Revised US Requirements for Labeling Wool Take Effect Immediately
January 2007 (07B-100)

The Wool Suit Fabric Labeling Fairness and International Standards Conforming Act (Public Law 109-428) was signed into law on December 20, 2006, amending the original Wool Products Labeling Act. The revised law seeks to protect consumers from deceptive labeling practices by establishing a legal standard for “superfine wool” and “cashmere” products based on internationally accepted definitions. The law is effective January 1, 2007.

Labeling of Superfine Wool and Cashmere Products

Under the original Wool Products Labeling Act of 1939, fibers from sheep, lamb, goat, camel, alpaca, llama, and vicuna are considered “wool,” and need only be identified on textile labels as “wool.”  However, in an attempt to identify the product as containing a superior grade or fineness of wool fibers, it has become common market practice to label many wool products as “Super 80s”, “Super 90s,” or similar designations, up through “Super 250s.”

In order to prevent misbranding, the new law establishes standard definitions for “superfine” and “cashmere,” as well as codifying the exact fiber diameter requirements for each level of the “super” designations.   

• A product may be labeled “superfine” if Section 2, Part (5) of the Act lists it as being “Super 80” through “Super 250,” with corresponding fiber diameters ranging from an average of 19.5 microns or less, to an average of 11.0 microns or less. 
• A product may be labeled “cashmere” if it meets the requirements of Section 2, Part (6) of the Act. This section stipulates that the fiber must be produced from the fine undercoat of a cashmere goat and that:
  -- the average diameter of the fiber may not exceed 19 microns or
  -- and the wool product must not contain more than 3 percent by weight of cashmere fibers with average diameters exceeding 30 microns.

To view the text of the Act, please visit:

 http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/cpquery/T?&report=hr644&dbname=109&

International Acceptance of Definitions

The International Wool Trade Organization (IWTO), an organization representing the interests of the worldwide textile industry, adopted similar definitions for “superfine” designations of wool products in 2000. The new U.S. Act follows suit, acknowledging the consumer benefit of having wool product labeling that is universally understood.