DEAS 861:2021  
ICS 85.080.20  
 
© EAC 2021                                                                                                                         Second  Edition 2021  
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  
Paper serviettes (napkins)  — Specification  
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  
 
 
 
 DEAS 861:2021  
ii © EAC  2021 – All rights reserved  
 Copyright notice  
This EAC document is copyright -protected by EAC. While the reproduction of this document by 
participants in the EAC standards development p rocess 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 document 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  2162100  
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 861:2021  
© 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 
4.2 Specific requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........................  2 
5 Dimensional requirements  ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................  3 
6 Microbiological examinati on ................................ ................................ ................................ ................  4 
7 Sampling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................  4 
7.1 General  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................  4 
7.2 Sampling for paper serviettes (nap kins)  ................................ ................................ .............................  4 
8 Packaging and labelling ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................  5 
8.1 Packaging  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............  5 
8.2 Labelling  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .................  5 
8.2.1  Holders  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................  5 
8.2.2  Bulk packages  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ....... 5 
Bibliography  ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................  6 
 
 DEAS 861:2021  
iv © EAC  2021 – All rights reserved  
 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 standardizatio n, 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 Com mittee 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 African Standards are developed through  Technical Committee s 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 Sta tes. 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 technolo gical 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 this document is Technical Committee EASC /TC 065, Paper an d paper 
Products.  
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.  
This second edition cancels and replaces th e first edition (EAS 861:2017), which has been technically revised 
The main changes compared to the previous edition are as follows:  
— In Table 2, the units of Tensile strength have been changed to N/m 
—The tensile strength values have been changed   
—The t olerance for the number of sheets in clause 5.3 has been changed  
—The water absorption rate has been edited in Table 2  
 DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  DEAS 861: 2021 
 
© EAC 2021 – All rights reserved  1 
 Paper serviettes (napkins)  — Specification  
1 Scope   
This Draft East African Standard specifies requirements , sampling and test methods  for virgin, blended or 
recycled pulp paper serviettes (napkins) in sheet form used for hygienic purposes.  
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 187, Paper board and pulps — Standard atmosphere for conditioning and test ing 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 8784 -1, Pulp, paper and board — Microbiological examination — Part 1: Enumeration of bacteria and 
bacterial spores based on disintegration   
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 -6, Tissue paper and tissue products — Part 6: Determination 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 -absorption time and water -capacity, basket 
immersion test method  
3 Terms an d 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 of the paper corresponding to the direction of flow of the stuff on the paper machine   
2 © EAC  2021 – All rights reserved  
 3.3  
holder  
package of paper serviettes (napkins)  of the same dimensions and colour  
3.4  
lot  
aggregate of paper serviettes (napkins) of a single kind and siz e 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 paper serviettes/napkins of the same kind.  
3.5  
sheet  
one or more plies of paper serviettes (napkins ) in rectangular form  
3.6  
test unit  
number of sheets taken for testing  
3.7  
hole  
area in the sheet void of fibres and having a specified diameter  
4 Requirements  
4.1 General requirements  
4.1.1  Paper serviettes (napkins) shall be made from processed vi rgin pulp, blended or recycled pulp.  
4.1.2  Paper serviettes (napkins) shall be:  
a) soft absorbent or non -absorbent;  
b) single ply or multi -ply; 
c) coloured or white;  
d) embossed in the case of non -absorbent serviettes (napkins) for handling foodstuffs;  
e) creped, creped and embossed or printed in the case of soft absorbent serviettes (napkins); and  
f) free from defects such as abrasive particles, lint, fibre bundles, holes and specks and manufactured 
and packaged under good hygienic conditions.  
4.2 Specific requirements  
4.2.1 The paper serviettes (napkins) shall comply with the grammage requirements given in Table 1 when 
tested in accordance with the test method specified therein.  
 
 
  
© EAC 2021 – All rights reserved  3 
 Table 1 — Grammage for paper serviettes (napkins)  
Characteristic  Description of fibre compo sition  Requirement  Test method a  
Grammage  
per ply , g/m2, 
Min.  
  Single ply  Pure (Virgin) fibre  17    
ISO 12625 -6  Blended fibre  19  
Recycled fibre  19  
Multi -ply (measured 
as single ply)  Pure (Virgin) fibre  15  
Blended fibre  17  
Recy cled fibre  17  
a Conditioning shall be done in accordance with ISO 187.     
 
4.2.2  The paper serviettes (napkins) shall comply with the requirements given in Table 2 when tested in 
accordance with the test method specified therein.  
Table 2 — Specific r equirements for paper serviettes (napkins)  
  
  
S/No Property  Requirement  
Test method  a Soft absorbent serviettes 
(napkins)  Non-
absorbent 
serviettes  
(napkins)  Single ply  Multi -ply 
i  Tensile strength, N/m , 
Min.  CD  80 80 1 000 
ISO 12625 -4  
ii  MD  150 300 1 800 
iii  Brightness, %, Min.  
(White serviettes)  73 ISO 12625 -7  
iv  pH  6 - 8 ISO 6588 -1  
v  Moisture content, %  4.5 - 7 ISO 287  
vi  Water absorpt ion rate, mm/min, 
Min.   20 20 - ISO 12625 -8  
a Conditioning shall be done in accord ance with ISO 187.    
  
4.2.3   The average number of holes less than 2 mm in diameter in sheets shall not exceed 10 per sheet.  
5 Dimensional requirements  
5.1  The size of the paper serviettes (napkins) shall be as given in Table 3.   
4 © EAC  2021 – All rights reserved  
 Table 3 — Sheet dimens ions  
S/No.  Type  Minimum size,  
mm  Minimum number of sheets   
i  Soft absorbent serviettes (napkins) 
Single or multi -ply  200 by 200  Packaged in multiples of 25  
ii  Non -absorbent serviettes (napkins)  
  
5.2  Tolerance on the declared size shall be ± 3 mm.  
5.3  Tolerance on the declared number of sheets shall be ± 2 sheet s.  
6 Microbiological examination  
Each paper serviette (napkin) shall comp ly with microbial requirements i n Table 4 when tested in accordance 
with the method specified therein.  
Table 4 — Microbiological limits for paper serviettes (napkins)  
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  Staphylococc us aureus,  cfu/g   
iv  Candida albicans, cfu/g   
v  Escherichia coli, cfu/g   
7 Sampling  
7.1 General  
The sampling shall be done in accordance with Table 5 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.  
7.2 Sampling for paper serviettes (napkins)  
Samples shall be drawn at random as indicated in Table 5 and tested for compliance with the requirements of 
this standard.  
 
  
© EAC 2021 – All rights reserved  5 
 Table 5 — Table of sample for inspection and test  
1  2  3  4  
Lot size, holders  Sample for visual inspection  Sample for test, holders  
Bulk packages  Holders  
10 – 100  
101 – 300  
301 – 1 000  
1 001 – 4 000  
4 001 – 10 000  
More than 10 000  1  
2  
4  
6  
8  
11  4  
6  
8  
12  
16  
22  4  
5  
6  
7  
8  
9  
8 Packaging and labelling  
8.1 Packaging  
Sheets shall be folded and shall be packed in holders. The number of sheets for each type is given in Table 3, 
Column 4 and shall not be less than the nominal q uantity marked on the holder.  Sheets of the same size and 
colour shall be packed together in a holder.    
8.2 Labelling  
8.2.1  Holders  
The following information shall be marked legibly and indelibly on the outside of each holder:  
a) name of the product as “Paper serviettes (napkins)”;  
b) manufacturer’s name and physical address a nd/or registered trade mark;  
c) number of plies;  
d) description of fibre composition (virgin, blended or recycled);  
e) number of sheets, size and colour (s). If more than one colour then th e term multi -colour may be used 
in lieu; and  
f) country of origin/manufacture.  
8.2.2  Bulk packages  
The following information shall be legibly and indelibly marked on the outside of each bulk packages :  
a) information required in 8.2.1 a) to f);   
b) number of ho lders in the bulk package ; and 
c) batch number/code.   
. 
  
6 © EAC  2021 – All rights reserved  
 Bibliography  
KS 2000:2007, Paper serviettes / napkins - Specification  
 DEAS 861:2021    
 
© EAC 2021  – All rights reserved