On February 11, 2014, the Federal Trade Commission issued a press release announcing their hosting of a public roundtable to discuss the proposed changes to the Care Labeling Rule for Clothing in Washington, DC, on March 28, 2014. The meeting was initially scheduled for October 1, 2013, but postponed due to the government shutdown.

According to the release, “The Rule, officially called the Rule on Care Labeling of Textile Wearing Apparel and Certain Piece Goods, requires manufacturers and importers to attach labels with care instructions for drycleaning washing, bleaching, drying and ironing of garments and certain piece goods.”

The proposed amendments to be discussed include the following:

• Allow manufacturers and importers to provide care instructions for professional wetcleaning in labels if it applies
• Allow manufacturers and importers to use the symbol system provided in the "Standard Guide for Care Symbols for Care Instructions on Textile Products" by the ASTM or the ISO "Textiles - Care labelling code using symbols"
• Clarify what constitutes a reasonable base for care instructions

Requests to participate must be submitted by February 28, 2014, and any written comments must be received by April 11, 2014.

The press release can be accessed here

The 2012 Federal Register notice can be viewed here