9 March 2012
Mexico Amends Textile And Apparel Labelling Requirements
On 23 December, 2011, Mexico’s Ministry of Economy issued a resolution amending the current labelling requirements of the official Mexican Standard NOM-004-SCFI-2006 for textiles and apparel 1 – Commercial Information - Labeling of textile products, garments, accessories and household linen, published in the Official Journal of the Federation on 21 June, 2006 2. The new requirement will be effective on 23 February 2012.
 |
These requirements apply to textile products, items of clothing, associated accessories and household linen whose textile component exceeds 50% of the total mass. A number of products are excluded from the labelling requirements, including electric blankets, disposable diapers, sanitary towels, cotton buds, baby wipes, toys manufactured from textile materials, masks, furniture, watch straps made from textile material, shields, flags, zips and/or fasteners, buttons and buckles made from textile materials, certain cloths, oven gloves, makeup boxes, disposable cleaning cloths and materials used for wrapping and packaging.
According to the new amendment, the reference to standard NMX-A-099-INNTEX- 2005 has been replaced by NMX-A-099-INNTEX-2007 (Terminology and classification of textile fibres and filaments); and NMX-A-240-INNTEX 2004 has been replaced by NMX-A-240-INNTEX-2009 (Textile industry-Clothing - Symbols in the care instructions of textile items – Specifications).
Highlights of the amendment:
DEFINITIONS:
- Adding definition for ornaments - defined as fibres or yarns that confer a pattern or design that is visible on yarns or fabrics.
INFORMATION SPECIFICATIONS:
- All commercial information required must be submitted in Spanish, under the terms of the Federal Law of Consumer Protection, but also can occur in any other language.
- Commercial information about the lining for products containing lining is not necessary when the lining is made from the same material as the product.
- The fibers present in a proportion less than 5% of the total, may be designated as "other." When two or more fibers are present in amounts less than 5% they also may be added to the heading of "other". E.g. 60% Cotton 30% Polyester, 4% Polyamide, 4% Spandex and 2% Acrylic, can be stated as: 60% Cotton 30% Polyester, 10% Other.
- Textiles that contain two or more fibers must mention each of the fibers that represent at least 5% or more of the fiber content. The total fiber content must add up to exactly 100%. The term "wool" includes fiber from sheep or lambs, Angora and Cashmere fiber and may include fibers from camel hair, alpaca, llama and vicuna, reprocessed or reused wool products. E.g. 45% Alpaca, 55% Llama can be expressed as: 100% Wool.
- A tolerance of 3% for textiles, household linen and clothing and accessories when there is presence of two or more fibers present is allowed. This tolerance should be considered on the mass of each of the fibers and not on the total mass of the product. When a product is labelled as containing 40% cotton it may actually contain 37 to 43% cotton. The three percent tolerance rule does not apply for products labelled as containing a single fibre type (e.g. 100% cotton).
- The country of origin for finished products shall be expressed in Spanish or in accordance with the country codes in force in the General Rules on Foreign Trade.
VIGILANCE:
• Monitoring of this Mexican Official Standard will be the responsibility of the Ministry of Economy and the Federal Consumer Protection in accordance with their respective powers.
In general, the Mexican Official Standard establishes the requirement for commercial information for apparel and apparel accessories. Apparel and apparel accessories must bear a permanent and legible label on the collar, waist or any other visible location with the below listed information in Spanish (or in any other language in addition to Spanish):
- Commercial brand name
- Fibre composition (in accordance with Mexican Standard NMX-A-099-INNTEX-2007)
- Size
- Care instructions
- Country of origin (in accordance with Mexican Standard NMX-A-240-INNTEX-2009)
- For individuals: name and address of the manufacturer/ importer, with a voluntary mention of the RFC (federal taxpayers register) number; For corporations:
company name and address of the manufacturer / importer, with a voluntary mention of the RFC number. This information must be included on the permanent label, a temporary label or the product’s closed packaging.
1 The resolution issued by Mexico’s Ministry of Economy
2 Mexican Official Standard NOM-004-SCFI-2006:
( only Spanish is available )
Email SGS Hong Kong Ltd. at mktg.hk@sgs.com for enquiries or visit www.hk.sgs.com.
