# Country of origin label a "must have"?



## PeterPromo (Oct 10, 2006)

Hi,
I get some of my cut & sew garments produced in Thailand. I heard there is a law for the United States and other countries that I have to show the country of production on the garment. Is that true? I couldn't find more information about it.

The problem is that my garments will be reversible and I have no clue where I should put such a label...

Any advice would be great!


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## Comin'OutSwingin (Oct 28, 2005)

Yes, the country of origin must be on the label.

Threading Your Way Through the Labeling Requirements Under the Textile and Wool Acts

Clothes Captioning: Complying with the Care Labeling Rule

These 2 links should help you out.


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## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

PeterPromo said:


> Is that true?


Yes, it's true of many countries (including the US).



PeterPromo said:


> The problem is that my garments will be reversible


In that case there are different requirements. I _think_ (you will need to check on this) that you can include it on a non-permanent label in this case. Check the links Greg posted, as it is covered somewhere in there.


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## PeterPromo (Oct 10, 2006)

Thanks a lot guys... thats bad news. I hope Joe the simple customs officer will know the rules as good as I do now and accept that the country of origin tags are places near the opening of the front pockets together with the fiber and care information. I seriously don't like such rules, but in the end it probably makes sense that customers don't get ripped off.

Here is an excerpt of one of the documents I found:

"Reversible garments fall within the exception to the aforementioned neck marking requirements. A reversible front to back ladies tank top was found to be properly marked by means of a permanent sewn-in label on the inside lower side seam and a hang tag securely attached at the neck in HQ 733890 dated December 31, 1990. And, in HQ 734692 dated October 31, 1992 it was ruled that a reversible jacket could be marked with a sewn-in label at the inside pocket in combination with a hang tag attached to the front zipper closure. "


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## Comin'OutSwingin (Oct 28, 2005)

They SHOULD know the rules. In the event that they don't I would just politely remind them, should the need arise.

I don't really see any potential problems as long as you are following the rules.


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## PeterPromo (Oct 10, 2006)

The major problem is that we use and will keep on using all sorts of fabrics which needs different labels each time we use it. We do minimum cut & sews lines as low as 10 piece that will need a custom labeling. It is some sort of prototype business we are doing.


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## Comin'OutSwingin (Oct 28, 2005)

Hmm. Interesting. Can you elaborate a little more?


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## PeterPromo (Oct 10, 2006)

We do prototypes for a couple of brands that I'm not allowed to name. Its like outsourcing the r&d department for them.


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## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

If the prototypes aren't for retail sale they won't need labels. If, for whatever reason, you do need labels, it would still be possible to have a few generic labels that cover most of what you do: most garments will be made from cotton, have similar care instructions, source materials from the same place, etc.

Failing _that_, you could do something like dye sublimation labels that you make in-house.


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## PeterPromo (Oct 10, 2006)

Do you have any recommendations for such a printer? If possible a really cheap one because we would just use it for this.


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## mamabloom (Jun 16, 2007)

I am based in the UK, and concerning labels here the only law governing this is that the material content must be stated(this is for adult clothing). 

I have my own range of maternity T-shirts and was thinking of selling blanks wholesale to the USA but they won't have the correct labels to comply with USA law; so does this mean i can't export to the USA?


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## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

PeterPromo said:


> Do you have any recommendations for such a printer?


I don't do dye sub, but if you wanted to you could buy a pretty cheap printer (like a lowend Epson desktop model) and a small label heat press. The ink is relatively costly, but in a large enough operation it wouldn't be hard to justify.


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## PeterPromo (Oct 10, 2006)

Thanks a lot Solmu, I will have a look at that. So for me dummy does that mean I make the label, print it out on some special paper with a regular printer and then heatpress it on fabric?

Or are there more steps involved?




mamabloom said:


> I am based in the UK, and concerning labels here the only law governing this is that the material content must be stated(this is for adult clothing).
> 
> I have my own range of maternity T-shirts and was thinking of selling blanks wholesale to the USA but they won't have the correct labels to comply with USA law; so does this mean i can't export to the USA?


You got to have the "Made in ...." label on the neck (if its not reversible). Check the links that were posted above great resources.


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## Solmu (Aug 15, 2005)

PeterPromo said:


> So for me dummy does that mean I make the label, print it out on some special paper with a regular printer and then heatpress it on fabric?


Yup, that's it. With dye sublimation the ink sublimates into the fabric, so it is actually locked into the fibres rather than sitting on top. It requires dye sublimation ink, which costs more than regular ink. It also only works on manmade fibres - which is why it's not so popular for decorating a t-shirt, but since most content labels are polyester anyway it's not a problem for those.


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## CK DJ (Oct 16, 2017)

Comin'OutSwingin said:


> Yes, the country of origin must be on the label.
> 
> Threading Your Way Through the Labeling Requirements Under the Textile and Wool Acts
> 
> ...


^^ Both of these links are dead. ^^


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## splathead (Dec 4, 2005)

CK DJ said:


> ^^ Both of these links are dead. ^^



https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/bus...y-through-labeling-requirements-under-textile


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## TABOB (Feb 13, 2018)

https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/bus...y-through-labeling-requirements-under-textile


https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/bus...othes-captioning-complying-care-labeling-rule


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