US-FTC Proposes Changes to Guaranty Provisions in Fur Rules

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently published in the Federal Register a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (1) on proposed changes to the guaranty provisions of the Fur Rules under the Fur Products Labeling Act. These amendments would align the Fur Rules with proposed changes to the guaranty provisions of the Textile Rules under the Textile Fiber Products Identification Act. The public comment period is open until 23 July 2013.

On 17 September 2012, the Commission proposed amendments to the Fur Rules to update the Fur Products Name Guide, provide greater labeling flexibility, and incorporate provisions of the Truth in Fur Labeling Act (2). Now, the Commission proposes additional guaranty amendments for the Fur Rules with similar requirements of guaranty provision as in the Textile Rules which were proposed in April, 2013, and issued in the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Textile NPRM) (3).

Fur Rules under the Fur Products Labeling Act

Both the Textile and Fur Products Labeling Acts provide exemptions from liability for retailers and other recipients of covered products based on guaranties providing that the transferred products are not misbranded, falsely advertised or falsely invoiced. The FTC proposes amendments clarifying a signature requirement for separate guaranties and requiring guarantors to renew continuing guaranties annually using a prescribed form of certification.

The FTC currently seeks comment on the proposed changes to the Fur Rules’ guaranty provisions and will incorporate other issues received in response to the changes made in September 2012 before publishing the final rule.

References:

(1) Supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking (http://www.ftc.gov/os/2013/06/1306furrulesfrn.pdf)
(2) SGS Safeguards No. 189/12 (http://newsletter.sgs.com/eNewsletterPro/uploadedimages/000006/sgs-safeguards-18912-us-fts-proposed-changes-to-the-fur-labelling-act-a4-en-12.pdf)
(3) SGS Safeguards No. 079/13 (http://newsletter.sgs.com/eNewsletterPro/uploadedimages/000006/sgs-safeguards-07913-us-ftc-proposed-changes-to-the-textile-labeling-rules-a4-en-13.pdf)

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This release was published on openPR.