With Mother’s Day approaching – May 12th – and the increase in demand for gifts, the Institute of Weights and Measures of the State of São Paulo (Ipem-SP) is alerting consumers regarding the gifts to be purchased.
One of the main points is related to clothing, bed, table or bath items because inappropriate products can cause allergies. One of the guidelines is to pay attention to what is written on the labels because this information is fundamental and must follow specific criteria.
“The labels must contain six pieces of information in Portuguese: three about the manufacturer or importer, including a brand, National Register of Legal Entities (CNPJ) and country of origin, and three other pieces of information about the product – textile composition, care symbols product conservation and information about size”, reported Ipem-SP.
In the textile composition, all types of fibers or filaments used to produce the item must be mentioned with the percentage indication of each of them, including lining – if any – (70% cotton and 30% polyester, lining 100% polyester, for example). However, the use of trademark names or English language (such as nylon, poplinlycra, lurex It is rayon).
Clothes
The size of clothes can be indicated by numbers or letters (38, 40, 42; S, M, L, for example), and viewing this information should be easy. In the case of hermetically packaged products, the packaging must show the textile composition, country of origin, size and, when presenting more than one unit, the number of units and the impossibility of being sold separately must be stated.
“Packaged bed, table and bath products must contain the dimension indicated using the SI (International System of Units) of each component of the packaging, in addition to information on the textile composition and country of origin”, explained Ipem-SP.
The label must also contain guidance for the conservation and treatment of the item, which can be indicated by symbols or texts. The correct sequence is the same as that used by a housewife to preserve textile products, such as washing, bleaching (using chlorine or oxygen-based bleach), machine or natural drying, ironing and cleaning. professional (dry and/or wet cleaning).
Home appliances
If the gift is an appliance, the guideline is to check if there is a National Energy Conservation Label, which informs about energy consumption.
Washers and stoves must also present data on water and gas consumption. In the case of household appliances – such as hair dryers, straighteners and hair curlers – the seal of the National Institute of Metrology, Standardization and Industrial Quality (Inmetro) must appear on both the product and the packaging.
“Energy consumption is indicated by a colored scale with letters from A to G, which show the device’s consumption levels. A black seven with the letter corresponding to the consumption of that appliance informs its level of energy efficiency. Thus, it is easy to know, for example, that a product classified as letter A is more efficient (spends less) than one classified as letter C”, stated Ipem-SP.
The recommendation is that consumers purchase these items in formal stores, always asking for the invoice and guarantee of proof of origin of the product in the event of a need to report it. In the case of irregularities, the fined companies have ten days to present their defense to the agency. According to federal law 9,933/99, fines can reach R$1.5 million.
For more information about using the National Energy Conservation Label, visit the link.
