If you’re in the fashion business, you’re probably familiar with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the USA’s truth-in-advertising agency with broad jurisdiction over almost every sector of the economy. Any time you publish an ad, you have to keep FTC compliance in mind. But, maintaining a reasonable basis for your claims isn’t the end of the inquiry when it comes to compliance for wool, textile, and fur products. For products made with those materials, mandatory labeling requirements apply. Here are some tips to help you navigate the regulatory maze.

Wool and Textiles: What’s covered?

If you sell a product that contains wool, you’re probably covered by the Wool Products Labeling Act, 15 U.S.C. § 68 et seq., and its implementing rules, 16 C.F.R. Part 300. There’s not a lot of nuance; almost every product containing wool other than carpets, rugs, mats, upholsteries, or products for export is covered. 

Textiles are more complicated. If you sell apparel (other than hats), you can generally assume you’re covered under the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act, 15 U.S.C. § 70 et seq., and its implementing rules, 16 C.F.R. Part 303. Other than that, good luck. Towels? Covered. Umbrellas and doilies? Covered. Hammocks? Of course. But pet clothing? Nope. Slippers and bandages? Absolutely not. And shoelaces and suspenders? Well, it depends. Don’t even try to guess; just click over to the FTC’s great guidance document, Threading Your Way, for a comprehensive rundown.

Wool and Textiles: What’s required?

There is significant overlap when it comes to labeling requirements for textile and wool products. Generally, securely attached labels must list fiber content, country of origin, and manufacturer identity. Labels must be conspicuous, and, when a garment has a neck, origin information must appear there.

• Fiber Content

You must include fiber content information on your covered wool or textile product’s label. If your product contains multiple kinds of fibers, list the generic names and percentages by weight in descending order of prominence. Looking for a list of generic fiber names? You can find it at 16 C.F.R. § 303.7. Using the names listed in ISO Standard 2076: 2010(E) also works.

Pay attention to details in the rules that may make your disclosures a little easier. For example, in some cases you can list fibers that comprise less than 5% of fiber weight as “other fiber.” Also, trim, ornamentations, and threads holding a garment together may not need to be disclosed, depending on how much of the product they comprise. And if you’re making a product from textile waste materials with fiber content that can’t be determined, you can say something like, “Made of clippings of unknown fiber content,” or “Secondhand materials – fiber content unknown.”

Also, and this is an important one, if you have slight variability in fiber content across your product line, that’s okay. You should be as precise as possible, but the FTC will allow a 3% tolerance on your claims.

• Country of Origin

All products covered by the Wool and Textile rules must disclose country of origin on their labels. If your product is imported, that’s easy. Just disclose the country on your importation documents. But, when it comes to products that undergo final manufacturing processes in the USA, it’s a little more complicated. 

Specifically, products made entirely in the USA of USA materials must be labeled “Made in USA” or equivalent, products made in the USA of imported materials must be labeled to disclose the processing that takes place in the USA and the imported component, and products manufactured partially in the USA and partially abroad must disclose both (note that certain “flat” goods like sheets and towels may have additional requirements).

And here’s another wrinkle. While the FTC generally requires products labeled “Made in USA” to be all or virtually all made in the United States, all the way back to raw materials, there’s a different standard and analysis to apply under the Wool and Textile Rules.

That is, when it comes to wool and textile products, the FTC applies the “one step removed” rule to figure out whether a product is properly marked as partially or completely made in the USA. That is, the manufacturer only needs to look at the origin of the materials one step removed from the final manufacturing process to determine origin. So, if you’re selling knit wool socks, you look at the origin of the yarn. You can label your sock as “Made in USA” if the wool fibers were spun into yarn in the USA and then knit into a sock in the USA, even if all the wool fibers were wholly imported.

The Wool and Textile Rules also require manufacturers to make origin disclosures online and in catalog advertising. Product descriptions in these media must disclose whether products are made in the USA, imported, or both.

• Identity of Manufacturer, Importer, or Other Dealer

The final piece of the wool and textile labeling triad is manufacturer, importer, or dealer identification. You have to tell people who markets, distributes, or otherwise handles your product by either printing the company name on the label or including the company’s Registered Identification (RN) number. Although RN numbers aren’t required to do business in the USA, you can apply for one to free up space on your label and facilitate recordkeeping.

And Now, Fur.

If that’s not all complicated enough, if you sell garments containing fur, there are yet more requirements to consider under the Fur Products Labeling Act, 15 U.S.C. § 69 et seq., and implementing rules, 16 C.F.R. Part 301. For starters, if you’re selling a fur product, you’re going to have to disclose the animal name.

And when it comes to origin, you have to disclose the specific origin of the fur even if the origin of the overall garment is different origin. Include the words “Fur Origin” before listing the appropriate country  and be sure to watch out for animal names that include a geographic designation but are a product of a different country (e.g., “Mexican Raccoon; Fur Origin: USA”).

There are a few other disclosures to keep in mind. If any of the following apply, you may need a disclosure: if the fur is artificially colored or natural; if the fur is comprised of more than 10% animal pieces (refer to the guidance for the grisly details); if the fur is used or damaged; and if the product contains textile fibers or wool.

In addition to on labels, required fur information should also appear on invoices and in advertising.

Additional, Nondeceptive Information.

Okay, now that we’ve got all the required information down for your wool, textile, and fur products, there may be other product attributes you want to promote. The FTC says that’s fine. You can add any non-required information you want to your labels or in your advertising, as long as it doesn’t confuse people or conflict with what’s required.

Navigating the wool, textile, and fur labeling landscape is complicated, but you don’t have to do it alone. Reach out to me or your regular Reed Smith contact, and we’d be happy to help.