Rules and Regulations Under the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

16 CFR Part 303

Rules and Regulations Under the Textile Fiber Products

Identification Act

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Final rule.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Trade Commission announces amendments to Rule 7 of

the Rules and Regulations Under the Textile Fiber Products

Identification Act (``Textile Rules''), which lists generic names and

definitions for manufactured fibers. 16 CFR 303.7 (1996). The

amendments create a new subsection that designates a new fiber name,

``elastoester,'' and establishes a definition for the fiber. The

Commission initiated this proceeding in response to a petition for a

new generic fiber name under the Textile Rules filed by Teijin Limited,

a fiber manufacturing company based in Osaka, Japan. Teijin

manufactures the fiber under the trade name ``REXE.'' The Commission is

making the amendments effective today, as permitted by 5 U.S.C. 553(d),

because the amendments do not create new obligations under the Rule;

rather, they merely create a fiber name and definition that the public

may use to comply with the Rule.

EFFECTIVE DATE: May 23, 1997.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

James G. Mills, Attorney, Division of Enforcement, Room 4616, Federal

Trade Commission, Washington, DC, 20580; (202) 326-3035, FAX: (202)

326-3259.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

A. Statutory and Regulatory Framework

Section 4(b)(1) of the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act

(``the Act'') declares that a textile product will be misbranded unless

it is labeled to show, among other elements, the percentages, by

weight, of the constituent fibers (or fiber combinations) in the

product, designated by their generic name and in order of predominance

by weight. 15 U.S.C. 70b(b)(1). Section 4(c) of the Act provides that

the same information

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required by section 4(b)(1) (except the percentages) must appear in

written advertisements for covered textile products. 15 U.S.C. 70b(c).

Section 7(c) empowers the Commission to promulgate such rules,

including the establishment of generic names of manufactured fibers, as

are necessary to enforce the Act's directives. 15 U.S.C. 70e(c).

Rule 8 of the Textiles rules contains the Commission's procedures

for establishing new generic names. 16 CFR 303.8 (1996). Rule 6

requires manufacturers to use the generic names of the fibers contained

in their textile fiber products when they disclose fiber content as

required by the Act and the Textile Rules. 16 CFR 303.6 (1996). Rule 7

lists the generic names and definitions that the Commission has

established for manufactured fibers. 16 CFR 303.7 (1996).

B. Procedural History

Teijin submitted its petition to the Commission in this matter on

October 30, 1992, and subsequently submitted additional information.

Teijin requested that its new fiber, REXE, be given one of the

following generic names, in descending order of its preference: (1)

``Polyetherester,'' (2) ``Elastoester,'' or (3) ``Estelast.'' Teijin

also suggested a definition for the new fiber. The application and

related materials were placed on the rulemaking record. After an

initial analysis, the Commission issued the designation ``TL 0001'' on

December 29, 1992, for Teijin's temporary use in identifying REXE until

a final determination could be made as to the merits of the

application.

The Commission subsequently requested and received additional

information from Teijin pertaining to its fiber's chemical and physical

properties, as well as information concerning Teijin's plans for

marketing the fiber. After analyzing this supplemental information, on

July 9, 1996, the Commission published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

(``NPR'') detailing the technical aspects of Teijin's fiber and

requesting public comment on whether to add a new generic fiber name

and definition to Rule 7 of the Textile Rules.\1\ On September 10,

1996, the comment period created by the NPR closed. No comments were

received.

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\1\ 61 FR 35992 (July 9, 1996).

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II. Description of Teijin's Fiber and Solicitation of Comments in

the NPR

The NPR provided a detailed description, taken from Teijin's

application, of REXE's chemical composition and physical and chemical

properties.\2\ Teijin maintained that its new fiber, which is

manufactured from poly tetramethylene ether/poly butylene glycol

terephthalate copolymer, has a unique chemical composition and

distinctive physical characteristics so it cannot be identified by any

of the generic names already established by the Commission in Rule 7 of

the Textile Rules. 16 CFR 303.7 (1996). Teijin also stated that it

intends to market the fiber commercially, and said in subsequent

information that REXE is now being sold and used in the United States.

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\2\ Id., at 35993 (July 9, 1996). For brevity's sake, the

Commission is providing a simplified description of the fiber today,

and refers those members of the public who wish to see detailed

technical information about the fiber to the earlier description in

the NPR.

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In the NPR, the Commission solicited comment on Teijin's

application generally, but asked especially whether the application met

the following criteria, which the Commission has identified in the past

as grounds for granting applications for new generic names:

1. The fiber for which a generic name is requested must have a

chemical composition radically different from other fibers, and that

distinctive chemical composition must result in distinctive physical

properties of significance to the general public.

2. The fiber must be in active commercial use or such use must

be immediately foreseen.

3. The grant of the generic name must be of importance to the

consuming public at large, rather than to a small group of

knowledgeable professionals such as purchasing officers for large

Government agencies.\3\

\3\ The Commission added:

[W]here appropriate, in considering applications for new generic

names for fibers that are of the same general chemical composition

as those for which a generic name already has been established,

rather than of a chemical composition that is radically different,

but that have distinctive properties of importance to the general

public as a result of a new method of manufacture or their

substantially differentiated physical characteristics, such as their

fiber structure, [the Commission] may allow such fiber to be

designated in required information disclosures by either its generic

name, or alternatively, by its ``subclass'' name. The Commission

will consider this disposition when the distinctive feature or

features of the subclass fiber make it suitable for uses for which

other fibers under the established generic name would not be suited

or would be significantly less well suited. See 60 FR 62352, 62353

(Dec. 6, 1995) (reaffirming and clarifying criteria first announced

at 38 FR 34114 (Nov. 12, 1973)).

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The Commission also asked for comment on the names suggested by

Teijin for the fiber and proposed the following definition for Teijin's

new fiber:

A manufactured fiber in which the fiber-forming substance is a

long-chain synthetic polymer composed of at least 50% by weight of

aliphatic polyether and at least 35% by weight of polyester, as

defined in 16 CFR Sec. 303.7(c).

III. Discussion

A. Distinctive Chemical Composition and Physical Properties of

Importance to the Public

The only fiber to which REXE is somewhat similar chemically is

polyester, and the Commission considered, therefore, whether to include

the fiber under the definition in Rule 7 for polyester, either in its

present form or modified to accommodate the characteristics of REXE.

After analyzing the evidence, however, the Commission agrees with

Teijin that REXE is not ``composed of at least 85% by weight of an

ester of a substituted aromatic carboxylic acid,'' as is specified in

the definition of polyester in the Textile Rules.\4\ Moreover, there is

evidence that REXE's physical properties are quite different from those

of polyester, as the Commission reported in the NPR. The Commission

concludes, therefore, that it would be inappropriate to include REXE

under the definition of polyester.

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\4\ 61 FR 35993 (July 9, 1996); see 16 CFR 303.7(c) for the

definition of polyester.

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Because one of REXE's physical characteristics is that it has

elastic properties, the Commission considered whether it could

encompass REXE within any of the current generic fibers with elastic

properties that are defined in the Textile Rules, such as rubber,

lastrile, spandex (to which Teijin compared, and with which it

contrasted, REXE in its application), or anidex. Because REXE is

considered an elastomeric polyester, however, and therefore consists of

polyester and polyether segments, it has a different chemical

composition from the fibers that fall under those four definitions.

Thus, the Commission concludes that it would be inappropriate to

include REXE under any of the existing definitions for fibers with

elastic properties.

Teijin's fiber has several physical properties that are important

to the public. As stated above, it has elastic properties; in addition,

it is readily washable, and can withstand high temperatures when wet,

which is particularly important with respect to dyeing. This tolerance

of high temperature also could allow the development of elastic fabrics

(for example, a combination of REXE and polyester) that would have many

of the properties of polyester, such as excellent washability. Finally,

fabrics made of REXE and polyester are less discolored or adversely

affected by chlorine than fabrics made of nylon and

[[Page 28344]]

spandex, which is important in the case of such products as swimming

suits.

B. Active Commercial Use

Although the information available when the NPR was published did

not establish exactly when REXE was first marketed in the U.S., it is

clear that by March 1995 REXE was in use, although not in large

quantities, in products covered by the Textile Act.\5\ The garments

were mostly sportswear, including swim suits, cycling pants and ski

pants. Thus, the Commission concludes that the Teijin fiber is in

``active commercial use.''

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\5\ Teijin represented to the Commission that 6,100 yards of

REXE were used in the U.S. in 1994, that total production of REXE in

1994 was 67 metric tons, and that estimated 1995 production was 65

metric tons.

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C. Importance to the Consuming Public

Based on REXE's ability to be used in sportswear for swimming and

cycling, the Commission concludes that the fiber may be used by the

consuming public in general, and that the granting of this new generic

fiber name and definition will not be of interest only to ``a small

group of knowledgeable professionals, such as purchasing officers for

large Government agencies.''

D. New Generic Fiber Definition

The Commission finds that REXE possesses a distinctive chemical

composition not encompassed by any of the Textile Rules' existing

generic definitions for manufactured fibers, that its physical

properties are important to the public, that the fiber is in active

commercial use, and that the granting of a new generic name and

definition is important to the consuming public at large. Accordingly,

and given that the Commission has received no additional information

bearing on this issue beyond that available to it when it published the

NPR, the Commission today amends Rule 7 of the Textile Rules by adding

the following new definition for Teijin's fiber, which it proposed in

the NPR:

A manufactured fiber in which the fiber-forming substance is a

long-chain synthetic polymer composed of at least 50% by weight of

aliphatic polyether and at least 35% by weight of polyester, as

defined in 16 CFR 303.7(c).

E. New Generic Name

Although each of the three generic names for REXE that Teijin

suggested has merit, the Commission believes that the name

``elastoester'' is most likely to communicate to consumers that REXE

(and other fibers that would fall within the definition's purview) has

the qualities of an elastomer and a polyester, which would tend to make

purchasing decisions easier. Therefore, the Commission adopts the

generic name ``elastoester'' for Teijin's fiber.

IV. Regulatory Flexibility Act

In the NPR, the Commission tentatively concluded that the

provisions of the Regulatory Flexibility Act relating to an initial

regulatory analysis, 5 U.S.C. 603-604, did not apply to this proposal

because the amendment, if promulgated, would not have a significant

economic impact on a substantial number of small entities. The

Commission believed that the proposed amendment would impose no

additional obligations, penalties, or costs. The amendment simply would

allow covered companies to use a new generic name for a new fiber that

may not appropriately fit within current generic names and definitions,

and would impose no additional labeling requirements. To ensure,

however, that no substantial economic impact was overlooked, the

Commission solicited public comment in the NPR on the effect of the

proposed amendment on costs, profits, competitiveness of, and

employment in small entities.

No comments were received on this (or any other) issue in response

to the NPR. Accordingly, the Commission hereby certifies, pursuant to

the Regulatory Flexibility Act, 5 U.S.C. 605(b), that the amendment

promulgated today will not have a significant economic impact on a

substantial number of small entities.

V. Paperwork Reduction Act

This proposed amendment does not constitute a ``collection of

information'' under the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995, 44 U.S.C.

Chapter 35 (as amended), and its implementing regulations, 5 CFR 1320

et seq. (1996). The collection of information imposed by the procedures

for establishing generic names, 16 CFR 303.8 (1996), has been submitted

to OMB and has been assigned Control Number 3084-0101.

List of Subjects in 16 CFR Part 303

Labeling, Textile, Trade practices.

Text of Amendments

For the reasons set forth in the preamble, 16 CFR Part 303 is

amended as follows:

PART 303--RULES AND REGULATIONS UNDER THE TEXTILE FIBER PRODUCTS

IDENTIFICATION ACT

1. The authority citation for Part 303 continues to read as

follows:

Authority: 15 U.S.C. 70 et seq.

2. In Sec. 303.7, paragraph (v) is added, to read as follows:

Sec. 303.7 Generic names and definitions for manufactured fibers.

* * * * *

(v) Elastoester. A manufactured fiber in which the fiber-forming

substance is a long-chain synthetic polymer composed of at least 50% by

weight of aliphatic polyether and at least 35% by weight of polyester,

as defined in 16 CFR 303.7(c).

By direction of the Commission.

Donald S. Clark,

Secretary.

[FR Doc. 97-13607 Filed 5-22-97; 8:45 am]

BILLING CODE 6750-01-M