Ask Our Experts – Recent Labeling Inquiries

After our successful webinar, “Regulatory Trends in the Sport and Fashion Industry 2022,” co-hosted with Charlotte Giudicelli, Head Of Legal, World Federation of Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI), we’ve been gathering some of the most interesting recent inquiries from Compliance & Risks customers regarding labeling of apparel, footwear and sporting goods globally:

Question 1: When labeling children’s apparel in South Korea, does a warning statement have to be in Korean? English? Both?

Stacey Bowers, Global Market Access Manager’s answers:

South Korea’s Notice No. 2018-195 in relation to Household Items Subject to Compliance with Safety Standards specifies that products should be labeled in Korean, aside from manufacturer and model names, which can be displayed in English, if it is difficult to display those in Korean.

You can see the Notice here. 

The language requirements come from Article 2(4).

Question 2: MERCOSUR/GMC/RES. No 62/18, on textile labeling, requires us to list the “Tax Identification of national manufacturer or importer.

Do I require such an identification number to distribute in Brazil, or will the name and address of the business suffice?

Stacey Bowers, Global Market Access Manager’s answers:

The Resolution does not elaborate on what is meant by “tax identification of the national manufacturer or importer,” and the Brazilian transposition of the Resolution is identical to the MERCOSUR language,so it appears that Brazil does not require such “tax identification.”

You can see the Brazilian transposition here.

Question 3: I have heard that Taiwan requires a two-dimensional bar code for children’s raincoats.

Can you explain the governing process for this requirement? 

Eden Yao, Regulatory Consultant, answers:

Yes, Taiwan does require such a barcode. This requirement comes from Announcement No. 11120001430 of March 2022:

The application to the Bureau of Standards, Metrology and Inspection for the two-dimensional barcode should be submitted before the issuance of the product verification registration certificate or the inspection report.

These requirements take effect on 15 September 2022.

Question 4: After Brexit, we have to give our UK address on our label to name the importer.

The transition phase will end at the end of the year.

It might happen that there are products produced and labeled yet without this information on the label and that they might be shipped after 22 December 2022 into the UK. Do you know about the penalties or consequences this can have? Question 4:

Siddhant Shahane, Regulatory Compliance Specialist, answers:

There is no specific penalty provided for products produced or labeled without the UK importer address, however, there is a provision on consequences for offences in the General Product Safety Regulations, SI 2005/1803 which is as follows:

(1) Where an enforcement authority has reasonable grounds for suspecting that a requirement of these Regulations has been contravened in relation to a product, the authority may, for the period needed to organise appropriate safety evaluations, checks and controls, serve a notice (“a suspension notice”) prohibiting the person on whom it is served from doing any of the following things without the consent of the authority, that is to say— 

(a) placing the product on the market, offering to place it on the market, agreeing to place it on the market or exposing it for placing on the market, or 

(b) supplying the product, offering to supply it, agreeing to supply it or exposing it for supply. 

(2) A suspension notice served by an enforcement authority in relation to a product may require the person on whom it is served to keep the authority informed of the whereabouts of any such product in which he has an interest. 

(3) A consent given by the enforcement authority for the purposes of paragraph (1) may impose such conditions on the doing of anything for which the consent is required as the authority considers appropriate.

Question 5: I’m curious if you have any updates on the compliance date for Italy’s Law No. 15/2022, on Postponement of Packaging Labeling Obligations?

Is it actually 31 December 2022 or 1 January 2023? (A small difference, I know!)

Freida Wueschner Gubbins, Senior Regulatory Compliance Specialist, answers:

We have received no further information other than that the obligations are suspended until 31 December 2022. 

We anticipate that the Italian Authorities will provide further information on compliance deadlines in July after the European Commission has completed its review of the draft guidelines recently-published by the Italian Ministry of Ecological Transition. View here.

Question 6: We’re distributing in Brazil and our label includes the five GINETEX care symbols in the required order.

These are ISO 3758:2012 compliant and I understand the symbols alone are acceptable? 

Stacey Bowers, Global Market Access Manager’s answers:

The beauty of the GINETEX/ ISO symbols is, they are meant to stand alone, and provide enough information for any consumer in any country to understand how to care for their garments.

If your care instructions are satisfied via the symbols from ISO 3758 only, without additional wording, your proposed approach should satisfy the requirements of MERCOSUR/GMC/RES. No 62/18.

However, one note: If your label includes additional wording in English, the Brazilian authorities may stop the product at import to ask, “Why isn’t this wording translated into Portuguese?” It is hard to say whether they will enforce or not!

Your Questions Answered

Many of the above questions were submitted and answers were conveyed to Compliance & Risks customers via the “Ask Our Experts” button in C2P. 

Clients use AOE to ask about the latest proposed, enacted and amended regulations and mandatory standards applicable to their products and geographies of interest. 

When AOE questions can be answered in 30 minutes or less, Compliance & Risks’ subject matter experts answer them at no charge!

To learn more about C2P and how Compliance & Risks’ SMEs can help you with your questions, contact us today.

Meet our Experts

Stacey Bowers, Manager, Global Market Access

Stacey Bowers, MILS, is the Manager of Compliance & Risks’ Global Market Access team.

Stacey is a self-described “law nerd” with nearly 20 years’ experience consulting on international consumer products regulations and standards. She has extensive knowledge of analytical, labeling, safety and testing issues applicable to apparel, cosmetics, food, food contact articles, footwear, giveaways/ incentives/ premiums, home textiles, jewelry, juvenile products and toys.

Stacey and her team of 10 librarians and lawyers produce current, comprehensive and customized research to address strategic business needs for retailers and manufacturers, including entering new geographic markets; facilitating education and training throughout the supply chain; and development of global best practices around regulatory compliance.

Eden Yao, Regulatory Consultant

As a Regulatory Consultant, Eden specializes in monitoring and analyzing regulations and standards in China, and also specializes in researching, monitoring, and analyzing international regulatory changes on Food Contact Materials and Hygienic Design.

Eden holds a Bachelor of Law Degree (BCL) from China and a Diploma of Common Law from University College Cork (UCC). She also holds a LLM of Intellectual Property and E-Law, and a Higher Diploma in Accounting and Corporate Finance from UCC.

Siddhant Shahane, Regulatory Compliance Specialist

Siddhant has a Masters in Business Law from University College Cork (UCC) and is the Subject Matter Expert (SME) on Brexit related Product Safety. Prior to this, Siddhant has worked in the Regulatory Compliance field for a few years in India.

He believes in helping people and companies grow in a sustainable way. Working in the European Product Safety market he takes absolute delight in knowing that his work contributes to placing better quality, safer and longer-lasting products on the global market.

Freida Wueschner Gubbins, Senior Regulatory Compliance Specialist

Freida is a Senior Global Regulatory Compliance Specialist with over 8 years experience working in the legal compliance sector. She keeps clients up to date on areas including; packaging, single-use plastics and the transport of dangerous goods.

Freida has a BA in European Studies and German and an MSc in Environmental, Health and Safety Management.

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