Peru Clothing Label Requirements: Spanish Text, Fibre Content and RUC

Peru clothing label compliance comes from two rules layered together: the Andean garment labelling rule covers fibre content, care instructions and country of origin, while Peru's own industrial labelling law requires the responsible party — importer, packer or distributor — to be identified by name, Peruvian tax number (RUC) and legal domicile. A missing RUC or the wrong responsible-party role is the first thing Peruvian importers ask you to fix at sampling stage.

This guide works through seven parts: the rules that apply, label fields and where they sit, fibre-composition thresholds, care symbols, how origin must be worded, the responsible-party details and enforcement, and a sampling checklist you can copy straight into an enquiry email.

1. Three Rules Apply in Peru: Andean Rule, National Law, National Standard

• Resolución 2109/2019 (amended by 2173/2020): the garment labelling rule applicable in Peru since February 2021. It requires fibre composition, care instructions and country of origin on the permanent label, and states expressly that no conformity-assessment procedure applies to the garment label itself
• Decreto Legislativo 1304/2016: Peru's own industrial-product labelling law, requiring the responsible operator — manufacturer, importer, packer or distributor — to be identifiable inside Peru, by name, legal domicile and RUC tax number
• NTP 231.400:2015: the clothing and household-textile labelling standard marked mandatory in Peru's national standards catalogue. In practice Resolución 2109 is the directly applicable rule — confirm the current scope of NTP with your importer order by order
• Regulator: INDECOPI supervises the market and, under Ley 29571 (Consumer Protection Code), can issue warnings, order corrective action or impose graded fines

2. What Must Appear, and Where It Sits

3. Fibre Content: the 5% and 15% Lines

• 5% or more: declare each fibre individually, in descending order
• Below 5%, and collectively below 15%: may be grouped as otros (other fibres) instead of itemised
• Functional fibres are the exception: name them even below 5% — elastane, cooling or antibacterial fibres. This is the point most often missed
• A 100%, puro or todo claim: tolerates unavoidable foreign fibre up to 2%, or up to 5% on carded products
• Blend tolerance: plus or minus 3% per fibre, so label values should sit where testing and specification overlap
• Coating and lining: dealt with under a separate article of the rule and worded apart from the main fabric — confirm the wording with your importer at sampling stage

4. Care Instructions: Symbols Must Match ISO 3758

Peru allows care information as legends, standardised symbols, or both — but where symbols are used they must conform to ISO 3758:2012. The usual failure is not a missing symbol but a contradiction: a wool-cycle symbol on a garment that is really washed normally, which counts as a mismatch between label and product.

• Keep the Spanish wording consistent: Lavar a mano, No usar blanqueador, Secar en plano, Planchar a baja temperatura
• Latin American buyers work mainly over WhatsApp, so settle symbol treatment, language set and wash-cycle requirements in one go to avoid repeated artwork revisions
• Label durability: Peru sets no pre-market certification for the label, yet buyers normally inspect against the standard of legible print after three domestic washes — choose care-label material and ink to that standard

5. How to Word Country of Origin So It Passes

• Use Hecho en, Fabricado en or Elaborado en followed by the country, e.g. Hecho en China. English-only Made in China does not meet the Spanish-language requirement
• Origin must match where the garment was actually made: labelling or packing in a third country does not change origin, and if fabric or sewing happens elsewhere the wording must match the customs paperwork
• Keep origin wording identical across label, customs documents and carton marks so an inspection never meets three different statements

6. The Responsible-Party Fields: Easiest to Get Wrong, Costliest

In Peru the label is treated as the responsible party's sworn declaration rather than a certified document, so whatever it states must match the goods. Enforcement happens in the market: INDECOPI investigates and, under Ley 29571, can issue warnings, corrective orders or graded fines, with the ceiling for very serious infringements reaching 450 UIT.

• Company name present but RUC missing, or the RUC is outdated because the importing entity changed from importer to distributor
• Legal domicile given as an overseas head-office address instead of a registered Peruvian address
• RUC only on the carton or hang tag while the garment itself carries nothing — the garment is what stays with the consumer

7. Six Items to Confirm Before Sampling

1. Responsible party and RUC: confirm whether this shipment makes your buyer importer, packer or distributor, and lock name, legal domicile and valid RUC
2. Composition: check percentages against the 5% and 15% lines, list functional fibres separately and allow the plus-or-minus 3% tolerance
3. Care: align symbols with ISO 3758:2012 and add the Spanish wording, with no contradiction between the two
4. Origin: fix the exact wording of Hecho en, Fabricado en or Elaborado en and match it to the customs paperwork
5. Size and language: Spanish as the label language, sizes per the buyer's approved chart, and a clear split of work between permanent and removable labels
6. Childrenswear extras: confirm small-part pull strength and cord requirements against the buyer's contract and destination rules rather than adult-wear defaults

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