The Andean Community approved a technical regulation regarding minimum information that must be included on the label of manufactured or imported clothing sold within the Andean subregion.
In April 2019, the Andean Community (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru) proposed an Andean Technical Regulation indicating the minimum labelling information for apparel, accessories and home textile products. The proposal is now approved as the Andean Technical Regulations for the Labelling of Apparel – Resolution No. 2109. It sets forth the requirements concerning the presentation of labelling information in order to prevent practices that may mislead consumers in the Andean Community. The content on the label must include at least the following information:
- Composition of the material that make up the product;
- Care and conservation instructions;
- Identification of the manufacturer or importer;
- Size or dimensions, as applicable; and
- Country of origin or manufacture.
For the indication of the country of origin, the following expressions may be used, “Hecho en …” or “Fabricado en…” or “Elaborado en…”, or other similar phrases.
The Technical Regulation requires information to be written in simple terms on one or more labels, and must be indelible, legible, visible and easily accessible to the consumer. The information must be presented in Spanish, although additional languages, expressions, abbreviations, symbols or pictograms may be used. Any additional or special information provided to the consumer or user, should not cover or distort the minimum information required. Labels cannot be corrected by superimposing required information on the original label.
According to the Technical Regulation, composition of materials, care instructions and country of origin must be presented on the permanent labels, while identification of manufacturer or importer and size or dimensions can be permanently or non-permanently attached.
For “sets” composed of 2 or more textile products, each of the articles must be labelled individually, even if they contain the same composition of materials. When textile articles made of the same material are sold in pairs (e.g. mittens, gloves or socks), at least one of the pieces is required to bear the label(s) with the minimum information.
Garments and clothing that are not included in the Technical Regulation Annex 1 may be regulated by internal regulations of each member country. Apparel products excluded from the Technical Regulations include tailor-made clothing and household goods, diplomatic franchises, rescue supplies, donations, advertising material, samples without commercial value, personal items or luggage of travellers, correspondence, postal packages and emergency supplies.
The Technical Regulation will be effective in 18 months after its publication in the Official Gazette of the Cartagena Agreement.
For detailed information and requirements, please refer to the Andean Technical Regulations for the Labelling of Apparel - Resolution No. 2109 (in Spanish).
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