Commercial Information Circulars

24-hour hotline : 23 922 922

e-mail address : enquiry@tid.gov.hk

Ref : EIC 111/4

15 March 2011

Dear Sirs,

Commercial Information Circular No. 167/2011

US : Fur Products Labeling Act

The trade was informed via Commercial Information Circular No. 604/2010 that the US Truth in Fur Labeling Act of 2010 (TFLA), became the US law on 18 December 2010, contained two amendments to the US Fur Products Labeling Act (FPLA): (i) eliminating the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC)'s discretion to exempt any garments with relatively small quantity or value of fur (de minimis exemption) from labelling requirements; and (ii) providing that the FPLA will not apply to certain fur products obtained through trapping or hunting and sold in face to face transactions.

2.TFLA's amendments will require conforming changes to the FPLA and all of its regulations. TFLA also directs the FTC to review the Fur Products Name Guide (Name Guide). Therefore, the FTC published the advance notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register (FR) on 14 March 2011 to seek public comments on the proposed changes to the FPLA and its regulations, and the Name Guide. The FR notice is available at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2011/pdf/2011-5757.pdf. Interested parties may submit their comments to the FTC by 16 May 2011.

3.Meanwhile, fur products previously covered by the de minimis exemption will be subject to the FPLA's labelling requirements, as of 18 March 2011, even though the exemption still remains in the FPLA and its regulations until the FTC issues final amendments later.

ENQUIRIES

4.For enquiries concerning the content of this circular, please contact Miss S Y Tang at telephone number 2398 5405.

Yours faithfully,

(Miss Bonny CHAO)

for Director-General of Trade and Industry