Peat Industry
16 CFR Part 185 · Trade practice rules · in the Code of Federal Regulations 1959-1977 (12 annual editions)
Scanned CFR pages, OCR text may contain errors; the linked Library of Congress PDF is the authority. Not legal advice; not affiliated with the FTC. These rules and guides are historical: most were rescinded or replaced, so do not assume any is in force.
Latest edition: Library of Congress, 1977 CFR · Earliest edition: 1959 CFR
Decisions that mention this industry's rules (6)
Text (1977 edition, OCR)
Chapter I—Federal
PART 185—PEAT INDUSTRY
Sec.
185.0 Definitions.
Grovur I
185.1 Misrepresentation in general.
185.2 Improper designation of product as
“Peat.”
185.3 Use of the terms “Moss Peat” and
“Peat Moss.”
185.4 Deceptive use of trade or corporate
names, or trade-marks, etc.
185.5 Misrepresentation as to character of
business.
185.6 Misrepresenting products as con-
forming to standard.
185.7 Imitation of trade-marks, trade
names, etc,
185.8 Procurement of competitors’ confi-
dential information by unfair
means and wrongful use thereof.
185.9 Defamation of competitors or dis-
paragement of their products.
185.10 Substitution of products.
186.11 Commercial bribery.
185.12. Combination or coercion to fix
prices, suppress competition, or
restrain trade.
185.18 Prohibited discrimination.
185.14 Coercing purchase of one product as
@ prerequisite to the purchase of
other products.
185.15 Aiding or abetting use of unfair
trade practices.
Grovr I
185.101 Products to be sold on ary measure
basis.
AvutHorrrr: The provisions of this Paré
185 issued under seca. 6, 5, 88 Stat. 721, T19;
16 U.S.C. 46, 45, unless otherwise noted.
Source: The provisions of this Part 185 ap-
pear at 15 FR. 197, Jan. 18, 1950, unlees
otherwise noted.
$185.0 Definitions.
As used in the regulations in this part,
the terms “industry product” and “peat”
shall be understood as having the follow-
ing meanings:
(a) Industry product. Any product
marketed for use as a soil conditioner, or
for any agricultural or horticultural pur-
pose, which is composed, or is represented
as being composed, wholly or in part of
peat; also, any product marketed for any
such purpose which is composed, or is
represented as being composed, wholly or
in part of a humus or muck derived from
peat.
(b) Peat. Any partly decomposed
vegetable matter which is accumulated
Trade Commission § 185.3
under water or in a water-saturated en-
vironment through decomposition of
mosses, sedges, reeds, tule, trees, or other
plants.
Group I
§ 185.1 Misrepresentation in general.
The practice of selling, advertising, de-
scribing, or otherwise representing in-
dustry products in a manner which has
the capacity and tendency or effect of
misleading or deceiving the purchasing
or consuming public in respect to the
grade, quality, cr quantity of the product,
its price, value, efficacy, composition
ingredients, nature, use, preparation,
manufacture, or distribution, or in any
other material respect, is an unfair trade
practice.
§ 185.2 Improper designation of prod-
uct as “Peat.”
It is an unfair trade practice for any
member of the industry to sell, offer for
sale, advertise, brand, label, or otherwise
designate or represent as “Peat”, any
product which is not in fact composed
predominantly of peat to the extent that
at least 75 percent! of the product is
composed of peat, with such other ma-
terials as may be present in the content,
and constituting the remaining percent-
age, being comprised of such soll sub-
stance as are commonly intermixed with
peat as found in its natural state.
$185.3 Use of the terms “Moss Peat”
and “Peat Moss.”
(a) Moss peat. It is an unfair trade
practice for any member of the industry
to sell, offer for sale, advertise, brand,
label, or otherwise designate or represent
& product as “Moss Peat” unless (1) at
least 75 percent} of the product is com-
- posed of a peat derived from sphagnum,
hypnum, mnium, and/or other moss, and
(2) the remaining percentage consista
of a peat not derived from a moss or
mosses and/or of such soll substances as
are commonly intermixed with peat as
found in its natural state.
(b) Peat moss. It is an unfair trade
practice for any member of the industry
to sell, offer for sale, advertise, brand,
1The percentage to which reference ts
here made is to be understood as a weight
percentage determined on the basis cf the
product being substantially free of moisture.
93
§ 185.4
label, or otherwise designate or represent
& product as “Peat Moss” unless the com-
position of the product is such as to ful-
fill the requirements provided in para-
graph (a) of this section for the term
“Moss Peat”; or, though not so qualified,
the composition is such as to fulfill the
requirements for the term “Peat’’ as set
forth in § 185.2 and in immediate con-
junction with the term “Peat Moss” the
kind or kinds of peat of which the prod-
uct is composed are nondeceptively and
conspicuously set forth, as for example:
“Peat Moss—Sedge and Reed”.
(c) Additives. The addition, for the
purpose of improving usefulness, of any
compound or substance to the composi-
tion of any product fulfilling the respec-
tive requirements for the terms “Moss
Peat” or “Peat Moss” as above set forth
shall not disqualify the product for such
designations when nondeceptive dis-
closure of the kind and percentage of the
added compound or substance appears in
close conjunction with the designation;
as for example, “Moss Peat (With 6 per-
cent Added Hydrated Lime)” or “Peat
Moss (With 5 percent Hydrated Lime
Added)” when hydrated lime has been
added to a product fulfilling the require-
ments of paragraph (a) of this section
and such added lime constitutes 5 per-
cent of the product; and “Peat Moss—
Sedge and Reed (With 3 percent Alumi-
num Sulphate Added)” when aluminum
sulphate has been added to a product
fulfilling the requirements of paragraph
(b) of this section and such additive
constitutes 3 percent of the product.
Norge: Voluntary disclosure of acta anda
ash content, moisture holding capacity, de-
gree of decomposition, and prineipal uses of
products. In the interest of protecting the
purehasing public and of providing impor-
tant information to assist consumers in the
use of the various kinds of peat, it is de-
atrable that nondeceptive disclosure also be
made of the acid (pH value) and ash con-
tents, the motsture holding capacity, and
Gegree of decomposition. The members of
the industry are urged to voluntarily supply
this additional information to the purchas-
ers and users of their products. Likewise, it
is desirable that information also be fur-
nished (particularly with respect to pack-
aged peats) of the principal uses for which
the product is suitable or, in the alternative,
the uses for which the respective product is
not suitable.
94
Title 16—Commercial Practices
§ 185.4 Deceptive use of trade or cor
porate names, or trade-marks, ete.
(a) The use of-any trade name, corpo-
rate name, trade-mark, or other trade
designation which has the capacity and
tendency or effect of misleading or de-
ceiving the purchasing or consuming
public as to the name, nature, efficacy, or
origin of any product of the industry, or
any material used therein, or which is
false or misleading in any other respect,
is an unfair trade practice.
(b) Nothing in this section, however,
shall be construed as prohibiting use by
any industry member of its trade or cor-
porate name containing the term “Peat
Moss” or “Peat” in connection with the
marketing of peat: Provided, That the
provisions of §§ 185.2 and 185.3 are ob-
served in respect to the advertising,
labeling, and other designation or repre-
sentation of the industry products mar-
keted.
§ 185.5 Misrepresentation as to charac-
ter of business.
It is an unfair trade practice for any
industry member, in the course of or in
connection with the distribution of in-
dustry products, to represent, directly or
indirectly, that he is a producer or manu-
facturer of industry products, or that he
owns or controls a peat bog, mill, or fac-
tory, when such is not the fact, or in any
other manner to misrepresent the char-
acter, extent, or type of his business.
§ 185.6 Misrepresenting products as con-
forming to standard.
Representing, through advertisement
or otherwise, that any products of the
industry conform to a standard recog-
nized in or applicable to the industry
when such is not the fact, with the ca-
pacity and tendency or effect of mislead-
ing or deceiving the purchasing or
consuming public, is an unfair trade
practice.
§ 185.7 Imitation of trade-marks, trade
names, ete.
The imitation or simulation of the
trade-marks, trade names, brands, or
Iabels of competitors, with the capacity
and tendency or effect of misleading or
decelving the purchasing or consuming
public, is an unfair trade practice.
Chapter !—Federal
§ 185.8 Procurement of competitors’
confidential information by unfair
means and wrongful use thereof.
It is an unfair trade practice for any
member of the industry to obtain infor-
mation concerning the business of a
competitor by bribery of an employee or
agent of such competitor, by false or
misleading statements or representa-
tions, by the impersonation of one in au-
thority, or by any other unfair means,
and to use the information so obtained
in such manner as to injure said com-
petitor in his business or to suppress
competition or unreasonably restrain
trade.
$185.9 Defamation of competitors or
disparagament of their products.
The defamation of competitors by
falsely imputing to them dischonorable
conduct, inability to perform contracts,
questionable credit standing, or by other
false representations, or the false dis-
paragement of competitors’ products in
any respect, or of their business methods,
selling prices, values, credit terms, poli-
cles, or services, is an unfair trade prac-
ce.
$185.10 Substitution of products.
The practice of shipping or delivering
products which do not conform to sam-
ples submitted, to specifications upon
which the saie is consummated, or to
representations made prior to securing
the order, without the consent of the
purchasers to such substitutions and
with the capacity and tendency or ef-
fect of misleading or deceiving the pur-
chasing or consuming public, is an
unfair trade practice.
§ 185.11 Commercial bribery.
It is an unfair trade practice for a
member of the industry, directly or in-
directly, to give, or offer to give, or permit
or cause to be given, money or anything
of value to agents, employees, or repre~
sentatives of customers or prospective
customers, or to agents, employees, or
representatives of competitors’ cus-
tomers or prospective customers, without
the knowledge of their employers or
principals, as an inducement to influence
their employers or principals to pur-
chase, or contract to purchase, products
manufactured or sold by such industry
95
Trade Commission § 185.13
member or the maker of such gift or
offer, or to influence such employers or
principals to refrain from dealing in the
products of competitors or from dealing
or contracting to deal with competitors.
refrain from dealing in the products
of competitors or from dealing or con-
tracting to deal with competitors.
§ 185.12 Combination or coercion to fix
prices, suppress competition, or re-
strain trade.
It is an unfair trade practice for a
member of the industry, or any other
person:
(a) To use, directly or indirectly, any
form of threat, intimidation, or coercion
against any member of the industry or
other person to unlawfully fix, malntain,
or enhance prices, suppress competition,
or restrain trade; or
(b>) To enter into or take part in, di-
rectiy or indirectly, any agreement,
understanding, combination, conspiracy,
or concerted action with one or more
members of the industry, or with one or
more other persons, to unlawfully fix,
maintain, or enhance prices, suppress
competition, or restrain trade.
§ 185.13 Prohibited discrimination.’
(a) Prohibited discriminatory prices,
or rebates, refunds, discounts, credits,
ete., which effect unlawful price discrimi-
nation. Itis an unfair trade practice for
any member of the industry engaged in
commerce, in the course of such com-
merce, to grant or allow, secretiy or
openly, directiy or indirectly, any rebate,
refund, discount, credit, purported al-
lowance or other form of price differen-
tial, where such rebate, refund, discount,
credit, purported ailowance or other
® As used in this section, the word “com-
merce” means “trade or commerce among the
several States and with foreign nations, or
between the District of Columbia or any Ter-
ritory of the United States and any State,
Territory, or foreign nation, or between any
insular possessions or other places under the
jurisdiction of the United States, or between
any such possession or place and any State or
Territory of the United States or the Dis-
trict of Columbia or any foreign nation, or
within the District of Columbia or any Ter-
ritory or any insular possession or other
place under the jurisdiction of the United
States.”
§ 185.14
form of price differential, effects a dis-
erimination in price between different
purchasers of goods of like grade and
quality, where either or any of the pur-
chases involved therein are in com-
merce, and where the effect thereof may
be substantially to lessen competition
or tend to create a monopoly in any line
of commerce, or to injure, destroy, or
prevent competition with any person
who either grants or knowingly receives
the benefit of such discrimination, or
with customers of either of them: Pro-
vided, however,
(1) That the goods involved in any
such transaction are sold for use, con-
sumption, or resale within any place
under the jurisdiction of the United
States;
(2) That nothing contained in this
paragraph shall prevent differentials
which make only due allowance for dif-
ferences in the cost of manufacture, sale,
or delivery resulting from the differing
methods or quantities in which such
commodities are to such purchasers sold
or delivered;
(8) That nothing contained in this
paragraph shall prevent persons engaged
in selling goods, wares, or merchandise
in commerce from selecting their own
customers in bona fide transactions and
not in restraint of trade;
(4) That nothing contained in this
paragraph shall prevent price changes
from time to time where made in re-
sponse to changing conditions affecting
the market for or the marketability of
the goods concerned, such as but not
limited to actual or imminent deteriora-
tion of perishable goods, obsolescence of
seasonal goods, distress sales under court
process, or sales in good faith in discon-
tinuance of business in the goods con-
cerned.
(b) Prohibited brokerage and commis-
sions. It is an unfair trade practice for
any member of the industry engaged in
commerce, in the course of such com-
merce, to pay or grant, or to receive or
accept, anything of value as a commis-
sion, brokerage, or other compensation,
or any allowance or discount in lleu
thereof, except for services rendered in
connection with the sale or purchase of
goods, wares, or merchandise, elther to
the other party to such transaction or to
an agent, representative, or other inter-
mediary therein, where such interme-
diary is acting in fact for or in behalf,
96
Title 16—Commercial Practices
or is subject to the direct or indirect
control, of any party to such transaction
other than the person by whom such
compensation is so granted or paid.
(c) Prohibited advertising or promo-
tional allowances, etc. It is an unfair
trade practice for any member of the
industry engaged in commerce to pay or
contract for the payment of advertising
or promotional allowances or any other
thing of value to or for the benefit of a
customer of such member in the course
of such commerce as compensation or in
consideration for any services or facili-
ties furnished by or through such cus-
tomer in connection with the processing,
handiing, sale, or offering for sale of any
products or commodities manufactured,
sold, or offered for sale by such member,
unless such payment or consideration is
available on proportionally equal terms
to all other customers competing in the
distribution of such products or com-
modities.
(d) Prohibited discriminatory services
or facilities. It is an unfair trade prac-
tice for any member of the industry to
discriminate in favor of one purchaser
against another purchaser or purchasers
of a commodity bought for resale, with
or without processing, by contracting to
furnish or furnishing, or by contributing
to the furnishing of, any services or fa-
cilities connected with the processing,
handling, sale, or offering for sale of such
commodity so purchased upon terms not
accorded to ail purchasers on propor-
tionally equal terms.
(e) Inducing or receiving an tHegal
discrimination tn price. It is an unfair
trade practice for any member of the in-
dustry engaged in commerce, in the
course of such commerce, knowingly to
induce or receive a discrimination in
price which is prohibited by the foregoing
provisions of this section.
({) Exemptions. The inhibitions of
this section shall not apply to purchases
of their supplies for their own use by
schools, colleges, universities, public li-
braries, churches, hospitals, and chari-
table institutions not operated for profit.
§ 185.14 Coercing purchase of one prod-
uct as a prerequisite to the purchase
of other products.
The practice of coercing the purchase
of one or more products as a prerequisite
to the purchase of one or more other
products, where the effect may be to sub-
Chapter |—Federal Trade Commission
stantially lessen competition or tend to
create a monopoly or to unreasonably
restrain trade, is an unfair trade
practice.
§ 185.15 Aiding or abetting use of un-
fair trade practices.
It is an unfair trade practice for any
person to aid, abet, coerce, or induce
another, directly or indirectly, to use or
promote the use of any unfair trade
practice specified in $$ 185.1 to 185.14.
Group It
§ 185.101 Products to be sold on dry
measure basis.
The industry recommends that be-
cause peat products have high moisture-
absorbing qualities, such products be sold
by industry members on a dry measure
basis (bushels, cubic feet, cubie yards,
etc.) rather than by weight: Provided,
That such recommendation shall not be
construed as disapproval by the industry
of the practice of selling industry prod-
ucts by weight when in immediate con-
junction with the stated weight the dry
measurement is also shown.
PART 186—CANDY MANUFAC-
TURING INDUSTRY
Sec.
186.0 Definition.
Gzour I
186.1 Deception (general).
186.2 Misrepresentation as to character of
business.
186.3 Misuse of the word “free”, ete.
186.4 Imitation or aimulation of trade-
: marks, trade names, etc.
186.5 False invoicing.
186.6 Palse and misleading prio> quota-
tions, ete.
186.7 Tile-in sales; coercing purchase of
one product as 4 prerequisite to
purchase of other products.
186.8 Consignment distribution.
186.9 Commercial bribery.
186.10 Defamation of competitors or dis-
Pparagement of their products.
186.11 Unfair threats of infringements
suits,
186.12 Selling below cost,
186.18 Combination or coercion to fix
prices, suppress competition, or
restrain trade.
186.14 Prohibited discrimination.
186.18 Discriminatory returns.
186.16 Inducing breach of contract.
186.17 Enticing away employees of com-
petitors.
186.18 Advertising of candy sold in slack-
filled or short-weight containers,
186.19 Exclusive deals.
97
§ 186.2
Sec.
186.20 Marketing of candy through lottery
or game of chance.
Aiding or abetting use of unfair
trade practices.
Grovr IT
Recording of trade-marks, trade
names, etc., to avoid confusion.
Statistics.
. Dissemination of credit information.
Price Lists.
Policy as to disclosure of quality
guarantee and return of candy.
CoM™MIrrem OW TRADE PRACTICES
186.201 Industry committee.
AvrnHorrrr: The provisions of this Part 188
issued under secs. 6, 5, 88 Stat. 721, 719; 15
U.S.C. 46, 45, unless otherwise noted.
Source: The ons of this Part 186
eppear at 15 F.R. 878, Jan. 24, 1950, unless
otherwise noted.
§ 186.0 Definition.
The term “candy” as used in the rules
in this part is to be understood as in-
cluding all kinds and varieties of candy
(exclusive only of solid or molded choco-
late products) whether sold in bulk,
packaged, or other form.
Group I
§ 186.1 Deception (general).
The practice of selling, advertising, de-
seribing, or otherwise representing
candy in any manner or under any cir-
cumstances having the capacity and
tendency or effect of misleading or de-
ceiving purchasers, prospective pur-
chasers, or the consuming public with re-
spect to the grade, quantity, price, value,
composition, ingredients, nutritional
value, character, nature, size, use, prepa-
ration, manufacture, or distribution of
such candy or in any other material re-
spect, is an unfair trade practice.
Norg: Among the inhibitions of this sec-
tion is “false advertisement”, as defined in
section 15 of the Federal Trade Commission
Act, of any “food” or other product within
the scope of such section. Furthermore,
nothing in the rules in this part is to be
construed as relieving anyone of the neces-
sity of complying with the provisions of the
Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act in respect to
labeling or any other matter coming within
the purview of that act.
§ 186.2 Misrepresentation as to charac
ter of business,
It is an unfair trade practice for any
member of the industry, in the course of
or in connection with the distribution
186.21
186.101
186.102
186.103
186.104
186.105