I. ENFORCEMENT POLICY
STATEMENT
On December 1, 1997, the Commission
announced an Enforcement Policy Statement on U.S. Origin Claims outlining the
factors the Commission will consider in determining whether a U.S. origin claim is
deceptive. The Enforcement Policy Statement was published in the Federal
Register on December 2, 1997. The Enforcement Policy Statement, the Federal
Register notice setting forth the basis for the Commissions action, and the News
Release announcing it are available on this site. The Federal Register notice is
available for downloading in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. To download a file, simply click on
the indicated link. If you do not have a copy of the free Acrobat Reader software, a link
to Adobes website is provided for your convenience at the bottom of this page. In
adopting the Enforcement Policy Statement, the Commission withdrew and rejected the
Proposed Guides for the Use of U.S. Origin Claims that the Commission published for
public comment on May 7, 1997.
II. PRIOR EVENTS IN "MADE IN USA" REVIEW
Previous documents concerning the "Made in USA"
Review also are available on this site. Prior to announcing the Enforcement Policy
Statement, the FTC published Proposed Guides for the Use of U.S. Origin Claims
for public comment on May 7, 1997. Both the Proposed Guides (which have now been
superseded by the Enforcement Policy Statement) and the comments on the Proposed
Guides appear below. In addition, the FTC had earlier held a public workshop and
solicited public comment on how it should evaluate "Made in USA" and other U.S.
origin claims. Transcripts of the workshop, as well as the written comments received
during this earlier comment period, are also available on this site.
Comments Received in Response to Proposed Guides for the Use of
U.S. Origin Claims
As of December 1, 1997, when the Commission announced its
Enforcement Policy Statement, the Commission had received almost 1100 public
comments on the Proposed Guides for the Use of U.S. Origin Claims published on May
7, 1997. Comments 1 through 1014 appear on this site. A complete set of comments is
available for inspection in Room 130 at the FTC=s Headquarters at Sixth St. and
Pennsylvania Ave., NW, Washington, DC. Typewritten comments generally are available for
downloading in html format; handwritten and graphical comments (which are marked by the symbol) are available for viewing or
downloading in Adobe Acrobat PDF format. To download the file, simply click on the
indicated link. If you do not have a copy of the free Acrobat Reader software, a link to
Adobe=s website is provided for your convenience at the bottom of this page.
Proposed Guides for the Use of U.S. Origin Claims
- Federal Register Notice announcing results of FTC
review (including text of Proposed Guides on U.S. Origin Claims) (5/7/97)
[PDF 360K]
This Federal Register notice is available for downloading in
both WordPerfect 6.1 and Adobe Acrobat PDF formats. To download the file simply click on
the indicated link. If you do not have a copy of the free Acrobat Reader
software, a link to Adobe's website is provided for your convenience at the bottom of this
page.
Request for Public Comment in Preparation for FTC Workshop on the
Use of "Made in USA" Claims in Product Advertising and Labeling
On October 18, 1995, the Federal Trade Commission published a
Federal Register notice soliciting public comment on whether it should alter its
legal standard for evaluating "Made in USA" claims. The FTC held a public
workshop on this issue on March 26-27, 1996, with representatives from consumer groups,
industry, government agencies, labor unions, and other groups participating in an exchange
of views. After the workshop, the FTC published a Federal Register notice extending
the period for public comment until June 30, 1996, and setting forth additional questions
for comment.
- Federal
Register Notice (10/18/95) (announcing review and soliciting comment)
- News Release (10/17/95)
- Federal
Register Notice (12/19/95) (announcing dates of public workshop)
- News Release
(12/19/95)
- Federal
Register Notice (4/26/96) (extending time for comments and setting forth
additional questions for comment)
- Public Comments
The following list provides links to the public comments received. They run from 1
through 343. The comments available in three separate formats: ASCII (*.txt), Microsoft
Word 6.0 (*.doc), and WordPerfect 5.1 (*.wp5). Associated image files are in Tagged Image
File Format (*.TIF). For your convenience, the respective file sizes are also listed.
- Transcript of "Made in USA" Workshop
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