The EU Council has recently adopted a political agreement on the draft regulation concerning the labelling of textile products, although without Italy’s backing.

Italy voted against the agreement, because a provision obliging manufacturers to indicate the country of origin on textile labelling was not included in the Council text. The European Parliament and the European Commission have supported the inclusion of such a provision.

Currently, “made in” labelling for textiles is voluntary, but in practice it depends on national laws. Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have argued that the EU should align itself with the situation in different countries where country of origin labelling is more strictly regulated, such as in mainland China, the US and Japan, by making origin labelling compulsory.

In consequence, the European Parliament proposed conditions and rules for how origin labelling should be determined and how such labelling should be affixed. The Parliament also set out detailed requirements for determining the indication of origin for textile products imported from third countries, with reference to rules on non-preferential origin, as set out in the Community Customs Code (Regulation 450/2008) which provides that:

- Goods wholly obtained in a single country or territory shall be regarded as having their origin in that country or territory;
- Goods the production of which involved more than one country or territory shall be deemed to originate in the country or territory where they underwent their last substantial transformation.

The Council has stated that the future Regulation should contain provisions to improve the system in order to:

- further harmonise the names of textile fibres and the indications appearing on labels, markings and documents which accompany textile products at the various stages of their production, processing and distribution, and;
- ensure that correct information is made available to consumers in the EU.

The Council-adopted text will now be forwarded to the European Parliament for a second reading. The European Parliament may continue to insist on origin labelling in which case adoption of the final text may be delayed, while the institutions battle it out.
The Parliament also asked that the Commission, two years after the draft Regulation has been approved and entered into force, carry out a study which will assess whether substances used in the production or processing of textile products represent a hazard to human health.

The Parliament’s intention with the study is to evaluate whether there is a causal link between allergic reactions and synthetic fibres, colourings, biocides, preservatives or nanoparticles used in textile products. Any such study could potentially lead to further legislative proposals, and the possible ban on or restriction of the use of certain substances in textile products.