Federal Trade Commission Proposes to Add Seven New Generic Fiber Names

On February 18, 2020, the FTC published in the Federal Register (85 FR 8781) Rules and Regulations Under the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act

SUMMARY: The Federal Trade Commission (``FTC'' or ``Commission'') proposes amending the Rules and Regulations under the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act (``Textile Rules'' or ``Rules'') to incorporate the most recent ISO 2076 standard for generic fiber names. The proposed amendment should reduce compliance costs and increase flexibility for firms providing textile fiber information to consumers.

DATES: Written comments must be received on or before March 19, 2020.

The Commission proposes to incorporate the most recent version of the relevant standard, ISO 2076:2013(E), ``Textiles--Man-made fibres--Generic names,'' Sixth edition, November 15, 2013 (ISO 2076:2013(E)), in Sec. 303.7 of the Textile Rule. The updated 2013 standard adds seven generic fiber names not defined in the 2010 standard: ``Chitin,'' ``ceramic,'' ``polybenzimidazol,'' ``polycarbamide,'' ``polypropylene/polyamide bicomponent,'' ``protein,'' and ``trivinyl.''

Commission staff has received several inquiries from manufacturers interested in initiating a proceeding to amend the Commission's list of approved generic fiber names under 16 CFR 303.8 to add ``chitin,'' a name recognized in ISO 2076:2013(E). Therefore, incorporating that standard into the Textile Rules will resolve the current requests, save the Commission and the manufacturers resources, and harmonize the two standards without the need to address other ISO recognized names individually.