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Australia Moves Towards Requiring Compliance with ISO 3758:2012 Textiles – Care Labeling Code Using Symbols

This blog was originally posted on 2nd October, 2023. Further regulatory developments may have occurred after publication. To keep up-to-date with the latest compliance news, sign up to our newsletter.

AUTHORED BY LIVIA KECEROVA, SENIOR REGULATORY CONSULTANT, COMPLIANCE & RISKS

Consumer Goods (Care Labeling) Information Standard 2023

Exciting news for the apparel & textiles world! The land down under registered the New Consumer Goods (Care Labeling) Information Standard 2023 on 4 September, 2023 and it entered into force the following day, 5 September, 2023.

You probably guessed it, the former care labeling rules for clothing and textiles found in Consumer Product Information Standard Care Labeling for Clothing and Textile Products (Consumer Protection Notice No. 25 of 2010) was set to retire, and is gradually being replaced by newly revised care labeling information.

What is in Scope?

The new Standard ensures that the public (including cleaning professionals) is adequately informed of the ways to care for certain ‘regulated goods’ of daily use. The regulated items listed in Section 6 represent non-exhaustive examples of the product range intended to be captured by it. These include:

Clothing
Household textiles
Apparel
Furnishings
Upholstered furniture
Bedding
Sleeping bags
Mattresses
Plastic coated fabrics
Suede skins
Hides
Grain leather
Fur, etc.

When deciding whether or not this mandatory Standard applies to your product category, you should also examine the exemptions specifically listed in Section 7.

All second hand goods and also goods for which it is not considered necessary to show care instructions to properly maintain them fall outside the scope. Some examples of the latter category of exempt goods include:

Footwear: all footwear other than all types of hosiery and textile materials used in the manufacture of footwear
Drapery: all floor cloths, dish cloths, dusters, cleaning cloths, pressing cloths
Haberdashery
Furnishings
Medical and surgical goods, etc.

Phases and Timeline

The Australian Government split the application of the instrument into three somewhat encoded transitional phases as may be seen in the following paragraphs.

1. Requirements during the first phase as specified in Section 8

This phase runs for the period of 6 months from the commencement date of this instrument: 5 September 2023 – 4 March 2024.

In line with Section 8, during the first transitional period, regulated goods must comply with:

The requirements in section 11 (AS/NZS 1957:1998, Textiles – Care labeling); or
The Consumer Product Information Standard Care Labeling for Clothing and Textile Products (Consumer Protection Notice No. 25 of 2010), as in force immediately before the commencement of this section.

According to the clarification received from the Product Safety Australia: ‘’until 4 March 2024 suppliers must continue to provide a care label written in English but can additionally provide care symbols if they wish.’’

This way, the Australian Government allows for a sufficient time for affected parties to understand the meaning of international care symbols.

2. Requirements during the second phase as specified in Section 9

This phase will commence the day after the first transitional period ends and will continue on for 12 months: 5 March 2024 – 4 March 2025.

During the second transitional period, regulated goods must comply with:

The requirements in section 11 (AS/NZS 1957:1998); or
The Consumer Product Information Standard Care Labeling for Clothing and Textile Products (Consumer Protection Notice No. 25 of 2010), as in force immediately before the commencement of this section; or
The requirements in section 12 (ISO 3758-2012, Textiles – Care labeling code using symbols).”

Product Safety Australia helped us clarify the Government’s notes on this transitional deadline further by stating that: ‘’From 5 March 2024, suppliers can choose to provide a care label written in English or by using the care symbols, or both.’’

3. Requirements after the second transitional period

Lastly, per section 10, following the end of the second compliance deadline, regulated goods must comply with:

The requirements in section 11 (AS/NZS 1957:1998); or
The requirements in section 12 (ISO 3758-2012, Textiles – Care labeling code using symbols).

Therefore, from 5 March 2025, only the requirements stipulated in Sections 11 and 12 of this new mandatory Information Standard, i.e. AS/NZS 1957:1998 and/or ISO 3758-2012, will be considered applicable. Either or both of which must be complied with by suppliers.