Must be Wool If Label Says So

Chronicle (Levin), 20 October 1949, Page 7

Must be Wool If Label Says So

.-WELLINGTON, Oet. 19. Mr A. H. Nordmeyer, moving the second reading • of the wool labelling Bill in the House of Representatives, said its'niain purpose was to prevenl the wrong use of the word wool. There wcre certain fibres which could be mad,, into fabrics closely respnbling wool but mferior to wool in niost respeets, and the Wool Board wanted to proteet tlu industry against the effects whicli might result froni the use of substi tutes under the label of wool. Similai legislation had been enacted in Austra lia, South Africa and the Uniteu States. / Mr Nordmeyer said fabries containing 50 per eent or more of wool wouhl have to be Jabeiled to sliow what tlu pereentage actually was. The Bill did not di sti nguish between one type ograde of wool and anotlier but atten tion might be given to that next yeai in a revision of the Patents, Designand 'Trade Marks Aet. The present Bil. would proteet consumers as well as woo growers. Mr Holland said the Opposition wa; sympathetic to the Bill but feared it might have undreanied of repercussions Would the use of such evervday wordas " cotton wool" be banned. Mr Nordmeyer replied that an amenri ment would be introduced safeguardim. the present use of such terms. Mr Holland said there were man. terms such as glass wool, slag wool, aiui others, in general use and they should not be interfered with. Mr W. J. Broadfoot (Waitomo) said under the Bill anv article could be la belled wool if if contained 50 per cent or more of wool but there was no re striction on the inclusion of used o shoddy wool. Although the Bill had tlu Wool ' Board 's approval there were weaknesses in it which should be cor rected now rather than later. It prc> tected wool against synthetics but d >n not proteet the woolgrowers against ,.p.n«P of inferior wools.

Mr K. -T. Holvoake (Pahiatua) su.2 gested amending the Bill to exclude re used wool in computing the percenlagt of wool in a fabric. That would safe guard growers and consumers againsi hiferior products containing shoddy v used wool. (Mr Nordmeyer, replving, said con sideration had been given to includiny in the Bill a definition of classes o wool that should be excluded from art cles under a wool label. "Mr Bowden: Bull 's wool. Mr Nordmeyer: I will leave that tthe lionourable gentleman. II e is a mater of that. Mr Nordmeyer said it was difficu!* to tell scieutifically if a fabric Cun sisted wholly of virgin wool or if n included some used wool. There wa' much to be said for the points raise" but lie thought it preferable to pass tlu Bill as now drafted. It was a Bill ti ensure that articles prctencting to co'' tain wool did in faet do so. Furtho safeguards as to the quality of wo> might be established later bv tlie usi of standards, bv amending the trad mark legislation and bv the use of nn port controls to ensure that only good if reasonable standard were imported. The Bill was given a second reading