Clothes sold by Zara, a Spanish retail giant, were declared substandard after the latest quality inspection in Shanghai, pushing the brand back onto the blacklist for the third consecutive year in China, Metro Express reported.

File photo of a Zara store in Shanghai, Sept 10, 2011.  [Photo/Asianewsphoto]

The fiber content tested on a batch of Zara cardigans was found not matching that marked on the label, the paper said.

The test was conducted by Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Quality and Technical Supervision and covered 58 batches of leisure clothes.

Nine batches of garments were found to contain labels with incorrect fiber content, including jackets sold by Nautica, sweatshirts by CK Jeans and knitwear by TeenieWeenie.

The test declared altogether 10 sub-quality products and covered items such as formaldehyde content, fiber content, colorfastness and pH value.

Zara's down coats failed quality tests authorized by the Beijing Consumer Association in 2009 and 2010. The actual down content was lower than what the labels said.