The drive to improve FTC rules and guides

If your business is geared toward automotive products, two FTC developments may be in your wheelhouse.

First, as part of its ongoing review of rules and guides, the FTC is looking under the hood of its Used Auto Parts Guides — officially known as the Guides for the Rebuilt, Reconditioned and Other Used Automobile Parts Industry, if you haven’t been formally introduced.  The thinking behind the Guides is to make sure people in the market for auto parts have accurate information about what they’re buying.  The Guides also offer specifics about when companies can use phrases like “factory rebuilt” to describe their products.  As part of its review, the FTC is asking for your input about the future of the Guides, whether it’s time to change them, the costs and benefits to consumers and businesses — 22 questions in all.  If you sell auto parts or spend your weekends sorting through seals and solenoids, we’d like to hear from you.  File online by the August 3, 2012, deadline.

The FTC is also suggesting changes to make it easier to comply with the Alternative Fuels Rule.  In June 2011, the agency announced that it was reviewing the Rule.  Based on public comments filed during that process, the FTC is proposing to consolidate the labels required on alternative fuel vehicles with those required by the EPA, eliminating the need for two different labels and reducing the compliance burden.  The next step:  letting us know what you think about the proposal by filing online by August 17, 2012.