# Request for Comments Concerning Guides for the Feather and Down Products Industry > Briefs, arguments, decisions, and more. URL: https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/fr%3A94-9137 ## Record - **Collection:** Federal Register - **Document type:** Uncategorized Document - **Published:** April 15, 1994 ## Text FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION 16 CFR Part 253 Request for Comments Concerning Guides for the Feather and Down Products Industry agency: Federal Trade Commission. action: Request for public comments. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- summary: The Federal Trade Commission (the ``Commission'') is requesting public comments on its Guides for the Feather and Down Products Industry. The Commission is also requesting comments about the overall costs and benefits of the guides, and their overall regulatory and economic impact, as a part of its systematic review of all current Commission regulations and guides. dates: Written comments will be accepted until June 14, 1994. addresses: Comments should be directed to: Secretary, Federal Trade Commission, room H-159, Sixth Street and Pennsylvania Ave., NW., Washington, DC 20580. Comments about the Guides for the Feather and Down Products Industry should be identified as ``16 CFR part 253-- Comment.'' for further information contact: Alice Au, Attorney, Federal Trade Commission, New York Regional Office, 150 William Street, 13th Floor, New York, NY 10038, (212) 264-1210. supplementary information: The Commission has determined, as part of its oversight responsibilities, to review rules and guides periodically. These reviews will seek information about the costs and benefits of the Commission's rules and guides and their regulatory and economic impact. The information obtained will assist the Commission in identifying rules and guides that warrant modification or recision. At this time, the Commission solicits written public comments concerning the Commission's Guides for the Feather and Down Products Industry. These guides, like the other industry guides issued by the Commission, ``are administrative interpretations of laws administered by the Commission for the guidance of the public in conducting its affairs in conformity with legal requirements. They provide the basis for voluntary and simultaneous abandonment of unlawful practices by members of industry.'' 16 CFR 1.5. Conduct inconsistent with the guides may result in corrective action by the Commission under applicable statutory provisions. The Commission promulgates industry guides ``when it appears to the Commission that guidance as to the legal requirements applicable to particular practices would be beneficial in the public interest and would serve to bring about more widespread and equitable observance of laws administered by the Commission.'' 16 CFR 1.6. The Guides for the Feather and Down Products Industry concern acceptable and unacceptable claims for advertising, labeling, and sale of pillows, cushions, comforters, sleeping bags, wearing apparel, and similar products which are wholly or partially filled with feathers or down, and all bulk stocks of processed feathers or down intended for use or used in the manufacturer of such products. The guides address the use of trade names, symbols, and depictions; the disclosure of filling material on labels and in advertisements; the tolerances in filling material; the labeling of products using crushed and damaged feathers; the disclosure of the use of secondhand filling material; the cleanliness of filling material; and the disclosure as to size of feather and down products. If the Commission elects to retain the guides after conducting this review, it intends to update certain terms to reflect policy changes that have occurred since the guides were revised in 1971. The phase ``capacity and tendency or effect of misleading or deceiving'' in Secs. 253.2, 253.3, and 253.4 would be changed to conform with the language regarding deception that is set forth in Cliffdale Associates, Inc., 103 F.T.C. 110 (1984), and subsequent cases. Further, the guides refer to Federal Standard 148a, ``Classification, Identification, and Testing of Feather Filling Material,'' dated December 10, 1964, which was amended on September 14, 1965 and October 25, 1968. Future reference to Federal Standard 148a will include citation to the two amendments. Section 253.11 of the guides, relating to ``Disclosure as to size,'' includes an example of a proper representation of size description. Currently, this example is expressed in terms of inches. Under Executive Order 12770 of July 25, 1991, and the Metric Conversion Act, as amended by the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act, all federal agencies are required to use the SI metric system of measurement in all procurement, grants, and other business-related activities (which include rulemakings), except to the extent that such use is impractical or is likely to cause significant inefficiencies or loss of markets to United States firms. To comply with these provisions, should the Commission elect to retain the guides after conducting this review, the example in the guides will be altered to include the metric equivalent in parentheses beside the English measurements. Thus, the measurements in the example would be revised to read: ``Finished Size 21'' x 27'' (53 cm x 68 cm) (Cut Size 2'' x 28'' (55 cm x 71 cm))''. This is a technical amendment to an illustrative example in the guides rather than a substantive amendment to the guides. It is not intended to create any new requirement under the guides to use metric or to use metric in any particular fashion (for example, in hundredths of centimeters). Accordingly, the Commission solicits public comments on the following questions: (1) Is there a continuing need for the guides? (a) What benefits have the guides provided to purchasers of the products or services affected by the guides? (b) Have the guides imposed costs on purchasers? (2) What changes, if any, should be made to the guides to increase the benefits of the guides to purchasers? (a) How would these changes affect the costs the guides impose on firms subject to their requirements? (3) What significant burdens or costs, including costs of adherence, have the guides imposed on firms subject to their requirements? (a) Have the guides provided benefits to such firms? (4) What changes, if any, should be made to the guides to reduce the burden or costs imposed on firms subject to their requirements? (a) How would these changes affect the benefits provided by the guides? (5) Do the guides overlap or conflict with other federal, state, or local laws or regulations? (6) Since the guides were issued, what effects, if any, have changes in relevant technology or economic conditions had on the guides? (7) Is there a continuing need for Sec. 253.4 ``Misuse of the term `Tan-O-Quil-QM'''? (8) Are changes needed and appropriate for Sec. 253.6 ``Tolerances in filling material''? Explain why there should or should not be changes to the current tolerances. (9) Are there testing methods that are viable alternatives to the testing methods in Federal Standard 148a, ``Classification, Identification, and Testing of Feather Filling Material''? Should the current testing methods be changed? List of Subjects in 16 CFR 253 Advertising, Labeling, Filling Material, Trade Practices. Authority: 15 U.S.C. 41-58. By direction of the Commission. Donald S. Clark, Secretary. [FR Doc. 94-9137 Filed 4-14-94; 8:45 am] BILLING CODE 6750-01-M --- Source: Frix Law Library, https://www.frixlaw.com/law-library/documents/fr%3A94-9137. Public record. Not legal advice.