[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 144 (Monday, July 28, 2014)]
[Notices]
[Pages 43745-43746]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-17705]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

[File No. 142 3121]


Made in the USA Brand, LLC; Analysis To Aid Public Comment

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Proposed consent agreement.

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SUMMARY: The consent agreement in this matter settles alleged 
violations of federal law prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or 
practices. The attached Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes both 
the allegations in the draft complaint and the terms of the consent 
order--embodied in the consent agreement--that would settle these 
allegations.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before August 22, 2014.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/usabrandconsent online or on paper, by 
following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``Made in the USA Brand, 
LLC--Consent Agreement; File No. 142 3121'' on your comment and file 
your comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/usabrandconsent by following the instructions on the web-based form. If 
you prefer to file your comment on paper, mail your comment to the 
following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 
600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Suite CC-5610 (Annex D), Washington, DC 
20580, or deliver your comment to the following address: Federal Trade 
Commission, Office of the Secretary, Constitution Center, 400 7th 
Street SW., 5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex D), Washington, DC 20024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julia Solomon Ensor, Bureau of 
Consumer Protection, (202-326-2377), 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., 
Washington, DC 20580.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to Section 6(f) of the Federal 
Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 2.34, 16 CFR 2.34, 
notice is hereby given that the above-captioned consent agreement 
containing consent order to cease and desist, having been filed with 
and accepted, subject to final approval, by the Commission, has been 
placed on the public record for a period of thirty (30) days. The 
following Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes the terms of the 
consent agreement, and the allegations in the complaint. An electronic 
copy of the full text of the consent agreement package can be obtained 
from the FTC Home Page (for July 22, 2014), on the World Wide Web, at 
http://www.ftc.gov/os/actions.shtm.
    You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to 
consider your comment, we must receive it on or before August 22, 2014. 
Write ``Made in the USA Brand, LLC--Consent Agreement; File No. 142 
3121'' on your comment. Your comment--including your name and your 
state--will be placed on the public record of this proceeding, 
including, to the extent practicable, on the public Commission Web 
site, at http://www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm. As a matter of 
discretion, the Commission tries to remove individuals' home contact 
information from comments before placing them on the Commission Web 
site.
    Because your comment will be made public, you are solely 
responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any 
sensitive personal information, like anyone's Social Security number, 
date of birth, driver's license number or other state identification 
number or foreign country equivalent, passport number, financial 
account number, or credit or debit card number. You are also solely 
responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any 
sensitive health information, like medical records or other 
individually identifiable health information. In addition, do not 
include any ``[t]rade secret or any commercial or financial information 
which . . . is privileged or confidential,'' as discussed in Section 
6(f) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR 
4.10(a)(2). In particular, do not include competitively sensitive 
information such as costs, sales statistics, inventories, formulas, 
patterns, devices, manufacturing processes, or customer names.
    If you want the Commission to give your comment confidential 
treatment, you must file it in paper form, with a request for 
confidential treatment, and you have to follow the procedure explained 
in FTC Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).\1\ Your comment will be kept 
confidential only if the FTC General Counsel, in his or her sole 
discretion, grants your request in accordance with the law and the 
public interest.
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    \1\ In particular, the written request for confidential 
treatment that accompanies the comment must include the factual and 
legal basis for the request, and must identify the specific portions 
of the comment to be withheld from the public record. See FTC Rule 
4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).
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    Postal mail addressed to the Commission is subject to delay due to 
heightened security screening. As a result, we encourage you to submit 
your comments online. To make sure that the Commission considers your 
online comment, you must file it at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/usabrandconsent by following the instructions on the web-based 
form. If this Notice appears at http://www.regulations.gov/#!home, you 
also may file a comment through that Web site.
    If you file your comment on paper, write ``Made in the USA Brand, 
LLC--Consent Agreement; File No. 142 3121'' on your comment and on the 
envelope, and mail your comment to the following address: Federal Trade 
Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Suite 
CC-5610 (Annex D), Washington, DC 20580, or deliver your comment to the 
following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 
Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW., 5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex 
D), Washington, DC 20024. If possible, submit your paper comment to the 
Commission by courier or overnight service.
    Visit the Commission Web site at http://www.ftc.gov to read this 
Notice and the news release describing it. The FTC Act and other laws 
that the Commission administers permit the collection of public 
comments to consider and use in this proceeding as appropriate. The 
Commission will consider all timely and responsive public comments that 
it receives on or before August 22, 2014. You can find more 
information, including routine

[[Page 43746]]

uses permitted by the Privacy Act, in the Commission's privacy policy, 
at http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/privacy.htm.

Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment

    The Federal Trade Commission (``FTC'' or ``Commission'') has 
accepted, subject to final approval, an agreement containing a consent 
order from Made in the USA Brand, LLC. (``Respondent'').
    The proposed consent order has been placed on the public record for 
thirty (30) days for receipt of comments by interested persons. 
Comments received during this period will become part of the public 
record. After thirty (30) days, the Commission will again review the 
agreement and the comments received, and will decide whether it should 
withdraw from the agreement or make final the agreement's proposed 
order.
    This matter involves Respondent's marketing, sale, and distribution 
of licenses to use its ``Made in USA'' certification mark to companies 
wishing to make U.S.-origin claims for their products. According to the 
FTC's complaint, Respondent represented that products and entities 
using Respondent's certification mark were independently and 
objectively evaluated for compliance with Respondent's accreditation 
standard. These claims were false or misleading. Additionally, the 
complaint alleges that Respondent did not possess and rely upon a 
reasonable basis to substantiate its claims that entities promoted on 
its Web site sold products that are all or virtually all made in the 
United States. In fact, in numerous instances, entities promoted on 
Respondent's Web site have sold products containing significant 
imported content. Finally, the complaint alleges that Respondent 
distributed promotional materials to third-party marketers for use in 
the marketing and sale of those third parties' products, providing the 
means and instrumentalities to those marketers to commit deceptive acts 
or practices. Accordingly, the complaint concludes that Respondent 
engaged in deceptive acts or practices in violation of Section 5(a) of 
the FTC Act.
    The proposed consent order contains provisions designed to prevent 
Respondent from engaging in similar acts and practices in the future. 
Specifically, Part I prohibits Respondent from representing, expressly 
or by implication, that covered entities meet Respondent's 
accreditation standard, unless: (1) An entity with no material 
connection to that covered entity conducted an independent and 
objective evaluation to confirm that the accreditation standard was 
met; or (2) Respondent's mark and marketing materials prominently 
disclose that the accreditation standard may be met through self-
certification.
    Part II prohibits Respondent from making any country of origin 
claim about a product authorized to use Respondent's certification mark 
unless: (1) The claim is true, not misleading, and Respondent has a 
reasonable basis substantiating the representation; or (2) for 
representations made through use of Respondent's certification mark, 
Respondents clearly and prominently disclose that covered entities may 
meet the accreditation standard through self-certification.
    Part III prohibits Respondent from providing third-party retailers 
with the means and instrumentalities to make the claims prohibited in 
Part I.
    Parts IV through VIII are reporting and compliance provisions. Part 
IV requires Respondent to keep and make available to the Commission on 
request: Copies of advertisements, labeling, packaging, and promotional 
materials containing the representations identified in Parts I and II; 
materials relied upon in disseminating those representations; evidence 
that contradicts, qualifies, or calls into question the representations 
or the basis relied upon for the representations; and all 
acknowledgments of receipt of the Order. Part V requires Respondent to 
disseminate the Order to principals, officers, directors, and managers, 
and to all current and future employees, agents, and representatives 
having responsibilities relating to the subject matter of the order. 
Part VI requires notification to the FTC of changes in Respondent's 
corporate status. Part VII requires Respondent to submit an initial 
compliance report to the FTC within sixty (60) days of service and 
subsequent reports upon request.
    Finally, Part VIII is a ``sunset'' provision, terminating the order 
after twenty (20) years, with certain exceptions.
    The purpose of this analysis is to aid public comment on the 
proposed order. It is not intended to constitute an official 
interpretation of the proposed order or to modify its terms in any way.

    By direction of the Commission.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2014-17705 Filed 7-25-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P