Europe calls for tougher garment labelling rules
The European Parliament (EP) has called for tougher rules on how the origin of clothes should be labelled in a bid to reduce the number of items marketed as made in Europe despite having been manufactured overseas.
At present, the EU has no standardised rules on how clothing should be labelled. This means some companies are able to manufacture products in cheaper locations outside Europe and then make slight adjustments within Europe so they can be marketed as ‘made in the EU’.
"The only way to ensure that consumers are not deceived by labels implying clothes were made in the European Union when they were in fact made in a third country is to make 'made in' labels mandatory," a statement from the EP said. The statement added that the origin of clothing is strictly regulated in many other countries including the US, Canada and Japan.
"At least two out of four stages of manufacturing have to be carried out in a country in order to obtain the 'made in' label of that country," the statement said.
The European Parliament and the European Commission will now have to reach a deal with EU member states on the issue.
