GB5033-85 Explained: China's National Standard for Corrugated Boxes in Export Packaging

For exporters, corrugated boxes are the workhorse of transport packaging, and China has long maintained a dedicated national standard for them. GB5033-85, Corrugated box for export products, is a National Standard of the People's Republic of China, filed under UDC676.874, 676.76 and 621.798.

Its scope is straightforward: it governs the corrugated boxes used for the transport packaging of export products, referred to in the standard simply as corrugated boxes.

The standard sorts corrugated boxes into the eight types listed in Table 1, based on the packaging capacity of the box and the type of corrugated board used.

On materials, the board must comply with GB5034-85, Corrugated Board for Export Product Packaging. Nailed boxes call for coated flat metal wire that is free of cracks or defects that would impair its use, while glued boxes rely on polyvinyl acetate emulsion or another adhesive delivering an equivalent bonding effect.

Appearance and forming: the box must be square and true with a clean surface, and must show no obvious appearance defects or other defects affecting its use.

For nailing, a minimum overlap width applies, and boxes are fastened with diagonal or transverse stitches. Stitches must be neatly arranged and evenly spaced, with capped pitch limits for double stitching and single stitching as well as a maximum distance from the first and last stitches to the crease centerline, and every stitch has to be driven fully into the lap joint.

Strength and thickness: the compression strength of the box has to match the demands of the product and the transport conditions, and once formed, the corrugated board must be no thinner than the lower limit of the corresponding flute height specified in GB5034-85.

Structure and dimensions: the standard's basic form serves as the reference design, although other corrugated box forms may also be adopted, and dimensions must follow GB4892-85, Series of Dimensions for Rigid Rectangular Transport Packages.

Delivery and acceptance: boxes are supplied in batches, and the manufacturer guarantees that everything leaving the plant meets the standard while issuing a certificate of conformity. Buyers carry out acceptance inspection against the standard and may re-inspect any index found to be non-conforming.

Batch verdict: a lot is judged non-conforming if even one of the internal dimensions, thickness, bursting strength, puncture strength, edgewise compression strength, bonding strength or moisture content falls short, or if the number of boxes failing the other indices exceeds the specified limit.

Marking, packaging, transport and storage: box shipping and storage markings follow GB191-85, Pictorial Markings for Handling of Packages, while dangerous goods markings follow GB190-85, Marking of Packages for Dangerous Goods. The manufacturer packages boxes in line with the user's requirements.

During transport, boxes must be shielded from direct rain, snow, sunlight and contamination; they must never be dropped from height during loading and unloading, and no tools that could damage product quality may be used.

Storage areas should stay ventilated and dry, and any short-term open-air storage requires proper covering and dunnage for protection.

The standard was proposed by the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations and Trade of the People's Republic of China and drafted under the responsibility of the China Export Commodities Packaging Research Institute and its Tianjin Branch, with Sha Renyu, Guo Lianbi and Gong Yingxuan as the main drafters.

The standard information above is republished from China Packaging Network (pack.cn); the original link is http://news.pack.cn/show-362282.html.