brightness, %, Min. (white facial 
tissues)   78 ISO 12625 -7  
v.  pH value  5.5 - 8.5 ISO 6588 -1  
vi.  Moisture content, %  4.0 - 7.0 ISO 287  
vii.  Water absorption rate, mm/min. Min.   20 ISO 12625 -8  
a Conditioning shall be done in accordance with ISO 187.   
 
4.3 Dimensional requirements  
4.3.1   The size of the facial tissues s hall be as given in Table 2 when tested in accordance with ISO 11093 -
4. 
Table 2 — Requirements  for sheet dimensions and number of sheets  
S/No.  Sizes, ± 3, mm  Minimum number of sheets per pack  
i. 200 by 215  70  
ii. 200 by 200  10  
iii. 140 by 200  40  
iv. 100 by 200  50  
v 150 by 200  50 
vi 180 by 200  70 
vii 300 by 200  20 
  
4.3.2  Tolerance on the declared number of sheets specified in Table 2 shall be ± 1 sheet.  
4.3.3  The average number of holes less than 2 mm in diameter in sheets shall not exceed 10 per sheet.   
4 © EAC  2021 – All rights reser ved 
 4.3.4  Each facial tissue shall comply with microbial requirements on Tab le 4 when tested in accordance 
with the method specified therein.  
Table 4 — Microbiological limits for facial tissues  
S/No  Characteristic  Limit  Test method  
i  Total plate count, cfu/g Max. 
  300  ISO 8784 -1  
ii  Pseudomonas aeruginosa  ,cfu/g     
Not detectable in 1 g of the 
product  iii  Staphylococcus aureus,  cfu/g   
iv  Candida albicans, cfu/g   
v  Escherichia coli,  cfu/g   
5 Packaging and labelling  
5.1 Packaging  
Sheets shall be packed in holders. The number of she ets for each type is gi ven in  Table 4, Column 4 and shall 
not be less than the nominal quantity marked on the holder. Sheets of the same size and colour shall be 
packed together in a holder.  
5.2 Labelling  
5.2.1  Holders  
The following information shall be marked legibly and ind elibly on the outside of each holder:  
a) name of the product as “Facial tissue paper”;  
b) manufacturer’s name and physical address;  
c) registered trade mark;  
d) number of plies;  
e) description of fibre composition (virgin, blended or recycled);  
f) number of sheets, si ze and colour (s). If more than one colour then the term multi -colour may be used 
in lieu;  
g) country of origin/manufacture; and  
h) perfumed, if applicable.  
5.2.2  Bulk packages  
The following information shall be legibly and indelibly marked on the outside of  each bulk packages:  
a) information required in 5.2.1 a) to h);  
b) number  of holders in the bulk package;  and  
© EAC 2021 – All rights reserved  5 
 c) batch number/code  
6 Sampling  
6.1 General  
The sampling shall be done in accordance with Table 4 to determine whether a lot complies with the relevant 
requirements of the specification. The samples so taken shall be deemed to represent the lot for the 
respective properties.  
6.2 Sampling for facial tissue paper  
Samples shall be drawn at random as indicated in Table 4 and tested for compliance with the r equirements of 
this standard  
Table 4 — Sampling of bulk containers/ packages  
S/No.  Lot size, holders  Sample for visual 
inspection  Sample for test, 
holders  
Bulk 
packages  Holders  
i.    10 – 100  1  4  4  
ii.    101 – 300  2  6  5  
iii.    301 – 1000  4  8  6  
iv.    1001 – 4000  6  12  7  
v.    4001 – 10000  8  16  8  
vi.    More than 10000  11  22  9  
  
6 © EAC  2021 – All rights reser ved 
 Bibliography  
KS 1999:2007 , Facial tissue paper — Specification  
 DEAS 862 :2021    
 
© EAC 2021  – All rights reserved