Online Resources for Fashion Compliance and Fashion Law

Are you looking for more fashion law information related to your fashion compliance obligations?

Here is a list of resources to help you learn more about what’s required for you to do the right thing and avoid getting hit by penalties for wrongdoing. We have many other articles in our blog that we invite you to peruse through as well.

Be advised that while we are providing this information and it may be considered guidance, we are not guaranteeing that any of the rules, regulations or protocols stated in these publications and resources are current (in fact portions of it are outdated as you will see since these laws frequently are amended, but it is what the government has published and is therefore, publicly available), still applicable, or should be considered as legal advice.

It is always recommended to have legal counsel review anything you have put together to ensure you are actually complying with the law. 

MARKETING CLAIMS

Are you telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth when it comes to your product descriptions made in advertisements, whether in print or online?  Perhaps, you’re stretching the truth???

Whatever the case may be, be advised that truthful marketing statements and non-deceptive advertising are highly regulated areas.  To learn more about what you can and can’t do, check out these links here:

Dot Com Disclosures: How to MakeEffective Disclosures in Digital Advertising

Advertising and Marketing on theInternet:  Rules of the Road

GREEN MARKETING (“ECO-FRIENDLY”)

Part of the sustainable fashion movement?  Are your products “Eco-friendly?”  If they are, kudos to you!  We are absolutely for the advancement of products that could be considered “sustainable fashion.”

As a warning, however, the government has strict rules on what can be claimed as “green” and even requires proof to substantiate any claims made.  Watch the video on their website and find more information on this at this link here:

Green Guides: Guides for the Use of Environmental MarketingClaims

MADE IN USA

We make excellent products here in the U.S.  and if you want to have the privilege of labeling your products with the statement “Made in USA,” you better darn well make sure that it was all or virtually made here in the USA.   While this may sound relatively straightforward, this can get complicated when some components have been imported despite the manufacture of the final product being fabricated here in the US.  It’s complexity further rises when a company wants it’s goods to qualify under the Buy American Act or to sell to the government, which has its own criteria regarding products claiming to be Made in USA.

For more on Made in USA disclosures, check out this page here.

CLOTHING LABELS

Believe it or not, figuring out the proper way to state required disclosures on clothing can get complicated fast when what you are selling is either imported in to the USA, made in the USA but of foreign components, or made up of US originating components that are assembled into a finished product abroad.  This is because there are overlapping laws that apply to clothes under these circumstances.

It becomes further complicated if you are using recycled materials, unknown fibers or miscellaneous scraps.  Since there is so much misinformation out there on this subject, we invite you to contact us with any questions related to this subject.

IMPORTING

To put it mildly, importing laws are a beast unto themselves.  Nuances from fiber blends, to articles sold as sets, to importing second hand clothes all raise specific issues in relation to product classification, labeling, how it is marked and its value determination.

US Customs Informed Compliance Publications cover a wealth of subjects from apparel classification, to fiber trade names, to importing basics.  They all give you a head start on how to do the right thing in terms of importing in to the US.

For these subjects, how to take advantage of money saving opportunities through the trade agreements, and more, check out this link.

EXPORTING / E-COMMERCE

“This is not your parent’s post office.”  -- Anonymous, USPS Corporate Office Employee

Don’t be fooled by what the U.S. Postal Service used to be, it currently provides the market’s share of shipping for e-commerce, and has been steadily expanding its reach to new corners of the globe to better serve you the merchant.  Have a look at its international services through the link here.

TESTING

Many tests required under the apparel laws must be done by a test laboratory certified by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission.   While approved by a US agency, they labs may nonetheless be outside of the US.  To search for a lab near you, check out this link here:

DESIGN ISSUES

It's not uncommon that designers are concerned about the possibility of others taking their creative ideas and profiting from their intellectual property.  Learn more about protecting yourself through trademark, patent and copyright protection at the US Patent and Trademark Office. 

LAW SCHOOLS WITH A FASHION LAW TWIST

The following is a list of law schools that have either a Fashion Law course, have hosted a “Fashion Symposium,” or have a “Fashion Club” on campus.

• New York Law School
• Loyola Law School
• Fordham Law School
• Southwestern Law School
• University of Virginia School of Law
• Cardozo Law School
• New York University
• New England Law
• The John Marshall Law School
• Brooklyn Law School
• Hastings Law School
• Charlotte School of Law
• St. John’s University School of Law
• Touro Law School
• Howard University School of Law
• University of Southern California

Have questions or comments on fashion compliance and/or fashion law? Feel free to connect with us!

Learn more at www.fashioncompliance.com or

Tweet us @fashcompliance on Twitter or

Email us at clark.deanna@gmail.com

EVENT CANCELED - TO BE RESCHEDULED Celebrate NY Fashion Week With This Free Event on Thurs. Sept. 11th 6 PM at 188 Madison Ave. (at 34th St - SIBL Library)

Hope you can come out and join myself and Kenyatta Adams of the USPS 

for a presentation on export success for e-commerce fashion sellers!

No registration is required.  Seating is first come first served.  Doors open at 5:45 pm.  See you there!

Increased Scrutiny by FTC on the Blurring Lines of Digital Ads With Digital Content

The fashion industry and many others are blending advertisements with news, entertainment, and other content in digital media, referred to as “native advertising” or “sponsored content.”

 

For e-commerce vendors selling domestically or for export to destinations outside of the U.S., you should take note of this increase in scrutiny as it could ultimately correlate to the way you are thinking about advertising.

This is because if the government is paying attention, as is in this case, it is trying to ascertain where the bright line is (for this type of advertising) as it relates to non-deceptive marketing claims so that it can decide where enforcement measures (think monetary penalties) can be assessed.

According to the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) there is an increase in advertisements that more closely resemble the content in which they are embedded, which are graphical images, typically rectangular in shape, placed on publishers’ websites and mobile applications.

For this reason, the FTC is hosting a workshop on December 4, 2013 in Washington DC to explore the blurring lines of digital ads with digital content.  The purpose is to build on previous Commission initiatives to help ensure that consumers can identify advertisements as advertising wherever they appear.

The workshop will bring together publishing and advertising industry representatives, consumer advocates, academics, and government regulators to explore changes in how paid messages are presented to consumers and consumers’ recognition and understanding of these messages.

The general public is invited to make submissions and may do so online here.

Paper submissions may also be submitted and should reference "Native Advertising Workshop" both in the text and on the envelope, and should be mailed or delivered to: 

Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, Room H-113 (Annex X), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. 

The FTC requests that any paper submissions be sent by courier or overnight service, if possible, because postal mail in the Washington area and at the Commission is subject to delay due to heightened security precautions. 

Requests to participate should include a statement detailing any relevant expertise in digital advertising and should be submitted by October 29, 2013 via email to nativeads@ftc.gov.  Panelists selected to participate will be notified by November 6, 2013.

The workshop is free and open to the public.  It will be held at the FTC’s satellite building conference center, located at 601 New Jersey Avenue, N.W., Washington, D.C.  The Commission will publish a more detailed agenda at a later date.

For more information, click here.

 

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

 Keep up with me:

On Twitter @fashcompliance https://twitter.com/fashcompliance

On Facebook http://on.fb.me/17Pocfj

On YouTube http://bit.ly/12a9lau

 

Earth Day and the Federal Trade Commission's "Green Guides," by Nancy Lam

With Earth Day here (April 22) and imports with environmentally friendly claims on its packaging increasingly being scrutinized by US Customs, it seems only appropriate to review and understand how to use the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) revised Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims, otherwise known as the “Green Guides.” 

Special thanks to my law clerk, Nancy Lam, 2014 J.D. candidate at Pace Univ. School of Law, for contributing this article!

As one of our nation’s consumer protection agencies, the FTC is mandated to protect consumers from confusion and deceptive advertising claims. In today’s current marketplace, there is a growing trend among companies to produce greener products. The twenty-first century marks an era of environmental awareness, with people keen to use “environmentally friendly” items.

But, what does it mean when a product appears to be “greener” or “eco-friendly?”

    It turns out that companies cannot simply just advertise such broad and general claims without reliable and competent scientific backing. This is because of the negative implications from misrepresenting or deceiving consumers. In fact, there are specific rules that a company must comply with when using green marketing, which are interpreted in the Green Guides (16 CFR Part 260).

1) General Environmental Benefit Claims

Marketers are cautioned not to make unqualified general environmental benefit claims because broad claims are essentially difficult to substantiate. Marketers should qualify their claims by narrowing them with clear and qualifying language and explaining specifically why their claims are environmentally beneficial. They are refrained from highlighting insignificant benefits and are required to analyze trade-offs, in order to prove a qualified claim of overall environmental benefit from a specific attribute.  

I.e. Product claiming: “Green, made with recycled content,” but the environmental costs of using recycled content outweighs environmental benefits of using it- deceptive claim.

2) Carbon Offsets

Marketers must have competent and reliable scientific evidence to support their carbon offset claims and are warned not to sell emission reductions more than once. Marketers must disclose if consumers’ offset purchases pay for emission reductions that will not occur for at least 2 years. Lastly, marketers are not to make a carbon offsets claim if they are already required by law to do so.

3) Certifications and Seals of Approval

Marketers are to use the FTC’s Endorsement Guides, if a product or service is certified by an endorsement of a third party. They must disclose a “material connection” that may affect the credibility of endorsement. Payment of a certification fee on its own is not a material connection. Marketers must refrain from using certification and seals that do not clearly convey the basis for its certification, and must use clear and prominent language. Keep in mind that even with a third party certification, the marketers still are required to substantiate all expressed and implied claims.

A third party certifier who administers the industry trade certification program, is not a material connection that affects credibility of endorsement, if they objectively apply a voluntary consensus standard.

4) Compostable

Marketers must have competent and reliable scientific evidence to prove that all materials in the product or package will break down into or become a part of usable compost in a safe and timely manner. “Timely manner” means “approximately same time as the materials with which it is composted.” Marketers are required to qualify if their product cannot be composted at home in a safe or timely manner, or qualify if a product can be composted in a large-scale facility, but facilities are not available to a majority of consumers. 

I.e. unbleached compostable coffee filter that can composts in a pile at home is proper.

5) Degradable

Marketers may make unqualified claims only if they can substantiate with competent and reliable scientific evidence that the “entire product or package will completely break down and return to nature, within a reasonably short period of time after customary disposal.” (Within one year). They cannot make unqualified claims for items destined for landfills, incinerators, or recycling facilities because they will not degrade within a year.

I.e. degradable garbage bag that can completely break down in soil with presence of water and oxygen, but customarily, these bags are sold to people who place them directly into water stream, which eventually terminates in incinerator, is deceptive.

6) Free-Of Claims

Some products/services claim to be free of, or do not contain certain substances. These claims are deceptive, and therefore cannot be made if:

1. The product has other characteristics that pose the same environmental risk as the absent substance; or

2. The absent substance was not even associated with the product to begin with.

Marketers can make free-of claims even if there are trace amounts of the substance, only if:

1) The level is no more than would be found as consumer expected;

2) The substance’s presence does not cause material harm that consumers associate with that substance; and

3) Substance was not added to product intentionally. 

7) Non-Toxic Claims

These claims also require competent and reliable scientific evidence that the product is safe for both people and environment.

I.e. if cleaning product claims to be “essentially non-toxic,” and poses no risks to humans, but is toxic to environment, it is deceptive.

8) Ozone-Safe and Ozone-Friendly Claims

It is deceptive to misrepresent that a product is safe for or friendly to the ozone layer or atmosphere.

I.e. an aerosol air freshener is labeled “ozone friendly,” but contains ingredients that contribute to depletion of ozone layer; its general claim of being safe for the atmosphere is deceptive.

9) Recyclable

Marketers must qualify recycling claims if recycling facilities are not available to a “substantial majority” of consumers, which means at least 60% of the consumers/community where product is sold. Marketers must emphasize if there is low accessibility or availability to recycling facilities.

          I.e. if under 60%, indicate that: “This product may not be recyclable in your area.”

10) Recycled Content

Marketers can only make claims for materials recovered or diverted from waste stream (whether pre-or post-consumer). They must qualify claims for products or packages only partially made from recycled materials.

          I.e. Paper plates made from 30% recycled material.

11) Refillable Claims

Marketers cannot make unqualified claims unless they provide a way to refill the package.

I.e. small fabric softener that says “Now in a handy refillable bottle!” whose manufacturer also sells it in a large sized bottle, is not deceptive because consumers can reasonably obtain the large sized bottle to refill.  However, an ink container marked “refillable 3 times,” but where manufacturer does not provide collection program is an unqualified deceptive claim.

  

12) Renewable Energy Claims

Marketers are refrained from making unqualified renewable energy claims based on energy derived from fossil fuels, unless they purchase renewable energy certificates (RECs) to match their energy use. Marketers are encouraged to specify the renewable energy source (i.e. wind or solar), in order to minimize misunderstanding. They must refrain from making unqualified claims, unless virtually all of the significant manufacturing process was powered with renewable energy or non-renewable energy matched with RECs. Marketers using the term “hosting” is deceptive, if they sold all renewable attributes of that power.

I.e. clothing line markets itself: “made with wind power,” but it buys 50% of the wind energy, thus it is deceptive because consumers will likely convey their claim to be that clothing is entirely made of renewable energy. “We purchase wind energy for half of our facilities” is appropriate.

13) Renewable Material Claims

 Unless the product is 100% made with renewable material, or has minor and incidental components that are not renewable, or marketers have substantiation for all of their express and reasonably implied claims, they should clearly and prominently qualify their claims. Marketers must specify materials used and why it is renewable.

14) Source Reduction

Marketers must qualify their claim that a product/package is lower in weight, volume or toxicity in a clear and prominent manner.

i.e. “Product generates 10% less waste than our previous product,” as opposed to “Product generates 10% less waste.”

Oddly enough, the Green Guides do not address organic, sustainable, and natural claims. The Federal Register’s Revised Green Guides Adoption Notice, 77 FR 62124, explains that with regard to organic claims, the FTC wants to prevent duplication of regulatory framework from the USDA’s National Organic Program (NOP). With regard to sustainable and natural claims, the FTC claims to lack sufficient evidence to provide the public with general guidance regarding these types of claims.

To learn more about the FTC’s Green Guides watch the video on the Bureau of Consumer Protection Business Association website.

 

Questions/Comments?  Post below or email me at fashioncompliance@gmail.com

Keep up with me:

On Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/FashionCompliance  
On YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/fashioncompliance
On Tumblr: http://fashioncompliance.tumblr.com
On Twitter @fashcompliance https://twitter.com/fashioncompliance

 ciao ciao!