Being Labeled: FTC Amends Wool Products Labeling Rules

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has recently approved changes to its Wool Products Labeling Rules (Wool Rules) in order to allow wool manufacturers and sellers greater flexibility and bring the Wool Rules into line with the Wool Suit Fabric Labeling Fairness and International Standards Conforming Act, as well as the FTC’s textile labeling regulations.

The most significant change to the Wool Rules concerns hang-tag labels. The FTC will now allow certain hang-tags that disclose fiber trademarks and performance, but do not provide the product’s full fiber content. This amendment may allow companies the flexibility to highlight certain fibers in their products without having to provide the product’s full details on hang-tags. Hang-tags must, however, clearly disclose that they do not provide the product’s full fiber content should the product contain other fibers.

In addition to the above, the FTC updated the definitions of cashmere and very fine wool to be in keeping with the Wool Suit Fabric Labeling Fairness and International Standards Conforming Act. Notably, the FTC stated that fibers from a cashmere goat should be labeled as wool if they do not conform to the new definition of cashmere. Further changes to the Wool Rule clarify that, when “virgin” or “new” wool are used to describe a product, the product must be wholly composed of virgin or new wool. The full amendment to the Wool Rule, which details additional changes, can be found here.

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