Customer and consumer demands are driving up standards in the footwear and leather supply chain, presenting the industry with a range of challenges in order to remain competitive, profitable, and sustainable. Stakeholders are increasingly demanding products that are not only safe and of good quality but also, manufactured in an environmentally and socially responsible manner.

From a product safety and quality perspective we conduct tests to verify that products meet the desired global requirements and standards, for example: volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in adhesives, excessive chromium VI in leather, and the risk of phthalates in plastic accessories associated with children’s footwear. Environmental and social responsibility concerns are assessed through inspection, audit, and certification of production facilities and workers’ occupational health and safety.

Regulatory Compliance

Our testing, inspection, and certification services can verify product compliance with one or more regulations, for as many markets as you require, such as:

• Canada: CCPSA
• China: Product Standards
• EU: REACH, Restricted Substances, SVHCs & Directive 89/686/EEC for PPE
• Korea: KC Mark Regulations
• Taiwan: CNS Regulations
• US: CPSIA, California Proposition 65, plus Washington State’s CHCC

Our Services

We offer a comprehensive range of services across the entire footwear and leather supply chain:

• Footwear and leather product testing
• ECOSECURE product mark certification for footwear and leather products
• Mold prevention solution
• Fitting and sizing services
• Safety footwear certification
• Technical consultancy
• Inspection
• Government-mandated pre-shipment inspection (PSI) for selected emerging markets 
• Social responsibility solutions
• Systems and services certification
• Carbon and energy efficiency solutions
• Technical audit of footwear factories and leather tanneries

Design, manufacture, and deliver footwear and leather products that are more attractive to buyers with audit, testing, inspection, compliance services from SGS.