Flammable Fabrics Enforcement Policy I. Enforcement policy
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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION FLAMMABLE FABRICS Enforcement Policy I. Enforcement policy. As a public safety statute, the Flammable Fabrics Act must be enforced vigorously, effec tively and without compromise. Every reasonable means for enforcement must be promptly employed, every alternative must be fully explored, and every avail able resource must be brought to bear. The efforts of the Federal Trade Com mission to enforce the Act must be un yielding, unequivocal, aimed solely to discharge with optimum effectiveness its responsibilities under the Act to protect the public from the threat to health, life, and property that inheres in poten tially dangerous flammable products covered by the Act.
H. Enforcement objectives. To accom plish the foregoing enforcement policy, resolute and expeditious enforcement of the Act will be premised upon the fol lowing objectives:
a. To prevent the entry into the chan nels of commerce of any products, fab rics, or related material, hereinafter re ferred to as “flammable fabrics,” which fail the applicable flammability stand ards set pursuant to the Flammable Fab-' rics Act (15 U.S.C. 1191). b. Immediately upon discovery of flam mable fabrics, to stop, by the most effec tive means available, the sale and dis tribution of such fabrics which have •reached the channels of commerce; c. ,To notify the consuming public and all other parties in the channels of com merce of the potential danger of such fabrics;
d. To cause all flammable fabrics to be taken out of the channels of com merce by any means available by law; and e. To prevent the reentry of flammable fabrics into the channels of commerce. in. Enforcement procedure—a. Vol untary procedures. In effecting immedi ate removal of flammable fabrics from commerce, and alerting all levels of dis tribution of the hazard involved in such fabrics, the Commission seeks and en courages the voluntary cooperation and assistance of affected parties in termi nating the sale and distribution and ob taining removal of the flammable fabric from commerce.
In specific instances where products have been tested and failed, the staff is directed by the Commission to proceed as follows:
The manufacturer, importer, distribu tor, or retailer of the flammable fabric, or any combination of such persons, is to be contacted immediately and notified orally of the results of the applicable flammability test. Written confirmation of such notice will also be made. Such person or persons will be asked to-volun tarily (1) stop the sale arid distribution of the flammable fabric, (2) furnish to the Commission staff a list of customers who have purchased the product, (3) notify those customers of the test results, (4) seek removal and/or recall of the flammable fabric from commerce, and (5) supply inventory data showing the amount of the flammable fabric pur chased on hand and in the channels of commerce. Except for good cause shown, these voluntary procedures must be com pleted within 5 days of notification by the Commission staff.
Such person or persons voluntarily complying with the foregoing procedures will be provided the opportunity to exe cute a consent order agreement pursu ant to § 2.14 of the Commission’s rules. This settlement offer, containing an agreed-upon complaint and order in corporating among other things the foregoing procedures, will be forwarded to the Commission for final disposition in accordance with its rules of practice. This is pursuant to the policy of the Commission which is to require issuance of a formal cease and desist order in every case where a violation of the Flam mable Fabrics Act is found and not to accept assurances of voluntary compli ance in these cases. Such person or per sons will be informed that a press release will issue pursuant to this voluntary agreement announcing that advice re garding the distributors, retailers, and other handlers of the product in ques tion can be secured from the Commis sion by the use of the toll-free number listed in the press release or by writing to the Assistant Director for Textiles and Furs. If the party complies and the Commission accepts the proffered agree ment, the press release will be issued immediately.
Such person or persons will be in formed that if it fails to comply volun tarily with the procedures set forth above, the staff will proceed immediately to utilize all appropriate compulsory processes available to it to accomplish its enforcement objectives and to protect the public interest. Each person or persons will be informed as to the nature of those compulsory processes. b. Compulsory processes. If any person or persons reject a § 2.14 settle ment or refuse to cooperate entirely in each of the above-described voluntary procedures, he will be orally informed, with this information confirmed in a subsequent letter, that the staff intends to recommend to the Commission the is suance of a complaint under part in of the rules, and that the staff will recom mend that the Commission commence proceedings in the district court seeking all relevant information or data previ ously withheld, a court injunction against further distribution of the prod uct, and seizure by Federal marshalls of the product, m such event, a press re lease shall issue announcing issuance of the Commission’s administrative com plaint instituting formal proceedings and the commencement of proceedings in the district court. The staff will fur ther advise such person or persons that these enforcement procedures also will be taken, where appropriate, against the distributors or retailers of the product. c. Other enforcement procedures. Inhouse test results of such person or per sons indicating that offending products meet flammability standards will not be sufficient to suspend implementation of the above enforcement procedure so long as the test, relied upon by the Commis sion, performed in accordance with the applicable flammability standard, shows failure of the product. If reliable tests by independent laboratories ordered by the party show that the product meets flam' inability standards, the staff will conhf® the results of the tests previously relied, upon by the Commission before deter mining whether to pursue the foregoing procedure.
FEDERAL REGISTER, VOL. 36, NO. 217— WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1971
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NOTICES 21545 By direction of the Commission dated November 3,1971.
[seal] Charles A. T obin, Secretary.
[PR Doc.71—163Ô8 Piled 11-9-71;8:47 am]