[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 64 (Tuesday, April 4, 1995)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 17032-17034]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-8189]



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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

16 CFR PART 248


Request for Comments Concerning Guides for the Beauty and Barber 
Equipment and Supplies Industry

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Request for public comments.

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SUMMARY: The Federal Trade Commission (the ``Commission'') requests 
public comments on its Guides for the Beauty and Barber Equipment and 
Supplies Industry. The Commission is also requesting comments about the 
overall costs and benefits of the Guides for the Beauty and Barber 
Equipment and Supplies Industry 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 5, 1995.

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 Beauty and 
[[Page 17033]] Barber Equipment and Supplies Industry should be 
identified as ``16 CFR Part 248--Comment.''

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Douglas J. Goglia, Attorney, Federal 
Trade Commission, New York Regional Office, 150 William Street, 13th 
Floor, New York, NY 10038, (212) 264-1229.

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 recission.
    At this time, the Commission solicits written public comments 
concerning the Commission's Guides for the Beauty and Barber Equipment 
and Supplies Industry (the ``Beauty/Barber Supplies Guides,'' or the 
``Guides'').
    The Beauty/Barber Supplies 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 Beauty/Barber Supplies Guides may result in 
corrective action by the Commission under applicable statutory 
provisions. The Commission may decide to promulgate an industry guide 
``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 Beauty/Barber Supplies Guides designate as unacceptable certain 
advertising and trade practices relating to the sale of products used 
by, and/or marketed through, ``Industry Members'' (as defined in 
Sec. 248.0 of the Beauty/Barber Supplies Guides) such as barber shops, 
barber schools, beauty parlors, beauty salons, and beauty clinics. Such 
products embrace a wide range of beauty and barber preparations, as 
well as articles or items of equipment, furnishings, and supplies for 
such establishments. The Beauty/Barber Supplies Guides include, among 
other things, guidance about the use of trade names, symbols, and 
depictions; the defamation of competitors or the false disparagement of 
their products; false invoicing; push money; advertising or promotional 
allowances, or services or facilities; commercial bribery; enticing 
away employees of competitors; inducing breach of contract; exclusive 
dealing arrangements; and price discrimination.
    The Commission believes that certain sections of the Beauty/Barber 
Supplies Guides may not be so specific to the beauty and barber 
industry that they are warranted in light of general guidance available 
elsewhere. For example, the statement on discriminatory pricing may be 
in large part needlessly duplicative of sections (a) and (f) of the 
Robinson-Patman Act, and the statement on discriminatory promotional 
allowances and services may be duplicative of the so-called Fred Meyer 
Guides, which interpret sections (d) and (e) of the Robinson-Patman Act 
and section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act. See Guides for 
Advertising Allowances and Other Merchandising Payments and Services, 
16 CFR part 240. Similarly, other sections of the Beauty/Barber 
Supplies Guides describe general principles derived from the antitrust 
laws and consumer protection laws enforced by the Commission, but in 
ways that may not be especially specific to the beauty and barber 
equipment industry.
    If the Commission elects to retain the Beauty/Barber Supplies 
Guides after conducting this review, it intends to update certain terms 
to reflect policy changes that have occurred since the Beauty/Barber 
Supplies Guides were last revised in 1968. The phrase ``capacity and 
tendency or effect of misleading or deceiving,'' in Secs. 248.1, 248.5, 
and 248.6, may 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.
    The Commission also may provide updated notations to other 
Commission guides which supplement the Beauty/Barber Supplies Guides. 
Specifically, a notation may be appended after Sec. 248.0 to advise 
that certain ``Industry Members,'' such as beauty schools, beauty 
clinics, and barber schools, may refer to the Commission's Guides for 
Private Vocational and Home Study Schools, 16 CFR part 254, for 
additional guidance. A notation may be inserted following Sec. 248.14 
of the Beauty/Barber Supplies Guides to indicate that the Commission's 
Guides for Advertising Allowances and Other Merchandising Payments and 
Services, 16 CFR part 240, furnish detailed guidance regarding 
advertising or promotional allowances, or services or facilities, and 
should be considered as supplementing Sec. 248.14.
    In addition, the Beauty/Barber Supplies Guides currently include, 
in footnote 1 to Sec. 248.1, a notation to the Commission's Guides 
Against Deceptive Advertising of Guarantees, 16 CFR part 239. A second 
notation following Sec. 248.4 of the Guides refers to the Commission's 
Guides Against Deceptive Pricing, 16 CFR part 233. These notations may 
be modified so that the language contained therein will be consistent.
    Accordingly, the Commission solicits public comments on the 
following questions:
    1. Is there a continuing need for the Beauty/Barber Supplies 
Guides/
    a. Do members of the beauty and barber equipment and supplies 
industry require these industry-specific guides for information about 
applicable legal standards, or can equally helpful guidance be obtained 
from more general sources such as the Fred Meyer guides, 16 CFR part 
240?
    b. What benefits have the Guides provided to purchasers of the 
products or services affected by the Guides?
    c. Have the Guides imposed costs on purchasers?
    d. Do the Guides continue to address practices which are of concern 
to members of the beauty and barber equipment and supplies industry?
    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 
burdens 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?

    Authority: 15 U.S.C. 41-58.

List of Subjects in 16 CFR Part 248

    Advertising, Trade practices, Deceptive pricing, Price 
discrimination, Promotional allowances.

    [[Page 17034]] By direction of the Commission.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 95-8189 Filed 4-3-95; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-M