January 02, 2007

Country of origin labeling for clothing


I couldn't resist writing a blog about this particular care/content tag found in a t-shirt that was a Christmas present. This is perhaps one of the worst labels I have seen in a long time. In fact, I believe it was purposely written to make it look like it was made in the USA.

The maker of this shirt did a few things right. The tag clearly states the content of 100% Cotton and it was placed at the back of the neck. Unfortunately, this is the only thing they did right.

The first obvious problem is the different font sizes. Notice how the words Dominican Republic are smaller than anything else. You might think they made those words smaller so they could fit on one line of the tag. But the placement of all the words could make a consumer believe the shirt was actually made in the USA. I did when I first looked at it. Further, the addition of the phrase "of USA Fabric" is extraneous. It should simply state, "Made in Dominican Republic" period.

This tag would not be acceptable by FTC guidelines. When writing a tag, all of the words on the tag should be of a uniform, legible font size. The tag would be rejected for more than the font size issue. This particular shirt is missing a care tag and manufacturer identification. The content tag does not need to include the manufacturers name or RN number. That information should be included on the care tag and/or other packaging. It would be impossible to track down who manufactured this shirt. The FTC could go after the retailer, in this case.

This kind of thing should have been caught when the items were brought into the US. I am, however, not surprised to see it was missed.

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