Textile Labelling Act
- Citation
- R.S.C., 1985, c. T-10
- Jurisdiction
- CA
- Made by
- Competition Bureau
- Instrument
- Act
- Status
- In force
What it requires (4 obligations)
No dealer may sell, import into Canada or advertise a prescribed consumer textile article unless it has applied to it a label containing a representation with respect to the textile fibre content of the article, or any consumer textile article carrying such a label unless the label is applied in accordance with and complies with all applicable provisions of the Act.
No date set Confirmed In force, dates fixed in published law
- Who it falls on
- Manufacturers, importers and sellers
- Products
- Textiles, apparel, home textiles
- Markets
- CA
- Penalties
- Section 12(1) makes a contravention of sections 3, 4 or 5 an offence: a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars on summary conviction, or ten thousand on conviction on indictment. Section 12(2) covers a contravention of any other provision or of the regulations, at not more than one thousand dollars on summary conviction or imprisonment for up to six months.
The prohibition has two limbs and the second reaches further than the first: a product that is not prescribed, and so needs no label, is still caught if it carries a fibre-content label that does not comply. Labelling voluntarily does not escape the Act. This is the Act under which the Textile Labelling and Advertising Regulations, C.R.C. c. 1551, are made, and those are already in this register.
Drafted from section 3, paragraphs (a) and (b).
Each label containing a representation with respect to the textile fibre content of the article it is applied to must be applied in the form and manner prescribed, and must show, in the form and manner prescribed, the generic name of each textile fibre comprising five per cent or more by mass of the total fibre mass of the article, and, subject to the regulations, the percentage by mass that each named fibre represents.
No date set Confirmed In force, dates fixed in published law
- Who it falls on
- Manufacturers, importers and sellers
- Products
- Textiles, apparel, home textiles
- Markets
- CA
The five per cent threshold is by mass of total fibre mass, and it is the same figure the United States uses at 16 CFR 303.16, which is also in this register. The two are independent instruments that agree on this one number and not necessarily on anything else. The form and manner are left to the regulations, so the Act alone does not tell a reader what a compliant label looks like. Section 12(1) makes a contravention of sections 3, 4 or 5 an offence: a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars on summary conviction, or ten thousand on conviction on indictment. Section 12(2) covers a contravention of any other provision or of the regulations, at not more than one thousand dollars on summary conviction or imprisonment for up to six months.
Drafted from section 6, paragraphs (a) and (b).
No dealer may, in advertising a consumer textile article, make any representation with respect to the textile fibre content of the article except in accordance with the regulations.
No date set Confirmed In force, dates fixed in published law
- Who it falls on
- Manufacturers, importers and sellers
- Products
- Textiles, apparel, home textiles
- Markets
- CA
Advertise is defined at section 2 as any representation to the public by any means whatever, expressly excluding a representation on a label, so this duty and the labelling duty do not overlap: the label is governed by sections 3 and 6, and everything else said publicly by this section. Section 12(1) makes a contravention of sections 3, 4 or 5 an offence: a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars on summary conviction, or ten thousand on conviction on indictment. Section 12(2) covers a contravention of any other provision or of the regulations, at not more than one thousand dollars on summary conviction or imprisonment for up to six months.
Drafted from section 4.
No dealer may apply to a consumer textile article a label containing any false or misleading representation relating to the article, nor sell, import or advertise an article carrying such a label, nor by any means make a false or misleading representation relating to a textile fibre product.
No date set Confirmed In force, dates fixed in published law
- Who it falls on
- Manufacturers, importers and sellers
- Products
- Textiles, apparel, home textiles
- Markets
- CA
Subsection (3) defines a false or misleading representation to include one in which expressions, words, figures, depictions or symbols are arranged or shown in a manner that may reasonably be regarded as likely to deceive with respect to textile fibre content. Arrangement alone can offend, so a label whose individual statements are each true may still be caught by how they are laid out. Section 12(1) makes a contravention of sections 3, 4 or 5 an offence: a fine not exceeding five thousand dollars on summary conviction, or ten thousand on conviction on indictment. Section 12(2) covers a contravention of any other provision or of the regulations, at not more than one thousand dollars on summary conviction or imprisonment for up to six months.
Drafted from section 5, subsections (1), (2) and (3).
This is a register, not advice. It records what an instrument says and when it applies. Whether it applies to a particular company, product or shipment is a question for somebody who knows that business, and the answer is frequently not what the summary above would suggest.
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