FTC Proposed Updates to the Care Labeling Rule on Apparel – Only 2 More Weeks to Submit Your Comments

Only 2 more weeks remain for you to submit your comments related to the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTCs) proposed changes to the Care Labeling Rule.

This rule requires manufacturers and importers to attach labels with care instructions for garments and certain piece goods, so consumers have reliable instructions for washing, dry cleaning, bleaching, drying and ironing their clothing.

The Care Labeling Rule, officially called the Rule on Care Labeling of Textile Wearing Apparel and Certain Piece Goods, has been in effect since 1971.  It requires manufacturers and importers to attach care instructions to garments.

The FTC is seeking comments on potential updates to the Rule, including changes that would:

1. Allow manufacturers and importers, if they so choose, to include professional instructions for “wet cleaning” – an environmentally friendly alternative to dry cleaning – on labels if the garment can be professionally wet cleaned;

2. Permit manufacturers to use updated ASTM (American Society for Testing and Materials) or ISO (International Organization for Standardization) symbols on labels in lieu of written terms providing care instructions;

3. Clarify what constitutes a reasonable basis for care instructions; and

4. Update and expand the definition of "dry clean" to reflect current practices and account for the advent of new solvents.

Comments can be filed electronically by clicking here as are instructions on how to file.  They must be received by November 16, 2012.

All comments received will be posted online here. (FTC File No. R511915)  The staff contact is Robert M. Frisby, Bureau of Consumer Protection (202) 326-2098 and questions about contributing and submitting comments may be directed to him.

Make your voice heard!

Questions/comments?  Post below or email me at clark.deanna@gmail.com.

Regulating Fashion

If you want to sell products in the largest economy in the world (namely, in the USA), you have got to play by its rules.

Whether it is related to protecting a US industry or the US consumer, there are multiple federal agencies that regulate products sold in the American market. The same goes for the European Union (EU), and an easy example of regulation for the sake of consumer protection is one with respect to restrictions on beef imports in the wake of “mad cow” disease some years ago.

In the context of fashion however, we are not interested in every federal agency but rather a limited number with certain exceptions. We would not, for example, typically need the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) when importing an apparel article. If the “meat dress” worn by singer Lady Gaga were to be imported however, and therefore arriving in a refrigerated container (aka, a “reefer”) unlike most apparel imports which do not require temperature controlled transport, FDA compliance questions may arise.

This is because the FDA has a 24 hour rule with respect to the declaration of food imports – even though with its primary purpose being an article of apparel, the importer may attempt to classify it as such as opposed to raw meat.

While speaking with another professor at a fashion conference recently, I learned that risk recognition and assessment in the context of the fashion industry is not a subject closely looked at in tandem with importation. As this is an area of law I deal with frequently, I explained to him a number of risks and offered to go down to his school to do a seminar on this topic.

Risks not only arise with the more obvious Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) flammability, lead and other rules, but can also come up in the context of labeling, for issues arising under the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) jurisdiction such as those involving the letters “USA” on a product not actually made in the USA.

There is also the US Fish and Wildlife that regulates other products under the fashion umbrella such as an importation of watches with a mother-of-pearl dial.

With US Customs serving as the watchdog at the border for compliance with all US federal agency rules, it is imperative for an importer to have done its regulatory due diligence in order to avoid fines and penalties by one or more of these agencies.

Questions/comments? Post below or email me at clark.deanna@gmail.com