Some of the six brands named by the association have suspended sales. The brands have been taken off store shelves in cities across the country other than Shanghai.

The manufacturers - who said they have suffered serious financial losses since the warning - and some experts questioned the association's testing methods, saying there is no national standard for children's clothes.

Standards are now being drafted, but won't become effective until next year, they said.

The Beijing Consumers' Association warning was issued following a comparative test of 24 types of infant knitwear. The six brands they named as containing too much formaldehyde are: PacLantic, Runyingbao, Chunzhu, Mellon Boy, Mickey's Corner and Shanghai Bob Dog Children's Clothing.

However, Luo Gang of Beijing Consumers' Association explained that although the chemical content of the six brands was higher when compared with other clothes, this doesn't mean the clothes are substandard or harmful to children's health.

Luo also said all clothes manufactured by the named companies do not have problems.

Tan Binyong, secretary general of the Shanghai branch of the Chinese Medical Association, said excessive formaldehyde can irritate people's eyes, skin and mucous membrane and may cause respiratory diseases.

Observers said the association's warning immediately caused a panic among consumers. Products of the listed brands were returned to stores or suspended from sale, a manu-facturer's representative said.

"Our company was obliged to have two-thirds of our products tested in Zhengzhou City and all the products in Nanjing were pulled from the shelves," said Huang Meifang, sales executive for the Shanghai Bob Dog.

"The sales of Chunzhu in Shanghai declined by roughly 40 percent, compared with the same period last year," said Liu Guoqiang, general manager of the Shanghai Chunzhu Children's Garment Co. Ltd.

Manufacturers said the European Union has the only standard for children's clothing.

"The EU standard is used just for reference," said an expert of the State Clothing Test Center in Shanghai, who identified himself only as Zhu. "I don't know what standards the Beijing association used to reach the conclusion because no national standards are available at present."

(Eastday.com 06/26/2001)