[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 26 (Thursday, February 9, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 10010-10012]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-02663]


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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

[File No. 172 3033]


iSpring Water Systems, LLC; Analysis of Proposed Consent Order 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.

[[Page 10011]]


DATES: Comments must be received on or before March 3, 2017.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/ispringconsent online or on paper, by 
following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the 
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``In the Matter of 
iSpring Water Systems, LLC, File No. 1723033--Consent Agreement'' on 
your comment and file your comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/ispringconsent by following the 
instructions on the web-based form. If you prefer to file your comment 
on paper, write ``In the Matter of iSpring Water Systems, LLC, File No. 
1723033--Consent Agreement'' 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.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Julia Solomon Ensor, Attorney, (202) 
326-2377, or Crystal Ostrum, Attorney, (202) 326-3405, Bureau of 
Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission, 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 February 1, 2017), 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 March 3, 2017. 
Write ``In the Matter of iSpring Water Systems, LLC, File No. 1723033--
Consent Agreement'' 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/ispringconsent 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 ``In the Matter of iSpring 
Water Systems, LLC, File No. 1723033--Consent Agreement'' 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 March 3, 2017. You can find more information, 
including routine 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 iSpring Water Systems, 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 water filtration systems and associated parts and accessories with 
claims that the products are of U.S.-origin. According to the FTC's 
complaint, respondent represented that all of its products are ``Built 
in USA.'' In fact, in many instances, respondent's products are wholly 
imported. In other instances, respondent sources significant inputs to 
its products from overseas.
    The complaint alleges that respondent's claims that its products 
are ``Built in USA'' were false or misleading, or not substantiated at 
the time the representations were made. Accordingly, the complaint 
alleges that respondent engaged in deceptive acts or

[[Page 10012]]

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. 
Consistent with the FTC's Enforcement Policy Statement on U.S. Origin 
Claims, Part I prohibits iSpring from making U.S.-origin claims for its 
products unless either: (1) The final assembly or processing of the 
product occurs in the United States, all significant processing that 
goes into the product occurs in the United States, and all or virtually 
all ingredients or components of the product are made and sourced in 
the United States; or (2) a clear and conspicuous qualification appears 
immediately adjacent to the representation that accurately conveys the 
extent to which the product contains foreign parts, ingredients, and/or 
processing.
    Part II prohibits respondent from making any ``Made in the USA'' or 
other country-of-origin claim about a product or service unless the 
claim is true, not misleading, and respondent has a reasonable basis 
substantiating the representation.
    Parts III through VI are reporting and compliance provisions. Part 
III requires respondent to acknowledge receipt of the order, to provide 
a copy of the order to certain current and future principals, officers, 
directors, and employees, and to obtain an acknowledgement from each 
such person that they have received a copy of the order. Part IV 
requires the filing of compliance reports within one year after the 
order becomes final and within 14 days of any change in respondent that 
would affect compliance with the order. Part V requires respondent to 
maintain certain records, including records necessary to demonstrate 
compliance with the order. Part VI requires respondent to submit 
additional compliance reports when requested by the Commission and to 
permit the Commission or its representatives to interview respondent's 
personnel.
    Finally, Part VII 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. 2017-02663 Filed 2-8-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 6750-01-P