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EU Clothing Labelling Requirements: A Beginner’s Guide

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A practical guide to EU clothing labels: fibre composition, animal-origin disclosures, product identification, languages and checks before production.

Factual review: 6 October 2026

White satin label sewn into a navy garment beside light fabric swatches

AI-generated illustration of label preparation. The blank label is not a completed label example.

For clothing sold in the EU, start the label review with fibre composition and any non-textile animal parts. Then check product identification, business contact details and any safety information required under the applicable product-safety rules. Care instructions need a separate decision: the EU Textile Labelling Regulation does not impose a general washing-instruction requirement. Regulation 1007/2011, Articles 1 and 12–16; General Product Safety Regulation, Articles 9 and 16.

For a brand owner, the practical task is to establish this information before approving artwork. This guide covers ordinary new adult textile clothing. Protective clothing, children’s products and other specialist ranges need additional assessment; the checklist below is a starting point for label preparation, not a complete product-safety review.

Start with the product and destination markets

Record what the garment is made from and where it will be sold. Regulation (EU) No 1007/2011 covers textile products and certain other products treated as textiles, including products containing at least 80% textile fibres by weight. Scope exclusions and labelling exceptions also exist. Articles 2–3 and 17.

For a conventional textile shirt, the composition declaration is a clear starting point. For an unusual material mix or specialist product, establish the applicable rules before reusing a standard label template.

Prepare the main information

Fibre composition and animal-origin disclosures

Use the prescribed fibre names. For blends, the general rule is to list the constituent fibres and their percentages by weight in descending order. A garment with differently composed textile components may need separate declarations for those components. Articles 5, 9 and 11.

If an in-scope garment contains non-textile parts of animal origin, its label or marking must include “Contains non-textile parts of animal origin”. Review the trims as well as the main fabric: a leather patch is relevant to this check. Article 12; Commission FAQs, question 5.2.

Ask the supplier for the finished garment’s material specification, including linings and trims, before preparing the declaration.

Product identification and contact details

For products within the relevant General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR) duties, check the following separately from fibre composition:

  • Product identification: a type, batch or serial number, or another identifying element, on the product. Packaging or an accompanying document is permitted where the product’s size or nature does not allow this.
  • Manufacturer details: name, registered trade name or trade mark, plus postal and electronic addresses. Include the different single-contact-point address where applicable. These belong on the product or, where that is not possible, its packaging or an accompanying document.
  • Importer details, where applicable: identity and postal/electronic contact information on the product or, where that is not possible, its packaging or an accompanying document.
  • EU responsible person: identify the responsible economic operator established in the EU. Its identity and postal/electronic contact details may appear on the product, packaging, parcel or an accompanying document.

These duties and their placement conditions come from GPSR Articles 9(5)–(6), 11(3) and 16. They do not all have to be printed on the same sewn-in label.

Care instructions and safety information

Care instructions are outside the general requirements of the Textile Labelling Regulation. Check the destination country’s position and the buyer’s specification before deciding what to provide. Commission FAQs, questions 2.3, 6.7 and 8.7.

Safety information is a separate duty. Under the GPSR, manufacturers must provide clear instructions and safety information unless the product can be used safely and as intended without them. This is not a universal washing-symbol requirement. Article 9(7).

EN ISO 3758:2023 provides a technical reference for care symbols. A symbol standard helps communicate care; it does not establish which treatment is suitable for a particular garment. ISO catalogue; BSI edition record.

Make the information readable and accessible

Required textile labelling must be durable, easily legible, visible and accessible. A label must be securely attached. Composition information must use clear, uniform print; other information must be displayed separately from the composition description. Articles 14(1) and 16(1)–(2).

A single physical label can therefore contain separate sections for composition and care. During sample approval, check that folds, seams and other labels do not obscure the information. This is a practical review step; it does not replace checking the legal requirements for each information type.

Check languages and online sales

Textile labelling must use the official language or languages of the Member State where the product reaches the consumer, unless that State provides otherwise. Confirm the actual destinations before deciding that an English-only label is sufficient. Article 16(3).

Composition information must also be clearly visible before purchase, including online. The GPSR adds distance-sale disclosures: manufacturer contacts, EU responsible-person contacts where the manufacturer is outside the EU, product identification including an image and type, and required warning or safety information in the relevant language. Textile Regulation, Article 16(1); GPSR, Article 19.

Review the product page alongside the physical label so the approved information stays consistent.

A simple shirt example

Suppose a brand is preparing an unlined adult cotton shirt for EU sale. The supplier confirms that the fibres included in its composition declaration are entirely cotton, with no non-textile animal parts. A 100% cotton declaration can illustrate the composition element, subject to those facts and the single-fibre rules. Article 7.

That declaration does not finish the label review. The team still checks destination languages, product and business identification, applicable safety information and the care decision. It then reviews the artwork, physical sample and online listing. No washing treatment can be concluded from this example alone.

Before approving production

Use this practical sequence with the supplier and the person responsible for final approval:

  1. Confirm scope: product type, materials and destination countries.
  2. Verify the declarations: composition, animal-part disclosure, identification and relevant business contacts.
  3. Approve care separately: retain the basis for the chosen instructions and any required safety information.
  4. Review presentation: language, readability, attachment, placement and the physical sample.
  5. Release one approved version: match the factory artwork and product-page information to the signed-off specification.

The manufacturer is responsible for textile-label supply and accuracy; where it is outside the EU, that duty falls to the importer. Distributors also have obligations, including when selling under their own name or changing labels. Assigning artwork to a supplier does not remove those duties. Article 15.

Once the information is established, labelAccord helps prepare care-label content and layouts from the brand’s selected instructions and symbols, with live preview.

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Topics: EU Labelling