Garment lab testing in Bangladesh: which tests each market needs

Adult clothing made in Bangladesh is tested by accredited third-party laboratories in Dhaka, Chattogram and Gazipur, and which tests it needs depends on where you sell it. The European Union and the UK limit chemicals such as azo dyes, nickel on metal trims and formaldehyde under REACH. The United States has a flammability standard for all clothing textiles and wants evidence behind every care instruction. Canada has its own flammability rule, and Australia and New Zealand set care labelling standards. Buyers then add performance tests of their own, for colour fastness, shrinkage, pilling and seam strength. This guide names the labs, gives the rules for adult clothing in each market with the method each one names, and shows how to check a lab’s accreditation and what a usable test report contains. We read every source on 17 October 2026. Children’s clothing has stricter rules of its own and is not covered here.

Which accredited labs test clothing in Bangladesh?

At least five international testing groups run textile laboratories in Bangladesh and describe them on their own pages. The table lists them in alphabetical order, with what each page says. Naming a laboratory here is not a claim that we work with it or that it recommends us, and the list is not complete: these are the ones whose own pages we could read.

None of them publishes test prices on the pages we read, so ask each lab for a quote against your own list of tests. Most of them also sell inspections and audits. A laboratory test report and an inspection report are different documents: the inspection checks workmanship and measurements on a sample of the finished lot, as our AQL guide explains, while the lab measures what an inspector cannot see.

How do I check a lab’s accreditation?

The standard for testing laboratories is ISO/IEC 17025:2017, General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories. An accreditation body assesses a lab against it for a defined scope: a list of tests, each with its method and edition. The accreditation covers the tests on that list, not everything the lab does, so the scope tells you more than the certificate.

Bangladesh’s national body is the Bangladesh Accreditation Board (BAB). ILAC’s list of signatories shows BAB in the ILAC Mutual Recognition Arrangement for testing to ISO/IEC 17025 since 9 March 2015. A lab in Bangladesh can also be accredited by a foreign body: Bureau Veritas’s Bangladesh site names India’s NABL as well as BAB.

A BAB scope document shows what to look for. Hohenstein publishes the one for its Dhaka laboratory: certificate number 01.053.18, accredited since 25 October 2018, last amended on 12 January 2026 and valid until 24 October 2027, in a 33-page document that lists its tests. Each line gives the method, with its edition where it has one, such as ISO 105-C06:2010 for colour fastness to washing, CPSC 16 CFR Part 1610 for the flammability of apparel, and an in-house procedure based on DIN EN 14362-1:2017 for amines from azo dyes.

• Ask for the certificate and the scope, and note the certificate number and the valid-until date.
• Find each of your tests in the scope, with the same method. Accreditation for colour fastness says nothing about formaldehyde.
• Compare the edition. Methods are revised. ISO published a new edition of the seam grab test, ISO 13935-2, in April 2026, replacing the 2014 edition, so a scope written before then names the 2014 one. Ask which edition the report used, and make sure your specification names the same.
• Check the accreditation body on ILAC’s signatory search.
• For the US, adult clothing does not have to be tested at a CPSC-accepted laboratory, the CPSC says. Children’s products do, as our CPSIA guide explains.

What do the EU and UK require for adult clothing?

In the EU the chemical limits for clothing sit in Annex XVII of REACH, the list of restricted substances that ECHA, the European Chemicals Agency, publishes entry by entry. The entries set limits rather than a certificate to file; a test report to the method an entry names is how you show that a fabric or trim is within them. Seven entries matter most for adult clothing:

• Entry 43, azo dyes. Dyes that can release one of the listed aromatic amines above 30 mg/kg must not be used in textile and leather articles in direct and prolonged contact with the skin, clothing included. Appendix 10 of Annex XVII names EN ISO 14362-1:2017 and EN ISO 14362-3:2017 as the methods for textiles.
• Entry 27, nickel. Rivet buttons, tighteners, rivets, zips and metal marks used in garments must not release more than 0.5 µg/cm² of nickel a week from the parts in direct and prolonged contact with the skin. The test methods the European Commission has published for this entry are EN 1811:2023 and EN 12472:2020.
• Entry 72, substances that cause cancer, mutations or harm to reproduction. Clothing for consumers must not contain them at or above the limits in Appendix 12. These include 75 mg/kg of formaldehyde (jackets and coats were allowed 300 mg/kg until 1 November 2023), 1 mg/kg of extractable chromium VI, lead, cadmium or arsenic, 1 mg/kg of each listed PAH and 1,000 mg/kg of certain phthalates. Non-textile fasteners and decorations, and parts made only of natural leather, fur or hide, are outside it.
• Entry 47, chromium VI in leather. Leather parts that touch the skin must contain less than 3 mg/kg, which matters for leather patches and trims.
• Entry 50, PAHs. Rubber or plastic parts that touch the skin must not contain more than 1 mg/kg of any listed PAH, and clothing is named among the articles.
• Entry 46a, nonylphenol ethoxylates. Since 3 February 2021, textiles that will be washed in water must contain less than 0.01% by weight.
• Entry 79, PFHxA. From 10 October 2026, textiles, leather, furs and hides in clothing and related accessories for the general public must not contain 25 ppb or more of PFHxA and its salts, or 1,000 ppb or more of PFHxA-related substances, measured in homogeneous material. Articles placed on the market before that date are exempt.

Which entries apply depends on the materials. An all-cotton t-shirt has no metal trims; a denim jacket has rivets, and perhaps a leather patch. List the materials of each style, fabric by fabric and trim by trim, and test each against the entries that touch it. Our EU market page covers labelling, the responsible person and duty.

Great Britain has its own copy of the law, UK REACH. HSE’s list of restrictions under UK REACH carries entries 27, 43, 46a, 47, 50 and 72 with the same limits, including 75 mg/kg of formaldehyde in clothing, but not entry 79 on PFHxA. The list is the EU text as it stood on 31 December 2020, as amended by UK regulations, so it does not automatically include restrictions the EU has added since. One detail shows the gap: for azo dyes HSE’s list names the 2012 editions of EN 14362-1 and EN 14362-3, where the EU text now names the 2017 editions. Ask the lab which edition it ran. Our UK market page covers labelling and duty.

What does the United States require for adult clothing?

Flammability. All wearing apparel must meet 16 CFR part 1610, the Standard for the Flammability of Clothing Textiles. It sorts fabrics into three classes by how fast they burn, and Class 3, the most dangerously flammable, is prohibited in clothing. It does not apply to hats that do not cover the neck, face or shoulders, gloves of 14 inches or shorter that are not attached to a garment, most footwear, or interlinings. Two groups of fabric are exempt from testing: plain-surface fabrics of 2.6 ounces per square yard (88.2 g/m²) or more, whatever the fibre, and plain or raised fabrics made only of acrylic, modacrylic, nylon, olefin, polyester or wool, in any combination. A brushed cotton fleece is raised and cotton, so it is in neither group.

The certificate. The manufacturer or importer certifies compliance in a General Certificate of Conformity, based on testing or a reasonable testing program. The CPSC says it will not take action against firms that issue no certificate for adult apparel whose fabric is exempt from testing, and that adult wearing apparel does not need to be tested at a third-party, CPSC-accepted laboratory.

Care labels. The FTC’s Care Labeling Rule requires a reasonable basis for every care instruction and warning. The FTC says experience and industry expertise can be enough in some cases, but for a dye known to bleed you may need test results showing that the garment can be cleaned as recommended without damage. Tests on separate components count only if there is reliable evidence for the garment as a whole: a component test does not support a wash instruction if one part bleeds onto another. Our guide to clothing label requirements covers what goes on the label.

California. Proposition 65 says no business may knowingly and intentionally expose anyone to a chemical the state lists as causing cancer or reproductive toxicity without a clear and reasonable warning. Businesses with nine or fewer employees are exempt, and civil penalties run up to $2,500 a day for each violation, according to the California Attorney General. Our US market page shows which clothing categories attract Proposition 65 notices and which test reports to ask for.

What do Canada, Australia and New Zealand require?

Canada. The Textile Flammability Regulations, made under the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act, apply to products made of textile fibres. They exclude children’s sleepwear up to size 14X, which has its own regulations. The flame spread time must be more than 3.5 seconds for a fabric without a raised fibre surface, and more than 4 seconds for a raised surface that shows ignition or fusion of its base fibres, measured by CAN/CGSB-4.2 No. 27.5, a 45° angle test with a one-second flame. Our Canada market page covers labelling in English and French.

Australia. Among the ACCC’s mandatory standards, which we read on 17 October 2026, the one that applies to adult clothing in general is about labels, not chemicals: the Consumer Goods (Care Labelling) Information Standard 2023, based on AS/NZS 1957:1998 and ISO 3758:2012. Care instructions can be written in English, given as the five international care symbols, or both. The list has no standard for azo dyes. In 2014 the ACCC said these dyes were not banned for textile use in Australia, that it could recommend recalls where it found safety concerns, and that suppliers should keep hazardous aromatic amines in articles in prolonged contact with the skin to no more than 30 mg/kg. It consulted on options to regulate them in 2015. Our Australia market page has the rest.

New Zealand. The Consumer Information Standards (Care Labelling) Regulations 2000 adopt sections of AS/NZS 1957:1998. The Commerce Commission says care labels must be legible and in English, and that a permanent label must withstand the care treatment the item needs. Our New Zealand market page covers the fibre content and origin labels as well.

Which performance tests do buyers usually specify?

The tests below are about how a garment performs rather than what it contains, and the level you accept is set in your own specification or your retailer’s manual. Write the method, its edition and the pass level for each.

ISO 105-C06 and ISO 5077 set no pass mark, so the limit is yours to write. Our guides explain the grades and what is normal: colour fastness testing and fabric shrinkage. TÜV SÜD’s Bangladesh page lists all four properties, and Hohenstein’s scope includes each method above except the 2026 edition of the seam grab test.

What should a lab test report show?

ISO/IEC 17025 lists what every test report must contain unless the laboratory has a valid reason to leave something out. NIST’s summary of the 2017 edition, clause 7.8.2.1, gives the list:

• a title, the laboratory’s name and address, and where the testing was done if that was somewhere else
• a unique identification on every part of the report, and a clear end to it
• the customer’s name and contact details
• the method used
• a description and unambiguous identification of the item tested, and its condition where that matters
• the date the item was received, the dates of testing and the date the report was issued
• the results, with units
• the person who authorised the report
• a statement that the results relate only to the items tested

Two more rules follow in the same section, in clauses 7.8.2.2 and 7.8.6: information supplied by the customer must be identified as such, and a pass or fail statement must follow a documented decision rule. The statement that results relate only to the items tested matters most to a buyer. The European co-operation for Accreditation says it is required in every test report so that nobody extends the results to other items: a report is not approval of a lot or a product. A report on a sample the factory chose and sent tells you about that sample.

Then check what your order needs:

• The style number, colour and fabric lot on the sample label, so the item description on the report ties to your order.
• The method and edition your specification names.
• Your requirement next to each result, and pass or fail against it.
• The lab’s accreditation number, and each test inside its scope.
• A date that fits the order. A report on last season’s fabric is not a report on this lot.

What a buying house does here, and what it does not

A buying house does not replace a laboratory. We are not a laboratory and do not issue test reports; a test report is the laboratory’s document, and its value comes from the lab’s accreditation, not from us.

What we do is make testing part of the order rather than an afterthought. Our order confirmation names the tests to be done, the laboratory and who receives the reports. Third-party lab tests your retailer specifies are quoted as their own line and agreed in writing before you order. Bulk fabric is checked against the approved swatch before cutting, and independent inspectors are welcome at any stage. Our quality control page also lists your wash test requirements, and who pays for a re-test if one fails, among the things to settle before production. We do not claim compliance without a test report or a certificate, and we do not set your pass levels: where the law sets none, they come from your specification.

A testing checklist for an order

1. List your markets, and from them the legal requirements: the REACH entries for the EU and UK, 16 CFR 1610 for the US, the Textile Flammability Regulations for Canada.
2. List the materials of each style, fabric by fabric and trim by trim, and match each to the entries that touch it.
3. Add your performance tests, each with its method, edition and pass level.
4. Choose an accredited lab whose scope includes every test, and get its quote.
5. Write the tests, the lab and who receives the reports into the order confirmation.
6. Test at lab dip and development, on bulk fabric before cutting, and on finished garments if they are washed or dyed after sewing.
7. Label each sample with the style, colour and fabric lot.
8. Read each report against the lists above before you approve shipment.

Our tech pack guide shows where the testing page goes. Or send us your specification and your markets: we reply within one working day, and our own orders start at 500 pieces per style and colour.