Directive 2008/121/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (repealed)Show full title

Directive 2008/121/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council

of 14 January 2009

on textile names (recast)

(Text with EEA relevance) (repealed)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 95 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee(1),

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 251 of the Treaty(2),

Whereas:

(1) Directive 96/74/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 1996 on textile names(3) has been substantially amended several times(4). Since further amendments are to be made, it should be recast in the interests of clarity.

(2) If the provisions of the Member States with regard to the names, composition and labelling of textile products were to vary from one Member State to another, this would create hindrances to the proper functioning of the internal market.

(3) Those hindrances can be eliminated if the placing of textile products on the market at Community level is subject to uniform rules. It is therefore necessary to harmonise the names of textile fibres and the particulars appearing on labels, markings and documents which accompany textile products at the various stages of their production, processing and distribution.

(4) Provision should also be made in respect of certain products which are not made exclusively of textile materials but have a textile content which constitutes an essential part of the product or to which attention is specifically drawn by the producer, processor or trader.

(5) The tolerance in respect of ‘other fibres’, which has already been laid down for pure products, should also be applied to mixtures.

(6) In order to attain the objective underlying national provisions in this field, labelling should be compulsory.

(7) In cases where it is technically difficult to specify the composition of a product at the time of manufacture, any fibres known at that time may be stated on the label provided that they account for a certain percentage of the finished product.

(8) It is expedient, in order to avoid differences of application in the Community, to specify the exact methods of labelling certain textile products consisting of two or more components, and also the components of textile products that need not be taken into account for purposes of labelling and analysis.

(9) Textile products subject only to the requirements of inclusive labelling, and those sold by the metre or in cut lengths, should be offered for sale in such a way that the consumer can fully acquaint himself with the particulars affixed to the overall packaging or the roll. It is for the Member States to decide on the measures to be adopted for this purpose.

(10) The use of descriptions or names which enjoy particular prestige among users and consumers should be made subject to certain conditions.

(11) It is necessary to lay down methods for the sampling and analysis of textiles in order to exclude any possibility of objections to the methods used. However, the provisional retention of the national methods currently in force does not prevent the application of uniform rules.

(12) Annex V, which sets out the agreed allowances to be applied to the anhydrous mass of each fibre during the determination by analysis of the fibre content of textile products, gives, in items 1, 2 and 3, two different agreed allowances for calculating the composition of carded or combed fibres containing wool and/or animal hair. Laboratories cannot always tell whether a product is carded or combed, and consequently inconsistent results can arise from the application of this provision during checks on the conformity of textile products carried out in the Community. Laboratories should therefore be authorised to apply a single agreed allowance in doubtful cases.

(13) It is not advisable, in a separate Directive on textile products, to harmonise all the provisions applicable to such products.

(14) Annexes III and IV, because of the exceptional nature of the items referred to therein, should also cover other products exempt from labelling, in particular ‘disposable’ products or products for which only inclusive labelling is required.

(15) The measures necessary for the implementation of this Directive should be adopted in accordance with Council Decision 1999/468/EC of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the exercise of implementing powers conferred on the Commission(5).

(16) In particular, the Commission should be empowered to adapt Annexes I and V to technical progress and to adopt new methods of quantitative analysis for binary and ternary mixtures. Since those measures are of general scope and are designed to amend non-essential elements of this Directive, inter alia, by supplementing it, they must be adopted in accordance with the regulatory procedure with scrutiny provided for in Article 5a of Decision 1999/468/EC.

(17) The new elements introduced into this Directive only concern the committee procedure. They therefore do not need to be transposed by the Member States.

(18) This Directive should be without prejudice to the obligations of the Member States relating to the time limits for transposition into national law of the Directives set out in Annex VI, Part B,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DIRECTIVE:

(1)

OJ C 162, 25.6.2008, p. 40.

(2)

Opinion of the European Parliament of 17 June 2008 (not yet published in the Official Journal) and Council Decision of 16 December 2008.

(3)

OJ L 32, 3.2.1997, p. 38.

(4)

See Annex VI, Part A.

(5)

OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.