On August 15, 2007, New York Governor Elliot Spitzer signed into law an amendment to the New York General Business Law in relation to selling and manufacturing of fur-bearing articles of clothing. The New York law, which takes effect on November 13, 2007, prohibits anyone from knowingly importing for profit, selling at retail, offering for sale at retail, or manufacturing articles of clothing which include, or have attached in any quantity and of any value, fur that is not labeled as being either "faux fur" or "real fur", or is incorrectly labeled.
The bill stipulates that compliance with such requirement could be accomplished by adding the phrase "faux fur" or "real fur" to the permanent tag attached to the clothing, the temporary tag used by the merchant to identity the merchandise, or by affixing a sticker with such phrases to the article of clothing.
The law is intended to close a loophole on the federal level that exempts from the FTC's Fur Products Name Guide fur products selling for $150 or less. According to the Humane Society, the law is part of a growing trend of state and proposed national legislation on this issue, and is designed to deal with growing use of animal furs as incorrectly being considered faux .
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