DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD  
  DUS DEAS 861 
First  Edition  
2015-mm-dd 
 
 Reference nu mber  
DUS DEAS 861: 2015 
© UNBS 201 5 
  
Paper serviettes/napkins — Specification  
 DRAFT UGANDA STANDARDDUS DEAS 861:2015 
ii                © UNBS  2015 - All rights reserved 
 Compliance with this standard does not, of itself confer immunity from legal obligations  
A Uganda Standard does not purport to include all necessary provisions of a contract. Users are 
responsible for its correct application  
© UNBS 2015 
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilised in any 
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without prior written 
permission from UNBS. 
Requests for permission to reproduce this document should be addressed to 
The Executive Director 
Uganda National Bureau of Standards 
P.O. Box 6329 
Kampala 
Uganda 
Tel: 256 41 505 995 
Fax: 256 41 286 123 
E-mail: unbs@infocom.co.ug  
Web: www.unbs.go.ug  
 DRAFT UGANDA STANDARDDUS DEAS 861:2015 
© UNBS  2015 - All rights reserved                iii National foreword 
Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) is a parastatal under the Ministry of Trade, Industry and 
Cooperatives established under Cap 327, of the Laws of Uganda, as amended.  UNBS is mandated to co-
ordinate the elaboration of standards and is  
(a) a member of International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and  
(b) a contact point for the WHO/FAO Codex Alimentarius Commission on Food Standards, and  
(c) the National Enquiry Point on TBT Agreement of the World Trade Organisation (WTO). 
The work of preparing Uganda Standards is carried out through Technical Committees. A Technical 
Committee is established to deliberate on standards in a given field or area and consists of representatives of 
consumers, traders, academicians, manufacturers, government and other stakeholders. 
Draft Uganda Standards adopted by the Technical Committee are widely circulated to stakeholders and the 
general public for comments. The committee reviews the comments before recommending the draft standards 
for approval and declaration as Uganda Standards by the National Standards Council.  
This Draft Uganda Standard, DUS D EAS 861: 2015, Paper serviettes/napkins — Specification , is identical 
with and has been reproduced from an East African  Standard , DEAS 861: 2015, Paper serviettes/napkins — 
Specification , and is being proposed for adoption  as a Uganda Standard.  
Wherever the words, “ East African Standard" appear, they should be replaced by "Uganda Standard." 
 
  DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD DEAS 861:2015 
ICS  
© EAS 2014                                                                                                                         First Edition 2014  
 
DRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD 
 
 
Paper serviettes/napkins — Specification 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY DRAFT UGANDA STANDARDDEAS 861:2015 
© EAC 2014  – All rights reserved  ii 
 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 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 2013  — All rights reserved 
East African Community  
P.O.Box 1096 
Arusha 
Tanzania 
Tel: 255 27 2504253/8 
Fax: 255 27 2504481/2504255 
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 persecuted 
 DRAFT UGANDA STANDARDDEAS 861:2015 
© EAC 2014  – 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 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.  
In order to achieve this objective, the Community established an East African Standards Committee mandated 
to develop and issue East African Standards.   
The Committee is composed of representatives of the National Standards Bodies in Partner States, together 
with the representatives from the private sectors and consumer organizations. 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 procedures 
of the Community. 
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 standards 
they are implementing .  
This Draft East African Standard, DEAS  861:2015 , was prepared by Technical Committee EASC //TC/065 
Paper and paper products is composed of representatives from National Standards Bodies, regulators and 
academia, together with the representatives from the private sector and consumer organizations in Partner 
States.  
 DRAFT UGANDA STANDARDDRAFT EAST AFRICAN STANDARD  DEAS 861:2015  
 
© EAC 2014  – All rights reserved  1 
 Paper serviettes/napkins — Specification 
1 Scope 
This Draft East African Standard specifies requirements, sampling and test methods for paper 
serviettes/napkins in sheet form for hygienic purposes.  
2 Normative References  
ISO 12625- 1 Tissue paper and tissue products Part 1: General guidance on terms  
ISO 12625- 3 Tissue paper and tissue products Part 3: Determination of thickness, bulking thickness and 
apparent bulk density 
DEAS 355:2004, Toilet paper — Specification 
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 8784-1:2005  pulp, paper and board -- microbiological examination -- part 1: total count of bacteria, yeast and mould 
based on disintegration 
ISO 12625-8:20 10-tissue paper and tissue products part -8:water absorption time and water capacity, basket immersion 
test method 
ISO 12625-7:2014  tissue paper and tissue products -- part 7: determination of optical properties -- measurement of 
brightness and colour with d 65/10° (outdoor daylight) 
ISO 6588-2:2012  paper, board and pulps -- determination of ph of aqueous extracts -- part 2: hot extraction 
ISO 287:2009  paper and board -- determination of moisture content of a lot -- oven-drying method 
 
3 Terms and Definitions 
For the purposes of this Draft East African Standard the following terms and definitions and those found in 
ISO 12625-1 shall apply: 
3.1  
defective 
a box, a holder, a sheet, or a test unit whose average property has been determined, that fails in one or more 
respects to comply with the relevant requirements of the specification 
 
3.2 
cross direction (CD) 
the direction of the paper at right angles to the machine direction 
3.3 
machine direction (MD) 
the direction of the paper corresponding to the direction of flow of the stuff on the paper machine DRAFT UGANDA STANDARDDEAS 861:2015 
© EAC 2014  – All rights reserved  2 
 3.4 
holder  
a container in which at least 6 sheets of paper serviettes/napkins of the same dimensions are packed 
3.5 
lot 
Is the aggregate of paper serviettes/napkins 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 paper serviettes/napkins of the same kind 
3.7 
sheet 
one or more plies of paper serviettes/napkins in rectangular form 
3.8 
test unit 
a number of sheets taken for testing 
3.9 
hole 
 an area in the sheet void of fibres and having a diameter not exceeding 4 mm 
3.10 
Consignment 
a consignment consists of one or more lots 
3.11 
single sheet thickness 
distance between the two principal surfaces of a single sheet of tissue product measured under the applied  
static load specified in ISO 12625-3 
3.12 
hole  
an area in a sheet void of fibres and having a diameter that is exceeding 2 mm. 
3.13 
bulking thickness 
thickness of a single sheet of tissue paper or tissue product, calculated from the thickness of several 
superimposed sheets, measured under the applied static load specified in ISO 12625-3 
3.14 
apparent bulk density 
mass per unit volume of tissue paper or tissue product, calculated from its grammage and bulking thickness. 
4  
General Requirements 
Paper serviettes/napkin shall be: 
 soft absorbent or non absorbent; 
 made from processed wood-fibre pulp , blended or reclyed pulp  
 
 single ply or multi ply; 
 colured or white 
 embossed in the case of , Non-absorbent serviettes/napkins for handling foodstuffs  
 creped or creped and embossed or printed in the case of soft absorbent serviettes/napkins 
 free from defects such as abrasive particles, lint, fibre bundles, holes and specks and DRAFT UGANDA STANDARDDEAS 861:2015 
© EAC 2014  – All rights reserved  3 
 manufactured and packaged under  good hygienic conditions  
4.7 Quality  requirements  
The paper serviettes/napkins shall comply with the quality requirements given in Table 1. 
Table 1 — Physical requirements for paper serviettes/napkins 
 
 Fibre composition  Requirement  
Single ply , gsm  Pure(Virgin)fibre  17 
Blended fibre  19 
Recycled fibre  19 
Multi - ply( measured as single ply) gsm Pure(Virgin)fibre  15 
Blended fibre  17 
Recycled fibre  17 
 
Table 1 — Continues 
 
1 2 3 4 5 
Property  Requirement (average)  
Test method  Soft absorbent dinner 
serviettes/ napkins  Non-absorbent 
serviettes/napkins  
Single ply  Multi -ply 
Tensile strength,  CD 0.8 0.5 1 
ISO 12625 -5  
MD 1.6 1.1 1.8 
Brightness, %, min.  
(White serviettes)  73 73 73 ISO 12625 -7 
pH 6-8 6-8 6-8 ISO 6588 -2 
 moisture content %  
 4.5-7 4.5-7 4.5-7 ISO 287  
Rate of absorption of  
water in mm/min  min.  16 10 - ISO 12625 -8 
     
4.8 Dimensional requirements 
The size of the paper serviettes/napkins shall be as given in Table 2. 
Table 2 — Sheet dimensions 
1 2 3  DRAFT UGANDA STANDARDDEAS 861:2015 
© EAC 2014  – All rights reserved  4 
 Types  Name  Minimum 
sizes, mm Minimum number of 
sheets in multiples of 25 
per pack  
 
 
 i) Soft absorbent serviettes/ napkins - 
Single -ply 200*200  
ii) Soft absorbent erviettes/napkins - Multi -
ply 200*200  
iii) Non -absorbent serviettes/napkins  200*200  
 
4.9 Freedom from holes 
The average number of holes less than 2mm in diameter in sheets shall not exceed 10 per sheet. 
4.10 Microbiological examination 
Each paper serviettes/napkins shall comply with microbial requirements on Table 3 below. 
Table 3 — microbial limits 
 
Sl no.  Characteristic  Acceptable limit  
Count/gram  Method  
i) Total plate count, cfu/g 
max.  300 ISO 8784 -1 
5 Sampling and compliance with specification1) 
 
5.1 Sampling 
The following sampling procedure shall be applied in determining whether a lot complies with the relevant 
requirements of the specification.  The samples so drawn shall be deemed to represent the lot. 
5.1.1  Sample for Inspection  
From the lot draw at random the number of bulk packages given in Table 4, Column 2 relative to the 
appropriate lot size given in Column 1.  From the bulk packages so drawn take at random the number of 
holders given in Table 4, Column 3, taking an approximately equal number of holders from each bulk 
package. 
5.1.2  Sample for tests 
From the sample drawn in accordance with 4.1.1 take at random the number of holders given in Column 4 
Table 4 relative to the appropriate lot size given in Column 1. 
Table 4 — Table of sample for inspection and test 
1 2 3 4 
Lot size, holders  Sample for visual inspection  Sample for test, holders  
                                                      
1) This section applies to the sampling for inspection and testing before acceptance or rejection of single lots (consignments) in cases 
where no information about the implementation of quality control or testing during manufacture is available to help in assessing the quality 
of the lot.  It is also used as the procedure for adjudicating in cases of dispute.    DRAFT UGANDA STANDARDDEAS 861:2015 
© EAC 2014  – All rights reserved  5 
 Bulk packages  Holders  
10 – 100 
101 – 300 
301 – 1000  
1001 – 4000  
4001 – 10000  
More than 10,000  1 
2 
4 
6 
8 
11 4 
6 
8 
12 
16 
22 4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
9 
5.1.3  Compliance with specification  
The lot shall be deemed to comply with the requirements of the specification if after inspection of the bulk 
packages and holders taken in accordance with 4.1.1 comply with the requirements given in Clause 3.  
6 Packaging and labelling 
6.1 Packaging 
Sheets shall be folded and shall be packed in holders. The number of sheets for each type is given in of Table 
2, 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.   
6.2 labelling 
6.2.1  Holders 
The following information shall marked legible and indelible marking on the outside of each holder: 
a) the name of the product; 
b) the manufacture r’s name and physical address; 
c) registered trade mark,; 
d) Number of plies 
e) the number , size and colour (s) of the sheets (if more than one colour then the term multi colour may 
be used in lieu; 
f) Batchnumber/code may be optional 
g) country of origin / manufacture. 
6.2.2  Bulk packages 
The following information shall be legibly and indelibly mark ed on the outside of each bulk packages:  
a) The information required in 6.2.1 a) to e); 
b) The quantity of holders in the bulk package.  
 DRAFT UGANDA STANDARD  
 
© EAC 2014 – All rights reserved