[Federal Register Volume 62, Number 100 (Friday, May 23, 1997)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 28342-28344]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 97-13607]


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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

[[Page 28343]]

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