Composition of Textile Articles - Label Claim

In March 2007, the Competition Bureau received a complaint regarding the fibre content declaration on labels of a specific brand of fleece clothing offered for sale by a major national retailer. The products were labelled 60% Polyester and 40% Cotton. Fibre content testing of the clothing revealed the composition to be 80% Polyester and 20% Cotton.

Under section 5(1) of the Textile Labelling Act, and sections 52(1) and 74.01(1) of the Competition Act, it is an offence to make false or misleading representations.

Discussions between a Bureau official and legal counsel of the retailer and the supplier resulted in corrective action plan. The retailer agreed to alerting consumers to the correct fibre content by posting in-store signage in close proximity to the clothing offered for sale. The supplier had ordered new labels with the correct fibre content. The new labels will be applied to the clothing at retail immediately upon receipt. The supplier also agreed to apply correct fibre content labels to all warehouse stock and to ensure that all future clothing is labelled correctly by the manufacturer.

The matter was resolved on April 5, 2007.

3100971