24-hour hotline : 23 922 922
e-mail address : enquiry@tid.gov.hk
Ref : EIC 230/4/1/2
28 October 2011
Dear Sirs,
Commercial Information Circular No. 670/2011
Notice to Exporters: Series 2 (EU) No. 8/2011
European Union (EU)* : Textiles Fibre Names and Related Labelling and Marking Requirements
The European Parliament (EP) and the Council of the EU have adopted a new Regulation to harmonise the names of textile fibres and the indications appearing on labels, markings and documents for production, processing and distribution of textile and clothing (T&C) products within EU from 8 May 2012. The Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011 published on 18 October 2011 is accessible from the EU website at :
http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2011:272:0001:0064:EN:PDF.
DETAILS
2.At present, Council Directive 73/44/EC of 26 February 1973, Directive 96/73/EC of 16 December 1996 and Directive 2008/121/EC of 14 January 2009 stipulate the technical rules of textile fibre names and related labelling and marking of fibre composition of T&C products. The Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011 combines the three into one unified piece of legislation. The new Regulation also establishes a procedure for the inclusion of new textile fibre names to allow for faster adoption. Moreover, it requires the presence of non-textile parts of animal origin in T&C products to be indicated by using the phrase "Contains non-textile parts of animal origin" on the labelling or marking of products containing such parts. The Regulation will become effective from 8 May 2012. As a transition, T&C products which comply with Directive 2008/121/EC and placed on the EU market before the aforesaid effective date may continue to be made available on the market until 9 November 2014.
3.Under the review provisions, the EC is also requested to submit by 30 September 2013 a report to the EP and the Council of the EU on possible new labelling requirements to be introduced at Union level and accompanied, where appropriate, by legislative proposals. Such report should cover various labelling issues, including the indication of country of origin, harmonized care labelling system, uniform size labelling, indication of allergenic substances and electronic labelling, etc.
4.Commercial Information Circular No. 54/2009 cum Notice to Exporters: Series 2 (EU) No. 1/2009 dated 30 January 2009, Commercial Information Circular No. 467/2009 cum Notice to Exporters: Series 2 (EU) No. 7/2009 dated 15 September 2009 and Commercial Information Circular No. 464/2011 cum Notice to Exporters: Series 2 (EU) No. 6/2011 dated 2 August 2011 are hereby superseded.
ENQUIRIES
5.For enquiries concerning the contents of this circular, please contact Ms Ann Leung/Mr. Derek Wong at telephone number 3403 6352 or the undersigned at 2398 5427.
Yours faithfully,
(Miss Anna CHEUNG)
for Director-General of Trade and Industry
* The EU includes Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
Note ：
While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the above information, the Department cannot guarantee this to be so and will not be held liable for any reliance placed on the same.