European Parliament 2014-2019

Committee on Petitions

31.5.2017

NOTICE TO MEMBERS

Subject: Petition No 1397/2016 by Felicity Ford (British) on revision of the EU regulation to clarify for consumers the composition of

1. Summary of petition

The petitioner proposes that a garment should not be described as ‘wool’ or ‘wool rich’, unless its sheepwool content is higher than 50%. A garment with a sheep wool content between 20% and 50% should only be described with the term ‘wool mix’ or ‘wool blend’. The word “wool” should refer to sheep wool only, and there should be a clarification of trading standards to distinguish between different animal fibres (angora, , cashmere, etc.). When a garment’s fabric is composed of mixed fibres with a sheep wool content of less than 50%, the word “” should be used in place of wool when describing its composition. Constituent fibres of a fabric should always be listed in proportionate, descending order on a garment label, and only the first two constituent fibres should be used in the product title, marketing, or description.

The petitioner considers that current EU textile regulation fails to adequately clarify the contents of textile products for end consumers. In the petitioner’s view, Regulation 1007/2011 on textile fibre names and related labelling and marking of the fibre composition of textile products (Article 8 and Annex III) is particularly destructive to the cachet value of wool. The fibre name ‘wool’ can be used to describe either fibre obtained from sheep or lamb fleece or a mixture of such fibres and certain fine animal hairs.

The petitioner asks to amend the Regulation in order to make it clearer for consumers of textiles.

2. Admissibility

Declared admissible on 4 April 2017. Information requested from Commission under Rule 216(6).

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EN United in diversity EN 3. Commission reply, received on 31 May 2017

The petitioner advocates the revision of the Textile Regulation1 to make the legislation clearer to end-consumers.

The regulation establishes the rules on textile fibre names as well as the conditions and rules for the compulsory labelling and marking of textile products. Under Article 5 of the Regulation, only the textile fibre names listed in Annex I are to be used for the description of fibre composition on labels and markings of textile products. Annex I sets out two groups of fibre names: Table 1 includes natural fibres, such as wool, , and , while Table 2 includes man-made fibres, such as viscose, , and elastane. In addition, the fibre names have to correspond to their descriptions as set out in the same Annex I.

The fibre name ‘wool’ is used for either a fibre obtained from sheep’s or lambs’ fleeces or for a mixture of the above fibres and the hairs of the following animals: alpaca, , camel, kashmir goat, angora goat, , vicuna, , , cashgora goat, beaver and otter.

According to Article 9 of the Textile Regulation, the label or marking shall indicate the name and percentage by weight of all constituent fibres in descending order with regard to multi- fibre textile products. Accordingly, indicating only two most important fibres, as proposed by the petitioner, is contrary to the Regulation.

The use of the terms, such as "wool rich", "wool mix", "wool blend" or "yarn", instead of providing the comprehensive information on the fibre composition of textile products, could only result in consumers' confusion.

Describing the whole product as 'wool mix' or 'wool blend' in case of a product with a sheep’s wool content of between 20% and 50%, as proposed by the petitioner, would prevent the consumers from benefiting from the current mandatory information about all constituent fibres. For example, when a product is composed of 70 % of polyester and 30% of sheep's wool, both fibres with their respective percentages have to be displayed on labels or markings, in line with the Regulation.

Similarly, the garment may be described as 'wool' only when it is composed of the wool fibre, corresponding to its definition. It is however not allowed to describe the garment as 'wool' when it is also composed of other fibre(s), even though one of these fibres is higher than 50 %, as the petitioner proposes.

In order to take account of their specific features and qualities, the Textile Regulation made a clear distinction between wool (as provided for in item 1 of Annex I) and other particular fibres, such as alpaca, llama, camel, cashmere, , angora, and otter fibres (as provided for in item 2 of Annex I). Consequently, the Regulation prohibits the use of names such as angora wool, alpaca wool and for products containing exclusively sheep’s or lambs’ wool. Since angora, alpaca or cashmere wool is commonly more appreciated by consumers than sheep's wool, businesses display willingly their presence on labels or

1 Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011 of the European Parliament and the Council of 27 September 2011 on textile fibre names and related labelling and marking of the fibre composition of textile products — OJ L 272, 18.10.2011, p. 1 http://eur- lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2011:272:0001:0064:EN:PDF

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The definition of "wool" and the rules concerning the description of wool products remained unchanged in substance when the Textile Regulation was adopted in 2011 and Directive 2008/121/EC1 repealed. Moreover, these rules have not been contested by stakeholders, including consumer and industry associations, on the occasion of the preparation of the Commission's report on the application of the Textile Regulation2 and the discussions about possible revision of the legislation.

Conclusion

The Commission considers that the provisions of the Textile Regulation concerning the description of wool products are sufficiently clear, accurate and non-misleading. In contrast, the proposals presented by the petitioner would reduce the current level of labelling/marking requirements and subsequently they would fail to adequately display the composition of textile products to end-consumers.

1 Directive 2008/121/EC of the European Parliament and the Council of 14 January 2009 on textile names, OJ L19, 23.1.2009, p. 29. 2 Report from the Commission of the European Parliament and the Council on the application of Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011 on textile fibre names and related labelling and marking of the fibre composition of textile products /COM/2014/0633 final/

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