Raw material labelling

Textiles should be provided with a label specifying the raw material(s) used in the respective item.

No regulations enacted by Swiss legislative bodies to date

In Switzerland, neither raw material labelling nor care labelling are prescribed by law and are therefore voluntary.

If raw materials are specified, the following must be observed:

  • To avoid any ambiguity, fibre names must be written out in full on the label. This is due to the fact that abbreviations are not officially standardised and can vary according to the industry (the synthetic fibre industry and clothing industry). Furthermore, information aimed at end users must always be written out in full.
  • For reliable raw material designation, refer to the official table of textile fibres compiled by GINETEX or relevant EU directives. In addition to the official fibre names, their numbers and official category names are listed.

Fibre table to be downloaded

Fibre Table

pdf: 348 KB

Other regulations

Due to the emergence of online trade in particular, there are a number of new regulations to observe.

Suppliers that also aim their products at the European market must observe the corresponding EU labelling regulations. Suppliers within the Swiss trade sector only have to observe the “Cassis-de-Dijon” principle.

As such, textile products in line with EU regulations may also be sold in Switzerland.

The history of raw material labelling

Raw material labelling was introduced on a broad scale in Europe on a uniform basis in 1972 and has continuously been developed since then.

In the meantime, various changes have been made with regard to how the system is implemented as a result of technological developments on the fibre market and experience gained along the way.

In the future, new fibres and technologies will be available, particularly in the fields of safety and medicine as well as in the development of technical textiles.