Sourcing reference

Care label requirements by country: United States, European Union, United Kingdom and Japan

Four major apparel markets ask for four different label contents. Two of them make care instructions a legal duty; two require fibre composition and leave care wording to the buyer’s specification. This page sets out what each market actually requires, so a label can be approved once instead of twice.

At a glance

Mandatory care label elements by market
Market	Fibre composition	Care instructions	Label language	Origin marking
United States	Mandatory	Mandatory	English	Mandatory
European Union	Mandatory	Not required by Reg. 1007/2011	Member state language(s)	Voluntary
United Kingdom	Mandatory	Not required by law in GB	English	Voluntary
Japan	Mandatory	Mandatory	Japanese	Required

Summary prepared from the official instruments listed at the bottom of this page. Not legal advice — confirm against the current text before a production run.

United States

Federal Trade Commission (FTC)

Fibre composition: Mandatory
Care instructions: Mandatory
Care symbols: ASTM D5489 accepted in place of words
Language: English
Origin: Mandatory (customs rules)

The FTC Care Labeling Rule, codified at 16 CFR Part 423, requires manufacturers and importers of textile wearing apparel to attach a permanent label disclosing at least one regular care procedure that will not damage the garment during ordinary use.
If a garment cannot be cleaned by any available method without being harmed, the label must say so rather than stay silent.
A washing instruction must state whether the item is hand washed or machine washed, plus a water temperature. Temperature may be omitted only when hot water up to 145 °F (63 °C) is safe for the product.
A dry cleaning instruction must name at least one safe solvent type unless every commercially available solvent is safe. Vague wording such as “drycleanable” does not satisfy the rule.
Since 1997 the rule has permitted the ASTM D5489 symbol system, used alone or combined with words, in place of written care text.
Fibre content is a separate obligation under the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act (15 U.S.C. 70). Fibres representing 5 % or more of the product weight must be named with percentages, listed in descending order of predominance.
The rule exempts footwear, gloves, hats, belts, suspenders, leather and suede garments, single-use items, and products that survive the harshest commercially available cleaning without damage.

European Union

Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011

Fibre composition: Mandatory
Care instructions: Not covered by the regulation
Care symbols: EN ISO 3758 used voluntarily
Language: Official language(s) of the member state
Origin: Voluntary

Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011 governs textile fibre names and the labelling of fibre composition. It applies to products containing at least 80 % textile fibre by weight.
Fibre names must come from Annex I of the regulation and must be stated with percentages in descending order, in catalogues, on packaging, on labels and in trade literature.
Article 14 requires the label to be durable, easily legible, visible, accessible and securely attached to the product.
Article 16(3) requires the information to appear in the official language or languages of the member state where the product is made available to consumers. A single English label does not satisfy this for retail sale in, for example, Germany or Spain.
The regulation does not cover care instructions. The European Commission’s own FAQ states that care instructions and size labelling fall outside the Textile Regulation, so care symbols under EN ISO 3758 remain a voluntary, industry-driven practice in the EU rather than a legal duty.
Textile components with a different fibre content that represent less than 30 % of the total product weight, and that are not the main lining, do not need separate labelling, but they must still be counted in the overall composition.
The terms “100 %”, “pure” and “all” may only be used where the product consists of a single fibre type.

United Kingdom

Textile Products (Labelling and Fibre Composition) Regulations 2012

Fibre composition: Mandatory
Care instructions: Not a legal requirement in Great Britain
Care symbols: ISO 3758 is the retail norm
Language: English
Origin: Voluntary

The 2012 Regulations implemented the EU textile regulation in UK law and were retained as assimilated law after Brexit. Trading Standards enforces them in England, Scotland and Wales.
The label must be in English and must be durable, easily legible, visible and accessible. It sits on the item, or on the packaging for multipacks.
Fibre composition is the mandatory element. Care instructions are not required by UK law for garments sold in Great Britain, although UK retailers and marketplaces routinely demand them in their own label specifications, almost always as ISO 3758 symbols.
Where a product contains non-textile parts of animal origin, the label must carry the phrase “contains non-textile parts of animal origin”.
Country of origin marking on textiles sold in Great Britain is voluntary, but any origin claim that is printed must be true.
Northern Ireland continues to apply Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011 directly under the Windsor Framework, so goods placed on the market there follow the EU requirements.

Japan

Household Goods Quality Labeling Act

Fibre composition: Mandatory
Care instructions: Mandatory
Care symbols: JIS L 0001:2014
Language: Japanese
Origin: Required for imported goods

Japan’s Household Goods Quality Labeling Act designates textile items that must carry quality labelling, and care labelling for home washing is one of the designated labelling matters for most apparel categories.
A Japanese label therefore typically carries three elements together: fibre composition, care handling instructions, and the name and address or telephone number of the labeller.
Care symbols follow JIS L 0001:2014, which became effective on 1 December 2016, replaced JIS L 0217:1995 and was harmonised with ISO 3758. The standard groups symbols into washing, bleaching, drying, ironing and professional care.
Because care labelling is a designated labelling matter rather than an optional convenience, a Japanese buyer will normally treat an untranslated English-only care label as non-compliant.

The five symbol groups

ISO 3758 and its national adoptions organise care symbols into five groups. Symbol systems are shared across markets, but whether a symbol set is legally required differs by market, as the table above shows.

Care symbol groups and what they control
Group	Symbol shape	What it controls
Washing	Wash tub	Home washing: temperature, hand wash or do not wash
Bleaching	Triangle	Bleaching: any bleach, non-chlorine only, or do not bleach
Drying	Square	Drying: tumble dry heat level, line dry, flat dry, or do not tumble dry
Ironing	Iron	Ironing: dot count sets the maximum temperature, or do not iron
Professional care	Circle	Professional care: dry clean solvents, wet clean, or do not dry clean

Five mistakes that cause label reprints

1. Assuming the EU mandates care symbols

Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011 covers fibre composition, not care. Care symbols under EN ISO 3758 are voluntary in the EU, yet many sourcing briefs state the opposite. Buyers still ask for them because retail chains and marketplaces require them contractually, which is a different obligation from a legal one.

2. Printing one English label for all EU markets

Article 16(3) points at the language of the member state where the product reaches the consumer. An English-only care label is acceptable for B2B supply within the chain, where commercial documents may carry the information, but it does not cover retail sale in markets with a different official language.

3. Treating country of origin as part of the care rule

Origin marking and care marking come from different instruments. In the United States, origin sits under customs rules while care sits under 16 CFR Part 423; in the EU and Great Britain origin marking on textiles is voluntary. Combining them into one field on a specification sheet causes label revisions late in production.

4. Using a brand name as the fibre name

Both the EU Annex I list and the UK schedule use generic names. “Polyamide” is correct where “nylon” is not, “elastane” is correct where “Lycra” is not, and “lyocell” is correct where “Tencel” is not. A brand name may appear alongside the generic name but never instead of it.

5. Forgetting that Japan bundles three obligations

A Japanese label needs fibre composition, care handling and the labeller’s identity together. Suppliers who translate only the care symbols leave the label incomplete for the designated category.

Frequently asked questions

Which countries legally require care instructions on clothing labels?

The United States and Japan require care information as a legal obligation. The United States requires it under the FTC Care Labeling Rule at 16 CFR Part 423, and Japan requires it under the Household Goods Quality Labeling Act with JIS L 0001:2014 symbols. The European Union and Great Britain require fibre composition but do not require care instructions by law, although retailers usually demand them contractually.

Does the EU require care symbols under EN ISO 3758?

No. Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011 covers textile fibre names and fibre composition labelling. The European Commission FAQ on that regulation states that care instructions are not covered by it. EN ISO 3758 symbols are used across the EU as an industry and retail convention, not as a statutory requirement.

What must a US care label contain?

A US care label must disclose at least one regular care procedure that will not damage the garment, such as a washing instruction or a dry cleaning instruction. A washing instruction states hand or machine washing and a water temperature where temperature matters. A dry cleaning instruction names at least one safe solvent type. Warnings are required where a reasonable care step would cause damage. ASTM D5489 symbols may replace the written wording.

Can one label serve both the EU and the UK?

A single English-language label can serve Great Britain and Ireland, but not every EU member state, because Article 16(3) points to the official language of the member state of sale. Fibre names drawn from the Annex I list satisfy both regimes because the UK retained that list in assimilated law. Care symbols satisfy UK retail practice and EU retail practice but are legally required in neither.

Who is responsible for label accuracy when a Chinese factory produces the garment?

Under 16 CFR Part 423 the manufacturer and the importer of record carry the duty, and the FTC treats a brand selling under its own name as the responsible party. Under Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011 Article 15, a distributor that places a product on the market under its own name or modifies the label is treated as the manufacturer. In practice the label content is usually agreed between the brand and the factory, and the brand remains accountable for what the label says.

Official sources

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