RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/TBT/Notif.96.42
6March 1996
ORGANIZATION
(96-0808)
Committee onTechnical Barriers toTrade
NOTIFICATION
Thefollowing notification isbeing circulated inaccordance withArticle 10.6.
1. Member toAgreement notifying: UNITED STATES
Ifapplicable, name oflocalgovernment involved (Articles 3.2and7.2):
2. Agency responsible: Federal Trade Commission (41)
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X],2.10.1 [],5.6.2 [],5.7.1 [],other:
4. Products covered (HSorCCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading.
ICSnumbers maybeprovided inaddition, where applicable): Textile fibreproducts
5. Title andnumber ofpages ofthenotified document: Rules andRegulations under the
Textile Fibre Products Identification Act(9pages)
6. Description ofcontent: TheCommission hascompleted itsregulatory review ofthe
Rules andRegulations under theTextile Fibre Products Identification Act(Textile
Rules). Thereview comments suggested various substantive amendments totheRules.
TheCommission seeks comment onwhether itshould amend theTextile Rules to:
(1)allow thelisting ofgeneric fibrenames forfibres thathaveafunctional significance
andarepresent intheamount oflessthan5percentofthetotalfibreweight ofatextile
product, without requiring disclosure ofthefunctional significance ofthefibre, as
presently required byTextile Rule 3(B); (2)eliminate therequirement ofTextile
Rule16(B) thatthefront sideofacloth label, which issewn totheproduct sothatboth
sides ofthelabel arereadily accessible totheprospective purchaser, bearthewording
"fibre content onreverse side" when thefibrecontent disclosure islisted onthereverse
sideofthelabel; (3)allow forasystem ofshared information formanufacturer or
importer identification among theNorth America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)
countries; (4)addaprovision toTextile Rule 20specifying thatacommission
registered identification number (RN) willbesubject tocancellation if,afterachange in
thematerial information contained ontheRNApplication, anewapplication thatreflects
current business information isnotpromptly submitted; (5)allow theuseof
abbreviations forgeneric fibrenames; (6)allow theuseofabbreviations andsymbols in
country oforigin labelling; and(7)allow theuseofnew generic names for
manufacturing fibres ifthename andfibrearerecognized byaninternational standards-
setting organization. Inaddition, theCommission seeks comment onthepossible
resolution ofapparent conflict between theCommission 'scountry oforigin disclosure
requirements andnewU.S. customs service regulations pursuant totheUruguay Round
Agreements Actof1994.
./.G/TBT/Notif.96.42
Page2
7. Objective andrationale: Toprotect consumers from deceptive fibreclaims andprovide
them withvaluable information about thefibrecontent ofapparel. Toalsoallow firms
todistinguish theirproducts from others andimprove theircredibility.
8. Relevant documents: 61FR5340, 12February 1996; 16CFR Part303. Willappear
intheFederal Register when adopted.
9. Proposed dateofadoption andentry intoforce: Tobedetermined
10. Final dateforcomments: 13May1996
11. Texts available from: National enquiry point [X]oraddress andtelefax number ofother
body: