Mexico Publishes Two New Mexican Standards for Labelling of Textile Products

In Mexico, labelling of textiles and apparel products must comply with appropriate mandatory standards (NOMs) and voluntary standards (NMXs) (if NMXs appears in an official standard, it will becomes mandatory). Generally, all apparel, apparel accessories, textile products and home textiles with over 50% textile content must comply with the Official Mexican Standard NOM-004-SCFI-2006 for mandatory labelling requirements [1].

In order to allow manufacturers, importers and marketers adjust their production processes to comply with the new requirements subject to NOM-004-SCFI-2006, the Mexican authorities accept products that are legally in the country before the effective date. The items may continue to be sold until as long as they meet the previous standard, NMX-A-099-INNTEX-2007 and complying with the rest of the parameters specified in NOM-004-SCFI-2006.

According to the Official Gazette [2], the two new Mexican Standards for labelling of textile products are summarized as below:

• NMX-A-2076-INNTEX-2013 “Textiles - Chemical fibers – Generic names” (supersedes NMX-A-099-INNTEX-2007) lists the generic names used to designate the different types of chemical fibers (sometimes also called manufactured fibers or man-made) currently manufactured on an industrial scale for textile use. This standard is fully consistent with the International Standard ISO 2076:2010 “Textile-Man-made fibers- Generic names”. The major change in this new standard is that the generic names must be written without capital letters.
• NMX-A-6938-INNTEX-2013 “Textiles – Natural fibers – Generic names and Definitions” (supersedes NMX-A-099-INNTEX-2007), provides generic names and definitions for the most important natural fibers in accordance with the fiber constitution or specific origin. The standard provides a list of names in common, together with the relevant standard designations. This standard is fully consistent with the International Standard ISO 6938:2012 “Textile-Natural fibers-Generic names and Definitions”. One important change in this new standard is that the words “lana” (wool), and/or “pelo” (hair), can be now added before the generic name of some animal fibers:

1. "lana” (wool) or “pelo” (hair) may be added before the following: alpaca, angora, cashmere, camel, guanaco, llama, mohair, vicuna, yak, beaver (species Castor Canadensis), otter.
2. "pelo” (hair) may be added before the following: cow, deer, goat, horse, rabbit, hare, nutria (species Myocastor Coypus), seal, muskrat, reindeer, mink, marten, sable, weasel, bear, ermine, arctic fox.

For apparel and apparel accessories, one or more permanent and legible label(s) must be attached at the collar, waist or any other visible location with the below labelling information in Spanish or in any other language in addition to Spanish:

• Commercial brand name
• Fibre composition in accordance with NMX-A-099-INNTEX-2007 (replaced by NMX-A-2076-INNTEX-2013 and NMX-A-6938-INNTEX-2013 as of September 2015)
• Size
• Care instructions in accordance with NMX-A-240-INNTEX-2009
• Country of origin
• Name and address of the manufacturer/ importer with a voluntary mention of the RFC (federal taxpayers register) number. This information must be included on the permanent label, a temporary label or the product’s closed packaging*.

*Note: For closed packaging, all information pertaining to NOM-004-SCFI-2006 must be permanently labelled on the product and with a temporary label on the packaging.

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