Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, CONSUMER PROTECTION NEWS: FTC to discuss changes to clothing care label instructions, (Jul 24, 2013)

By Jody Coultas, J.D.

The FTC announced today that it will host a roundtable on proposed changes to its Care Labeling Rule for Clothing in Washington, DC, on October 1, 2013.

The Rule on Care Labeling of Textile Wearing Apparel and Certain Piece Goods requires manufacturers and importers to attach labels with care instructions for dry cleaning washing, bleaching, drying, and ironing of garments and certain piece goods.

In September 2012, the FTC sought comments on proposed updates to the Rule. Based on those comments, the roundtable will focus on a proposal to allow the inclusion of instructions for wetcleaning – an environmentally friendly alternative to dry cleaning – on labels if the garment can be professionally wetcleaned. The roundtable will also discuss whether the Commission should require a wetcleaning instruction for such garments, the cost of substantiating wetcleaning instructions, the availability of wetcleaning, consumer awareness of wetcleaning, and the content of labels providing a wetcleaning instruction.

The roundtable will also discuss issues concerning the American Society for Testing and Materials and the International Organization for Standardization care symbols, and how to clarify what constitutes a reasonable basis for care instructions.

Requests to participate as a panelist must be received by the FTC by September 3, 2013. Any written comments regarding the agenda topics, the issues discussed by the panelists at the roundtable, or the issues raised in comments received in response to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking must be received by October 15, 2013.

News: ConsumerProtection FederalTradeCommissionNews