Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, CONSUMER PROTECTION NEWS: FTC to host roundtable on proposed changes to Care Labeling Rule, (Feb 12, 2014)

The FTC will host a public roundtable in Washington, D.C., on March 28, 2014, to analyze the proposed changes to its Care Labeling Rule. The roundtable is part of the agency’s systematic review of all current FTC rules and guides. The event, originally scheduled for October 1, 2013, was cancelled due to the partial government shutdown.

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

In September 2012, the FTC sought comments on potential updates to the Rule. Based on comments the agency received, the roundtable will focus on a proposal to allow manufacturers and importers to include professional instructions for wetcleaning – an environmentally friendly alternative to drycleaning – on labels if the garment can be professionally wetcleaned and on whether the FTC should require a wetcleaning instruction for such garments. It will also address 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 discuss (1) the differences between the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) International and both the 2005 and 2012 International Organization for Standardization (ISO) care symbols; (2) whether labels should identify ISO symbols as such if used to comply with the Rule; (3) the change in the meaning of the circle P symbol in the ASTM system; and (4) consumer understanding of symbols. In addition, the roundtable will include a discussion about the absence of ASTM and ISO symbols for solvents other than perchloroethylene and petroleum. The roundtable also will address how to clarify what constitutes a reasonable basis for care instructions.

The roundtable will be held in the FTC’s Satellite Building Conference Center at 601 New Jersey Avenue, NW, Washington, DC. 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 April 11, 2014.

News: ConsumerProtection FederalTradeCommissionNews