Textile Products Labelling Act 1954 (NSW)

TEXTILE PRODUCTS LABELLING ACT.

Act No. 26, 1954.

An Act to make provisions relating to the appli­ cation of trade descriptions to textile products; to repeal the Textile Products Labelling Act, 1945; and for purposes con­ nected therewith. [Assented to, 29th April, 1954.]

lative Council and Legislative Assembly of New South	BE it enacted b y the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, b y and with the advice and consent of the Legis­
Wales in Par l iament assembled, and by the au thor i ty of the same, as follows :—

1 . ( 1 ) This Act may be cited as the " T e x t i l e P roduc t s

Labell ing Act, 1954."

(2) This Act shall commence upon a day to be appointed by the Governor and notified by proclamat ion published in the Gazette.

2 . The Texti le P roduc t s Label l ing Act, 1945, is hereby repealed.

3 . In this Act, unless the context or subject m a t t e r otherwise indicates or requires ,—

" F i b r e " means wool, hai r , silk, cotton, linen and

any other	fibrous	mater ia l , whether n a t u r a l	or
artificial.

(b)

" I n s p e c t o r " means inspector within the meaning of the Fac to r i e s and Shops Act, 1912, as amended by subsequent Acts .

" P r e s c r i b e d " means prescr ibed by regula t ions made

under this Act.

" S e l l " includes exhibit, expose or have in possession
for sale, or for any purpose of adver t i sement or

t rade , and " s o l d " has a cor responding meaning.

" T e x t i l e p r o d u c t s " means—

(a) woven, kni t ted or felted mate r ia l s

manufac tured from fibre;

(b) tops , ya rns , t h reads and lace;

(c) ar t icles of wear ing appa re l manufac­

tured in whole or in p a r t of any mater ia l s referred to in p a r a g r a p h (a) or p a r a g r a p h (b) of this definition, but not including linings, inter l inings or t r immings forming p a r t of such a r t i c les ;

(d) any goods declared by the regulations to be textile products for the purposes of this Ac t ;—

but excludes any goods which by the regulat ions a re declared not to be textile products for the purposes of this Act.

" W o o l " means the na tu ra l fibre from the fleece of

any var ie ty of domestic sheep or lamb.

4 . (1) No pe r son shall sell o r offer for sale any textile products unless there is in the manne r prescr ibed applied by p r in t ing or s t amping on or weaving into or securely a t tach ing to such textile products , or where so requi red or pe rmi t t ed by the regula t ions to the several prescr ibed por t ions thereof or to some covering label reel or th ing used in connection therewith , a t r ade descr ipt ion in the Engl ish language in legible charac te rs conspicuously placed so as to be clearly visible and containing pa r t i cu la r s as to qual i ty p u r i t y weight and other m a t t e r s as prescr ibed by this section and the

regulat ions.

(2) Such t r ade descr ipt ion—

(a)	for textile products which contain ninety-five pe r centum or more by weight of wool—shall
include the words " p u r e w o o l " ;
(b)	for textile products which contain less than ninety-five per centum by weight of wool—shall
not include the words " p u r e w o o l " ;

(c)

(c)	for textile products which contain less than ninety-five pe r centum but not less than five pe r pe r centum by weight of wool—shall include a
s ta tement specifying—

(i)   the percentage by weight of wool which

is contained in the p r o d u c t s ; and

(ii)    the other fibres contained in the products in order of dominance by weight ;

(d)	for textile products which contain less than five per centum by weight of wool—shall s ta te the fibres other than wool in o rder of dominance by weight followed by the words " l e s s than five pe r
centum w o o l " ;
(e)	for textile products which contain no wool— shall include a s ta tement specifying the fibre contained in the p roduc ts or if the p roduc ts contain more than one fibre the fibres in o rder of dominance by weight.

(3) W h e r e a textile product contains less than five pe r centum by weight of any fibre other than wool, the t r ade descript ion under this section need not ment ion t ha t fibre, unless the regulat ions otherwise require .

5. (1) An inspector may, a t any reasonable t ime—

(a)	enter any place where textile products are manufac tured or sold or any place where he has reason to believe tha t texti le products a re manufac tured or sold;
(b)	inspect any textile product in such place;
(c)	in such place take any textile product whether manufac tured or pa r t l y manufactured , paying a j u s t price for the same, or take samples of mater ia l s used in the manufac ture of texti le products .

(2) An inspector , on exercising any power con­ fer red on him by this section, shall, if so requested by any person appa ren t ly in charge of such place or of any work car r ied on therein, produce the certificate of his appo in tment as an inspector .

(3)

(3) A person who hinders or obstructs , or a t t empts to h inder or obstruct , any inspector in the exercise by him of the powers conferred by this section shall be liable to a penal ty not exceeding fifty pounds.

6. The Governor may appoint persons to be analys ts for the purposes of this Act.

7. (1) Any person who contravenes or fails to comply with any of the provis ions of this Act shall be guil ty of an offence aga ins t this Act.

(2) Any person who is guil ty of an offence aga ins t this Act shall, where no o ther pena l ty is expressly provided, be liable in the case of a first offence to a penal ty not exceeding fifty pounds and in the case of a second or subsequent offence to a pena l ty not exceeding two hundred pounds or impr isonment for a t e rm not exceeding six months .

(3) W h e r e a person convicted of an offence aga ins t

this Act is a body corpora te , every person who a t the t ime of the commission of the offence was a director or officer of the body corpora te shall be deemed to have committed the like offence and be liable to the pecuniary penal ty or impr i sonment provided by this Act for such offence accordingly, unless he proves t ha t the offence was committed without his knowledge or tha t he used all due diligence to p reven t the commission of the offence.

8. (1) Proceedings for an offence aga ins t this Act may be taken by any person act ing with the au thor i ty of the Minister .

(2) All proceedings- for offences aga ins t this Act may be disposed of summar i ly before a s t ipendiary mag i s t r a t e or before an indust r ia l mag i s t r a t e appointed

under the Indus t r i a l Arb i t r a t ion Act, 1940, as amended

by subsequent Acts .

(3) The provisions of the Indus t r i a l Arb i t r a t i on

Act, 1940, as amended by subsequent Acts , and the regula t ions thereunder , re la t ing to proceedings before

an indus t r ia l mag i s t r a t e and to appeals from an indus­

t r ia l mag i s t r a t e to the Indus t r i a l Commission of New

South

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South Wales shall apply, muta t i s mutand is , to proceed­ ings before a s t ipendiary mag i s t r a t e or an indus t r ia l

mag i s t r a t e for offences aga ins t this Act.

9.     I n any prosecut ion for an offence aga ins t this Act—

(a)

it shall be a defence if the defendant proves tha t the textile product with respect to which the offence is alleged to have been commit ted was manufac tured in or impor ted into New South Wales before the commencement of this Act and tha t the textile p roduc t was held by him bona fide and without any f raudulen t in tent ion; but the defendant shall be liable to pay the costs incur red on behalf of the prosecut ion unless he has given reasonable notice to the in formant tha t he will rely on such defence;

(b)

an au thor i ty to prosecute p u r p o r t i n g to have been signed by the Minis ter shall be evidence of such au thor i ty without proof of the Minister 's

signature;

(c) the production of a certificate of the result of an analys is of any mater ia l , where such certificate p u r p o r t s to have been signed by an ana lys t appoin ted unde r this Act, shall unless the defendant requires the analys t to be called as a witness be evidence of the facts s ta ted in the certificate wi thou t proof of the s igna tu re or official charac te r of the person appea r ing to have signed the same. W h e r e the mate r ia l re fer red to in the certificate is p a r t of a textile product , a

s ta tement in the certificate t h a t the ma te r i a l

contains a s ta ted p ropor t ion of any fibre or other substance shall be evidence tha t all p a r t s of the textile p roduc t contain tha t fibre or other

substance in tha t p ropor t ion .

10 . (1) The Governor may make regula t ions not inconsis tent with this Act p rescr ib ing all m a t t e r s which by this Act a r e required or permi t ted to be prescr ibed or which a re necessary or convenient to be prescr ibed for ca r ry ing out or giving effect to this Act.

The

The Governor may—

(a)	with respect to the trade description required by this Act to be appl ied to any textile products ,
make regula t ions—

(i)    as to the form or a r r a n g e m e n t of such t r ade descript ion or the order of the

words used the re in ;

(ii)   as to the size and character of the le t ters and figures used in such t r ade descr ip t ion;

(iii)    prohibi t ing or res t r ic t ing the inclusion on any label or b rand used for the purposes of such t r ade descript ion of any m a t t e r addi t ional to t ha t required by this Act to be included in the t r ade descr ip t ion;

(b) make regulations declaring any goods to be textile products for the purposes of this Act or declar ing any goods not to be textile products for the purposes of this Act .

(2) Any provis ion inser ted in any regulat ion made unde r this Act may apply to text i le p roduc ts general ly, to specified classes of texti le p roduc ts or to all classes of textile products o ther than those specified.

(3) Such regula t ions shall—

(a) be published in the Gaze t te ;

(b)	take effect from the date of publication or from a la te r da te to be specified in such regu la t ions ; and
(c)	be laid before both Houses of Parliament within

fourteen s i t t ing days af ter publication if Pa r l i amen t is in session, and, if not, then within fourteen s i t t ing days af ter the commencement of the next session. .

If e i ther House of P a r l i a m e n t passes a resolut ion of

which notice has been given a t any t ime within fifteen s i t t ing days af ter such regula t ions have been laid before such House, disallowing any such regula t ion or p a r t

thereof, such regulat ion or p a r t shall thereupon cease
to have effect.

S U P P L Y