What a clothing label must say by law

It is the law that turns a clothing label into mandatory information rather than a manufacturer’s decoration. Its purpose, per its own statement of motives, is that the consumer can make a more informed purchase, because the label helps properly identify textiles and so know what they are truly buying.

It applies to every textile product introduced, distributed, manufactured, sold or offered for sale in Puerto Rico. The Act defines “textile product” broadly: every natural or synthetic fiber used or intended for use in household textile articles; every yarn or fabric used or intended for use in such articles; and every household article made wholly or partly of textile fiber, synthetic fiber, yarn or fabric.

• That it be a textile product as the Act defines it, introduced, manufactured, sold or advertised for sale in Puerto Rico.Verified against the official source

Information pending verification.

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   Step 1: The fibers, by generic name and in order

   The label must set out the fibers or combination of fibers in the product, “designating or describing with equal prominence and by their generic name, both natural and synthetic fibers and in order of importance, according to quantity.” The generic name is the official name of the fiber group by chemical composition and properties; the trade name may be used alongside the generic one, so long as it is not misleading.

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   Step 2: The percentage of each fiber

   The label must state “the percentage present of each fiber by weight of the total product excluding ornamentation, where the ornamentation exceeds five (5) percent of the total content.” And if a fiber or group of fibers is present in an amount under five (5) percent, it may be labeled “other fiber” or “other fibers,” unless the Department determines all must be detailed.

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   Step 3: The country of manufacture is not optional

   It is the easiest thing to check in the store. The law lists when a textile product is deemed falsely labeled, and the fourth case is direct: “when it does not contain the name of the country where the product was manufactured or processed.” Without a country, the label is false for this Act’s purposes.

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   Step 4: Mentioning an animal requires the animal to be there

   Another ground for false labeling, and one of the most useful: “when the advertisement of the product includes a reference to an animal, unless the product or the part of the product labeled with such reference actually contains that animal’s fur.”

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   Step 5: Used filling must be disclosed

   This covers mattresses, cushions and upholstery. A used product employed to fill a mattress, cushion or upholstery is deemed falsely labeled if its tag or seal lacks “a notice indicating it was previously used to fill another product.”

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   Step 6: Tearing off the label before selling to you is illegal

   The law expressly prohibits it: “It shall be illegal to remove, mutilate, or cross out or alter a textile product’s tag or seal, once it has been placed on the market in Puerto Rico and before the product is sold and delivered to the consumer.” Substituting or adding a tag is allowed, but the new one must comply with the Act and carry the name and identification of whoever substituted it and the product’s country of origin. And whoever opens a labeled package, if not the consumer, must label each and every product inside it.

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   Step 7: When no individual label is needed

   Two concrete exceptions, so you do not over-claim. Products inside a single package need not be individually labeled if the package is intended to be sold as a whole to the consumer and already carries the information the Act requires and that applies to each product inside. And it is not necessary to label each piece of fabric or textile product sold at retail that was separated or cut from a roll or bolt that was duly labeled at the time of sale.

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   Step 8: Advertisements too, with a nuance

   A textile product is deemed misleadingly advertised if the ads, public notices or printed material used to promote its sale fail to state its content or composition per the proper-labeling article; in those cases the fiber percentage need not be detailed. The Act itself excludes from this the commercials presented in newspapers, radio, television and cinemas.

The Department of Consumer Affairs implements this Act and has authority to take any lawful steps to prevent violations, to adopt regulations, and to designate the generic names of fibers. The step by step of the complaint is in our DACO complaint guide. The Act also requires every person who manufactures, distributes or introduces textile products for sale in Puerto Rico to register with the Department their name, that of their agent or representative, their trade name, and the address and phone of their main office or business.

• Not checking whether the label carries the country of manufacture: without it, the law deems it falsely labeled.
• Settling for the trade name: the law requires the fiber’s generic name, with equal prominence.
• Ignoring the order: fibers go in order of importance by quantity.
• Accepting a garment with the tag torn off: removing it before selling to you is illegal.
• Complaining about a piece cut from a labeled roll: that is an express exception in the Act.
• Buying a filled mattress or cushion without looking for the notice that the filling was previously used.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Departamento de Asuntos del Consumidor (DACO)

  DACO

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov

• DACO services

  DACO

  www.daco.pr.gov