US: New York – Proposed Bill – AB 1549 - Microfiber Clothing Label Requirements
Jan. 21 2019
The state of New York has a proposed Bill (AB 1549) which will become effective on January 1, 2021 if approved. The Bill requires that no person, firm, partnership, association, limited liability company or corporation shall sell or offer for sale any new clothing made from fabric that is composed of more than 50% synthetic material without a conspicuous label that is visible to the consumer at the point of sale.
Definitions included in the bill are as follows:
• Clothing: "an article of apparel intended to be worn by a person, not including hats or shoes."
• Plastic microfiber: "a small synthetic particle that is fibrous in shape, less than five millimeters in length, and is released into water through the regular washing of textiles made from synthetic material.”
In addition to FTC required care instructions, the label will need to contain one of the following statements based on the care instruction provided:
• If Care label is recommended or required with Machine or Hand wash instructions: An additional conspicuous label should read: "This garment sheds plastic microfibers when washed, which contributes to marine plastic pollution. Hand washing recommended to reduce shedding.”
• If Care label is recommended or required with dry cleaning instructions: An additional conspicuous label should read: "This garment sheds plastic microfibers when washed, which contributes to marine plastic pollution. Dry clean only."
• For all other clothing that does not meet the descriptions in the 2 bullets above or if including the applicable statements above would violate 16 CFR Part 423, then the statement should read as follows: "This garment sheds plastic microfibers when washed, which contributes to marine plastic pollution."
The disclosure of these statements may be in the form of a sticker, hang tag, or any other label type and must be conspicuous to the consumer at the point of sale.
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