Binding Regulations in EU and US on Quality Requirements of Clothing Textiles Play a Positive Role
Author: David Leys
Publication date: 10 January 2022
If fashion companies aspire to be sustainable and profitable at the same time, they need to comply with binding regulations on quality requirements of clothing textiles in the EU and the States. The requirements contained in these regulations promote environmentally friendly best practices.
Within the EU, fashion companies need to be aware of the following regulations and directives: the Textile Regulation on fiber names, the Product Safety Directive, the Market Surveillance Regulation, the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive, and REACH.
The Textile Regulation on fiber names and related labelling and marking of the fiber composition of textile products[1] requires that textile products have to be labelled or marked whenever they are available on the market. The indication of the fiber composition of garments is compulsory at all levels of the industrial processing and commercial distribution of the garments. The Regulation covers all garments containing at least 80% by weight of textile fibers, including raw, semi-worked, worked, semi-manufactured, semi-made, and made-up products.[2]
The Product Safety Directive[3] states that only safe garments can be sold on the EU market. The safety requirements are defined according to relevant national legislations, including voluntary national standards and product safety codes of good practice in force in the fashion industry. Dangerous garments must be traced and removed from the EU market if they present risks to consumers.
The Market Surveillance Regulation[4] gives the power to national authorities to ensure effective monitoring of garments in the market. They must conduct appropriate physical and laboratory checks of garments. They apply a risk-based approach that takes into account possible hazards linked to the garments, past non-compliance and consumers complaints.
The Unfair Commercial Practices Directive[5] allows national authorities to monitor unfair commercial practices such as misleading information or marketing campaigns to consumers. Fashion companies cannot pretend being sustainable if they are not practiced.
The Regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH)[6] requires fashion companies to inform consumers about the substances in the garments. Fashion companies must limit the risks from the use of chemicals in the garments.[7] Manufacturers and importers of clothing textiles must gather information on the properties of their chemical substances.[8] They must register the information in a central database based in Helsinki.
Within the US, fashion companies must be aware of the following regulations: the Consumer Product Safety Act, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, the Flammable Fabrics Act, the Toxic Substance Control Act and, the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act.
The Consumer Product Safety Act[9] created the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The Commission protects consumers against unreasonable risks of injury associated with consumer products such as clothing textiles.[10]
The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act[11] requires every manufacturer or importer of garments to issue a general certificate of conformity based on testing of clothing textiles. That certificate must state that the clothing textiles comply with the applicable regulations. The certificate must accompany clothing textiles and be communicated to the retailer or distributor of the garments.
The Flammable Fabrics Act[12] forbids the manufacture for sale, the sale, or the offering for sale, in commerce, or the importation into the United States, or the introduction, delivery for introduction, transportation or causing to be transported, in commerce, or the sale or delivery after a sale or shipment in commerce of clothing textiles which fail to conform to flammability standards or regulations issued under this Act. The latter is applicable to all fabric, which is defined in the Act as “any material (except fiber, filament, or yarn for other than retail sale) woven, knitted, felted, or otherwise produced from or in combination with any natural or synthetic fiber, film, or substitute thereof which is intended for use or which may reasonably be expected to be used, in any article of wearing apparel […].”[13]
The Toxic Substances Control Act[14] provides the United States Environmental Protection Agency with authority to require reporting, record-keeping, and testing requirements, and restrictions relating to chemical substances and/or mixtures in clothing textiles.
The Textile Fiber Products Identification Act[15] enacts that the importation, manufacture, sale, offer for sale, transportation for sale, distribution, or advertising of any textile fiber product which is misbranded or falsely or deceptively advertised is unlawful and is considered an unfair method of competition and an unfair and deceptive act or practice in commerce under the Federal Trade Commission Act. Most clothing textiles must have a label listing the name of the manufacturer, the country where garments were made and the names and percentages of the constituent fibers in the garments.
EU and US binding regulations on quality requirements of clothing textiles play a positive role towards sustainable fashion. Fashion companies must take these regulations into consideration if they want to be sustainable and profitable.
[1] Consolidated text: Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 September 2011 on textile fibre names and related labelling and marking of the fibre composition of textile products and repealing Council Directive 73/44/EEC and Directives 96/73/EC and 2008/121/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (Text with EEA relevance), available at https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:02011R1007-20130701.
[2] The Regulation does not cover size, country of origin, or wash/care labelling.
[3] Consolidated text: Directive 2001/95/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 3 December 2001 on general product safety (Text with EEA relevance), available at https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:02001L0095-20100101&from=EN.
[4] Regulation (EU) 2019/1020 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on market surveillance and compliance of products and amending Directive 2004/42/EC and Regulations (EC) No 765/2008 and (EU) No 305/2011, available at https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32019R1020&from=EN.
[5] Directive 2005/29/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 11 May 2005 concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the internal market and amending Council Directive 84/450/EEC, Directives 97/7/EC, 98/27/EC and 2002/65/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Regulation (EC) No 2006/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council (‘Unfair Commercial Practices Directive’), available at https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:32005L0029&from=GA.
[6] Consolidated text: Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 December 2006 concerning the Registration, Evaluation, Authorization and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH), establishing a European Chemicals Agency, amending Directive 1999/45/EC and repealing Council Regulation (EEC) No 793/93 and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1488/94 as well as Council Directive 76/769/EEC and Commission Directives 91/155/EEC, 93/67/EEC, 93/105/EC and 2000/21/EC (Text with EEA relevance), available at https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:02006R1907-20180301&from=EN.
[7] European Chemicals Agency, Tools for the textile industry, available at https://echa.europa.eu/tools-for-the-textile-industry.
[8] Eurofins, New Chemical Restrictions in Textiles: Are you ready?, July 26, 2019, available at https://www.chem-map.com/chemical_news/new-chemical-restrictions-in-textiles-are-you-ready/; Qima, Applying REACH Standards To the Textile Industry, available at https://www.qima.com/testing/textile-fabric/chemical-testing-reach.
[9] Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA) Title 15, United States Code, Chapter 47, Sections 2051-2089, available at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2011-title15/pdf/USCODE-2011-title15-chap47.pdf.
[10] See 16 CFR Part 1610; U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Highlights of Apparel and Textile Requirements in the United States (September 2015), available at https://cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/pdfs/blk_pdf_TextilesandApparel.pdf.
[11] Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008, Public Law 110-314—Aug. 14, 2008, available at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-110publ314/pdf/PLAW-110publ314.pdf.
[12] Flammable Fabrics Act, Title 15, United States Code, Chapter 25, Sections 1191-1204, available at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2011-title15/pdf/USCODE-2011-title15-chap25.pdf.
[13] Id.
[14] United States Environmental Protection Agency, Pesticide Labels, available at https://www.epa.gov/pesticide-labels.
[15] Title 15, United States Code, Chapter 2, Subchapter V, Section 70 16 CFR 303, Rules and Regulations under the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act, available at https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2011-title15/pdf/USCODE-2011-title15-chap2-subchapV.pdf.
David Leys, Winter Policy Analyst
David is a qualified lawyer of the Brussels Bar and an applicant for California as well as New York Bars. With experience at Sidley Austin LLP, the European Commission, and the Embassy of Belgium in Tokyo, he brings an international perspective towards trade, competition and intellectual property.
Having twice attended the Marché du Film at the Festival of Cannes, David has considerable experience in licensing, partnerships and NDAs for SMEs in the cultural and creative sectors. He has recovered up to 200,000 USD for SMEs by pleading before trial and appeal courts in commercial and IP laws.
David’s other notable projects, which include dealing with an EU merger for Fortune 500 company and conducting due diligence for an IPO reflect his interest in new technologies, energy, and the Arts. He has advised and represented governments, Fortune Global 500 companies, and associations on international trade and agro-food matters.
He is extending his previous experience in trade law in the solar panel, clothing, and food industries at Unbuilt Labs, where he will be conducting legal and policy research on sustainable fashion.
His articles on diplomatic protection, trade and customs law consequences of Brexit, and trademark royalties in customs, were published in the Harvard International Law Journal Online and the Global Trade and Customs Journal.
Columbia Law School, New York City, Master in Laws (LL.M.) ‘20
College of Europe, Bruges, Master in European Law (LL.M.) ‘12
Université Catholique de Louvain, Master in Law (J.D. equivalent) ‘11
Université Saint-Louis, Brussels, Bachelor in Law ‘09