The US Federal Trading Commission (FTC) has updated it textile labelling rules on fibre content and country-of-origin disclosures. The new rules implement the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act, which requires that certain textiles sold in the country carry labels showing the generic names and percentages by weight of fibres, along with the manufacturer or marketer name, and the country where the product was processed or manufactured.
The changes will see the incorporation of International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 2076 standard for generic names for manufactured fibres, thus allowing greater harmonisation across the global apparel industry. And hang-tags will be allowed to disclose fibre names and trademarks, and performance information, without the need to disclose the product's full fibre content.
The country-of-origin disclosure clarifies the origin of the country where products were processed or manufactured. A strongly opposed proposal that would have required annual renewal of continuing guaranties, a form completed by sellers to guaranty products are compliant with the law, was not included in the final rule.
According to the American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA), which had opposed the proposal, while these guaranties are an important part of the legal process, a requirement for annual renewal would have attracted significant compliance costs on businesses, without increasing the reliability of the guaranties.
www.ftc.gov
