When submitting for testing, one item must be asked about as two categories of items separately: how is this currently written in the industry?

I. When it comes to submitting samples for testing, the first question should be clarified

When a customer brings an agarwood product to a testing institution, there is usually a question that has not been clearly asked beforehand: are they asking about the material itself, or about the layer that stays in close contact with the body?

If this question is framed the wrong way, all subsequent communication will have to be redone.

II. The three documents differ in nature and must not be cited interchangeably

This article only discusses the currently effective documents directly related to agarwood bead strings and wooden bead strings.

First, the industry standard: LY/T 3223—2020 "Quality Grading of Agarwood." Issued on December 29, 2020, implemented on June 1, 2021, filing number 80021-2021, currently effective and not repealed. The original text of the scope of application: "Applicable to the quality grade classification of agarwood raw materials and their original-state agarwood products." Please note the last few words—original-state agarwood products. Whether a string that has been worn for a long time, with marks pressed into the hole walls and frayed edges on the bead surfaces from knocks, still falls within this framework must be checked against the provisions.

Next, the group standard: T/HAIUA 002—2024 "Agarwood Bead Strings." Issued and implemented on the same day, March 26, 2024, currently effective and not repealed. The scope of application covers the terms and definitions, product classification, technical requirements, inspection methods, inspection rules, marking, packaging, transportation, and storage conditions of agarwood bead strings. The administering body is the Hainan Province Agarwood Industry Federation.

There is also an industry standard: LY/T 2872—2017 "Wooden Bead Strings." Issued on June 5, 2017, implemented on September 1 of the same year, currently effective. The competent authority is the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, and it is administered by the National Technical Committee for Wood Standardization.

III. The mandatory category must be discussed separately from the previous two categories

GB 28480—2012 "Provision of Limits of Harmful Elements in Adornments" is a currently effective mandatory national standard, governing the category of imitation and real adornments.

GB 28480—2026 "Technical Requirements for Jewelry Safety" will be implemented on April 1, 2027. A publicly available interpretation article from a testing institution contains the sentence: "The total content requirements for harmful elements do not apply to jewelry and jade." This sentence comes from an interpretation article, not the original standard text, and industry websites must not cite it as original text.

Therefore, what wooden bead strings must comply with is the wooden bead string line, not the adornment line.

IV. Why the two categories of items must be reported separately

Material and grade are properties of the material itself; close-contact safety is safety under conditions of use. The two differ in testing methods, judgment bases, and forms of conclusion. Mixed onto a single form, the result can only be a conclusion that does not clearly state which item it addresses.

Therefore, when submitting the test request form, writing the two categories of items as separate entries is less troublesome than asking for a general conclusion.

Among publicly available testing methods, the material side commonly includes moisture content and wood species identification, while the contact side commonly includes formaldehyde release, formaldehyde content, heavy metals, migratable elements, and benzene series and volatile organic compounds.

V. Before submitting samples, write the two items to be checked on a single sheet of paper

This step takes only a few minutes but saves days of back-and-forth later.

On the first line, write the material side: what material this is, according to which document the grade is determined, and to which institution it is sent. On the second line, write the close-contact side: according to which document this item is tested.

The two lines are independent and do not replace each other.

Take these two lines to communicate with the institution, and the items they accept are exactly these two. Omit one line, and the report will lack one column; add one irrelevant requirement, and the testing institution will send it back for re-filling.

Before submitting samples, one more thing must be confirmed: submitting samples requires destructive sampling. Submitting a finished product means first taking a piece off the item. Therefore, think clearly beforehand whether this sample is worth using this way. Only after thinking this through will you know whether to submit a finished product or raw material.

VI. Why the limit figures are not written here

For parts of the original standard text that have not been obtained, we do not speak on the standard's behalf. Limit values fall into this category. Today we only discuss the framework: what to check, according to which standard, and who issues the conclusion.

VII. The position of industry websites

Standards are given by the standards, conclusions are issued by testing institutions, and only reports issued by institutions have that effect. Those doing industry interpretation do not define matters for anyone—this is not a courtesy phrase; it is a matter of position.

Mark clearly the nature of the three categories of documents, draw the boundary between the two categories of items, and leave the rest to the provisions and the institutions.

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