REGAFFAIRS AI
ANSWERS · 4 OCT 2026

What rules apply to drawstrings and cords on children's clothing in the US, Canada, the UK and the EU, and which recalls or market surveillance alerts have regulators issued for children's hoodies and jackets with drawstrings?

All four jurisdictions treat cords and drawstrings at the hood and neck of children's outerwear as a strangulation hazard. Only the US has a binding garment-specific rule: 16 CFR 1120 makes non-compliance with ASTM F1816-97 a "substantial product hazard". Canada enforces ASTM F1816-18, with a wider scope, under the general ban in the Canada Consumer Product Safety Act. The EU and the UK rely on their general product safety laws, with EN 14682 (BS EN 14682 in the UK) giving a presumption of safety. All four regulators have pulled children's hoodies and jackets for this hazard. In the EU, Safety Gate holds 2,296 clothing alerts flagged for strangulation risk. 1,117 of them are hoodies, jackets, coats, sweatshirts or cardigans, and the newest is from August 2026.

Approach: I searched EU Safety Gate, the Dutch NVWA warnings, the UK General Product Safety Regulations 2005 and recent UK recall listings. I used official CPSC, Health Canada, EUR-Lex and GOV.UK pages for the US, Canadian, EU-standards and older UK material, because I don't hold those in structured form; those parts rest on search snippets.

The rules

JurisdictionInstrumentWhat it requires
US16 CFR 1120 (substantial product hazard list), adopting ASTM F1816-97
  • No hood or neck drawstrings in children's upper outerwear, sizes 2T to 12.
  • Waist and bottom drawstrings (sizes 2T to 16) may stick out no more than 3 in outside the channel when the garment is fully expanded.
  • No toggles, knots or other attachments on the free ends.
  • CPSC treats coats sized 12 to 14 as covered by the neck ban.
  • Applies federally. I did not check state-level rules.
CanadaCanada Consumer Product Safety Act, s. 7(a) (ban on products that are a danger to human health or safety), applied through Health Canada's notice on children's upper outerwear with drawstrings
  • Garments that don't meet ASTM F1816-18 (with an expanded scope) are treated as a danger.
  • No hood or neck drawstrings in sizes newborn to 12. This is wider than the US 2T start.
  • Waist and bottom drawstrings: at most 76.2 mm outside the channel, no end attachments, and bartacked if the drawstring is one continuous string.
  • Health Canada ran drawstring compliance projects in 2021-22 and 2023-24.
EUGeneral Product Safety Regulation (EU) 2023/988, in application since 13 Dec 2024; it repealed Directive 2001/95/EC
  • EN 14682 references published under the old Directive keep giving a presumption of conformity.
  • EN 14682:2007 was recognised by Decision 2011/196/EU.
  • EN 14682:2014 replaced it under Implementing Decision (EU) 2015/1345.
  • Safety Gate alerts routinely cite "does not comply with the relevant European standard EN 14682" [1][2][3].
UK (GB)General Product Safety Regulations 2005
  • Only safe products may be placed on the market. The definition of "safe" specifically requires account to be taken of children as a category of consumer at risk [4].
  • Under reg. 6, conforming to a standard the Secretary of State has published gives a presumption of safety, but enforcers can still act if the product is dangerous [5].
  • GOV.UK lists BS EN 14682 (cords and drawstrings on children's clothing) as a designated standard.
  • OPSS has published a PRISM risk-assessment template for non-compliant cords in children's clothing.
UK (NI)Same regulations, Northern Ireland versionReg. 6(2) still refers to European standards published in the EU Official Journal [5].

UK trading-standards guidance (from a search snippet) summarises BS EN 14682 as follows: no drawstrings or functional cords in the head, neck or upper chest area of garments for young children, and no decorative cords on the hood or at the back of the neck.

Recalls and market surveillance alerts

EU (Safety Gate)

  • Alert volumes on these garments peaked in 2010 (174) and 2012 (190). There was a second rise in 2023 (96).
  • Hungary, Bulgaria and Cyprus raised the most alerts.
  • The panel document lists every alert with its reference, brand and measures. Recent examples:
    • SR/02249/26, Lithuania: children's jacket, compulsory withdrawal [6].
    • SR/01739/26, Germany: VIN TE children's jacket [7].
    • SR/01737/26, Germany: TA Fashion hoodie, removed from an online marketplace [8].
    • Estonia, January 2026: hoodies from Penelope, ELT and Fair Play [9][10][11].
    • Northern Ireland, 2025: children's hoodie recalled from consumers [12].
  • The Dutch NVWA published a warning on 16 Feb 2026 for The Indian Maharadja kids tech hooded jacket, which has a cord in the hood [13].

US (CPSC, from search snippets)

  • Grundens Youth Clipper 282 and Zenith 282 jackets, hood drawstring (30 Oct 2025).
  • Allura Imports youth sweatshirts sold at Gabe's.
  • Lola + The Boys hoodies and sets, about 620 units (5 Feb 2026).
  • Little Loves & Co. youth clothing (27 Aug 2026).

Canada (Health Canada, from search snippets)

  • Racine Carrée children's clothing.
  • "Various children's jackets".
  • Grundens children's rain jackets.
  • Kid's Ark hooded sweaters.
  • HUF Logo youth hooded fleece.
  • Pacapopskidz sweaters (expanded recall).
  • Will & You outerwear tops (vehicular dragging hazard).
  • "Various children's upper outerwear".
  • Wetskins rainsuit (2019).

UK (OPSS)

  • The North Face Teen's Oversized Hoodie, 2212-0025, serious risk, recalled from end users (Dec 2022).
  • ECE Collection Girls Hooded Tracksuit, 2110-0259.
  • 304 Soda and World Hoodie Jnr, 2202-0331.
  • The recent UK recall listing I could search (August to September 2026) has no drawstring clothing notices.

I can check US state rules next, or pull dates and unit counts for the Canadian recalls, if that would help.

Sources:

SOURCES · 13

  1. [1]Children’s sleeveless jacket · p.1RAPEX
  2. [2]Children's jacket · p.1RAPEX
  3. [3]Children’s jacket · p.1RAPEX
  4. [4]Regulation 2 · p.1UK
  5. [5]Regulation 6 · p.1UK
  6. [6]Children's jacket · p.1RAPEX
  7. [7]Children's jacket · p.1RAPEX
  8. [8]Children's hoodie · p.1RAPEX
  9. [9]Children's hoodie · p.1RAPEX
  10. [10]Children's hoodie · p.1RAPEX
  11. [11]Children's hoodie · p.1RAPEX
  12. [12]Children's hoodie · p.1RAPEX
  13. [13]Veiligheidswaarschuwing The Indian Maharadja kids tech hooded jacket · p.1NVWA
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