This document defines the generic names used to designate the different categories of man-made fibres, based on a main polymer, currently manufactured on an industrial scale for textile and other purposes, together with the distinguishing attributes that characterize them. The term “man-made fibres” has been adopted for those fibres obtained by a manufacturing process, as distinct from materials which occur naturally in fibrous form.

This document gives recommendations of rules for the creation of the generic name (see Annex A).