It is apparent from the language of the statute and the statement
appended to the Conference Report 5 that the written
assurance referred to is one with respect to specific goods in being,
assuring the purchaser that the ``goods in question were produced in
compliance'' with the requirements referred to in sections 12(a) and
15(a) (1). A written statement made prior to production of the
particular goods is not the type of assurance contemplated by the
statute.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
5 H. Rept. No. 1453, 81st Cong., 1st sess., p. 31.
A so-called ``general and continuing'' assurance or ``blanket
guarantee'' stating, for instance, that all goods to be shipped to the
purchaser during a twelve-month period following a certain date ``will
be or were produced'' in compliance with applicable provisions of the
Act would not afford the purchaser the statutory protection with respect
to any production of such goods after the assurance is given. This type
of assurance attempts to assure the purchaser concerning the future
production of goods. With respect to any production of goods after the
assurance is given, this ``general and continuing'' assurance would, at
most, be an assurance that the goods will be produced in compliance with
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
the Act.
The definitions of the terms ``goods'' and ``produced'' in sections 3(i)
and 3(j) of the Act 6 respectively, should be considered in
interpreting the requirement that the written assurance must relate to
goods which were produced in compliance with applicable provisions of
the Act. These definitions make it apparent, for instance that the raw
materials from which a machine has been made retain their identity as
``goods'' even though these raw materials have been converted into an
entirely different finished product in which the raw materials are
merely a part.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
6 Section 3(i) defines ``goods'' to mean ``goods
(including ships and marine equipment), wares, products, commodities,
merchandise, or articles or subjects of commerce of any character, or
any part or ingredient thereof, but does not include goods after their
delivery into the actual physical possession of the ultimate consumer
thereof other than a producer, manufacturer, or processor thereof.''
Section 3(j) defines ``produced'' to mean ``produced, manufactured,
mined, handled, or in any other manner worked on in any state; and for
the purposes of this Act an employee shall be deemed to have been
engaged in the production of goods if such employee was employed in
producing, manufacturing, mining, handling, transporting, or in any
other manner working on such goods, or in any closely related process or
occupation directly essential to the production thereof, in any State.''
Since ``goods,'' as defined in the Act, ``does not include goods after
their delivery into the actual physical possession of the ultimate
consumer thereof other than a producer, manufacturing, or processor
thereof,'' the ``hot goods'' restrictions of section 12(a) and section
15(a)(1) do not apply to such ultimate consumers. There appears to be no
need, therefore, for such consumers to secure these written assurances
from their suppliers.
