U.S. – FTC Proposes to Amend the Textile Fiber Product Identification Act (16 CFR 303)

Vol. 1134 | 27 Feb 2020

Section 303.7 of the Textile Fiber Product Identification Act establishes the generic names for manufactured fibers that must be used in the required fiber content disclosures by:

1. Listing the generic names and definitions the FTC has established through its textile petition process, and
2. Incorporating by reference the generic names and definitions set forth in the ISO 2076 standard (currently ISO 2076-2010(E) standard is incorporated by reference).

On February 18, 2020, the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published a Notice to Proposed Rulemaking (NPR) to amend the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act (16 CFR 303) to incorporate by reference the latest ISO 2076 standard: ISO 2076:2013(E), “Textiles—Man-made fibres—Generic names.” This incorporation by reference will promote international consensus along with providing manufacturers selling textiles products in multiple countries with more flexibility in labeling of textile products.

The proposed amendment to incorporate by reference the ISO 2076:2013(E), allows use of seven additional manufactured fibers, listed below, that were added to the standard in the revision from 2010 to 2013:

1. “chitin,”
2. “ceramic,”
3. “polybenzimidazol,”
4. “polycarbamide,”
5. “polypropylene/polyamide bicomponent,”
6. “protein,” and
7. “trivinyl.”

The deadline for public comments is March 19, 2020.

The notice of proposed rulemaking can be reviewed at: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2020-02-18/pdf/2020-02759.pdf

Should you have any queries on the above news, please contact Pratik Ichhaporia (pratik.ichhaporia@intertek.com), Stephanie Bilotti (stephanie.bilotti@intertek.com), or Stella Li (xingyu.li@intertek.com).