RN Numbers

In the United States, a registered identification number — an RN — is a number issued by the Federal Trade Commission, upon request, to a business residing in the U.S. that is engaged in the manufacture, importing, distribution, or sale of textile, wool, or fur products. The RN exists so that a company can identify itself on the label or tag that must be affixed to these products without printing its full business name: where the labeling rules call for the name of the manufacturer, importer or dealer, an RN can stand in its place.

Businesses are not required to have RNs. A company may label its products with its name instead. But for firms that sell under many brand names, private-label goods for many retailers, or import from many sources, a single registered number is simpler to print, simpler to keep consistent, and simpler to trace back to the responsible business. This page explains how the RN system works, how to look a company up by its number, and how the similar Canadian CA number differs.

What an RN Is and Who Uses One

An RN is an identification number, not a license, a certification or an approval of a product. The Federal Trade Commission issues RNs to U.S. businesses that deal in textile, wool or fur products — the three product families covered by the federal labeling acts for those goods. Manufacturers apply for a number, importers apply for a number, and distributors and sellers who need to identify themselves on labels can apply as well. Once issued, the number belongs to that business and appears on labels in the form “RN” followed by the digits, printed alongside the fiber content, country of origin and care information a garment label carries.

Because the number is tied to one legal business, it works as a stable identifier even when brand names change. A shirt may be sold under a store’s private label, but the RN on its label still leads back to the company responsible for the product. That traceability is the point of the system: anyone holding the garment can take the number to the FTC’s database and learn which business stands behind it.

Using an RN on a Label

The labeling rules for textile, wool and fur products require the label to identify the manufacturer, importer or dealer. A business with an RN may use the number in place of its name on that label or tag. The RN does not replace the other required information: fiber content, country of origin and care instructions still have to appear as the rules for each product type require, and an RN does not excuse a product from any other labeling law that applies to it.

Accuracy matters in both directions. A company should print only its own RN, keep the number legible for the useful life of the garment, and update its registration when its name, address or structure changes. Information in the RN data system is based on data submitted by private companies, and it is accurate and current only if the registered company keeps it up to date.

Looking a Company Up by RN

The FTC maintains the public RN database, linked in the references below, where a number can be entered to find the business it was issued to. That lookup is the standard way to answer practical questions: which importer brought a garment in, which manufacturer stands behind a private-label product, or whether the number printed on a label matches the company a supplier claims to be. The Apparel Search RN number lookup term page, also linked below, explains the lookup process and how to find companies by RN in more detail.

A lookup result should be read as registration data, not as a quality judgment. Finding a company in the database confirms that the business registered; it says nothing about the quality of its products. A number that returns no result, or a result under an unexpected name, is a signal to ask questions — labels can be misprinted and registrations can lapse into outdated information.

Canada’s CA Identification Number

Canada runs a similar system. A CA Identification Number, commonly referred to as a “CA Number”, is a five-digit number preceded by the letters CA, issued by the Competition Bureau upon request. Only Canadian manufacturers, processors or finishers of a textile fibre product, or Canadians engaged in the business of importing or selling any textile fibre product, are allowed to register for a CA Identification Number.

Like the RN, the CA number is optional: dealers are not required to have one, but they may use it in place of their name and address on the label of consumer textile articles. Companies selling the same garments in both countries often run both systems at once — an RN for the United States label and a CA number for the Canadian one.

Check the Current Rules with the FTC

RN rules, application procedures and the lookup database are administered by the Federal Trade Commission, and details change as the FTC updates its systems and guidance. The FTC links that once pointed to its older RN pages no longer resolve, which is a practical reminder that this area is maintained and revised by the agency itself.

Before applying for an RN, printing one on a production label, or relying on a lookup result for a business decision, verify the current requirements and search the current database with the FTC. The live RN Number Lookup in the references below is the authoritative source; no directory page, including this one, is a substitute for the agency’s own records.