Strasbourg, 19/05/2010 (Agence Europe) - Consumers should have exact, clear and comparable information about the textile products they buy: for this to be so, a new harmonised Community labelling system is needed, with the country of origin being marked on this labelling. These are the main demands of the European Parliament in a resolution in plenary session in Strasbourg on Tuesday 18 May when it adopted the report by Toine Manders (ALDE, Netherlands), on textile names and related labelling of textile products, by 528 votes to 18, with 108 abstentions.
With its amendments to the proposal put on the table by the European Commission in October 2009 (see EUROPE 10004), Parliament calls for country of origin labels to become compulsory for textile products. The aim is to ensure that consumers are not misled by labels implying clothes were made in the EU when they were in fact made elsewhere, in China or Pakistan, for instance. Currently, “Made in” labels are voluntary in the EU but in practice their use depends on national laws. In comparison, country of origin labelling is strictly regulated in, for example, the USA, Canada and Japan. On Tuesday, Parliament voted for a harmonised Community system to better inform consumers and protect them from inaccurate or false information. Current EU legislation on textile labelling applies only to the harmonisation of textile fibre names - there are currently 48 fibres (18 natural and 30 synthetic) sold on the single market - and the labelling of the fibre composition of textile products. Initially, Parliament was asked to vote only on a technical proposal by the Commission seeking to cut the time taken to place new fibres on the market. MEPs, however, turned this into a more political proposal, to make country of origin labelling compulsory in the new regulation. To help consumers to make informed choices, Parliament also asked the Commission to produce a report on new possible requirements in textile product labelling within two years, and, if necessary, a proposal for legislation with harmonised requirements on care labelling, which is currently voluntary, clothing and footwear sizes, health and safety warnings (flammability, possible allergenic substances) and social labelling. The new regulation will apply to all textile products, not only clothes, but also curtains, table cloths and napkins and even toys made of textile fibres (minimum 80%).
“Consumers will be able to see what it is they are buying and where it was made. This is a strong signal for citizens and SMEs,” said European Industry Commissioner Antonio Tajani, in the debate preceding the vote. “The textile sector is an important resource for the European economy and my priority will be to defend this industry and the jobs of thousands of people who produce quality products that are admired throughout the world,” he added. “With this vote, and with the support of the Commission, Parliament has a very strong mandate in negotiations with the Council,” said rapporteur Toine Manders. “Consumers have to know where textile products come from, whether there are animal products and, in general, the composition of textile products,”he went on. Parliament says that textile fibres have to be named in one of the languages of the EU, and, where appropriate, these should be replaced by intelligible symbols. This would make labelling shorter and more easily understood, Manders added. Listing the origin of a product will also help protect European SMEs which continue to produce clothes in Europe and which have not relocated, noted Lara Comi (EPP, Italy), whose country still has a large textile industry. (E.H./transl.rt)