15 U.S.C. § 1454 | Rules and regulations

(a)

Promulgating authority

section 321 of title 21The authority to promulgate regulations under this chapter is vested in (A) the Secretary of Health and Human Services (referred to hereinafter as the “Secretary”) with respect to any consumer commodity which is a food, drug, device, or cosmetic, as each such term is defined by ; and (B) the Federal Trade Commission (referred to hereinafter as the “Commission”) with respect to any other consumer commodity.

(b)

Exemption of commodities from regulations

section 1453 of this title section 1451 of this titleIf the promulgating authority specified in this section finds that, because of the nature, form, or quantity of a particular consumer commodity, or for other good and sufficient reasons, full compliance with all the requirements otherwise applicable under is impracticable or is not necessary for the adequate protection of consumers, the Secretary or the Commission (whichever the case may be) shall promulgate regulations exempting such commodity from those requirements to the extent and under such conditions as the promulgating authority determines to be consistent with .

(c)

Scope of additional regulations

section 1453 of this titleWhenever the promulgating authority determines that regulations containing prohibitions or requirements other than those prescribed by are necessary to prevent the deception of consumers or to facilitate value comparisons as to any consumer commodity, such authority shall promulgate with respect to that commodity regulations effective to—

(1)

establish and define standards for characterization of the size of a package enclosing any consumer commodity, which may be used to supplement the label statement of net quantity of contents of packages containing such commodity, but this paragraph shall not be construed as authorizing any limitation on the size, shape, weight or mass, dimensions, or number of packages which may be used to enclose any commodity;

(2)

regulate the placement upon any package containing any commodity, or upon any label affixed to such commodity, of any printed matter stating or representing by implication that such commodity is offered for retail sale at a price lower than the ordinary and customary retail sale price or that a retail sale price advantage is accorded to purchasers thereof by reason of the size of that package or the quantity of its contents;

(3)

section 321(f) of title 21 require that the label on each package of a consumer commodity (other than one which is a food within the meaning of ) bear (A) the common or usual name of such consumer commodity, if any, and (B) in case such consumer commodity consists of two or more ingredients, the common or usual name of each such ingredient listed in order of decreasing predominance, but nothing in this paragraph shall be deemed to require that any trade secret be divulged; or

(4)

prevent the nonfunctional-slack-fill of packages containing consumer commodities.

For purposes of paragraph (4) of this subsection, a package shall be deemed to be nonfunctionally slack-filled if it is filled to substantially less than its capacity for reasons other than (A) protection of the contents of such package or (B) the requirements of machines used for enclosing the contents in such package.

(d)

Development by manufacturers, packers, and distributors of voluntary product standards

section 272 of this titleWhenever the Secretary of Commerce determines that there is undue proliferation of the weights or masses, measures, or quantities in which any consumer commodity or reasonably comparable consumer commodities are being distributed in packages for sale at retail and such undue proliferation impairs the reasonable ability of consumers to make value comparisons with respect to such consumer commodity or commodities, he shall request manufacturers, packers, and distributors of the commodity or commodities to participate in the development of a voluntary product standard for such commodity or commodities under the procedures for the development of voluntary products standards established by the Secretary pursuant to . Such procedures shall provide adequate manufacturer, packer, distributor, and consumer representation.

(e)

Report and recommendations to Congress upon industry failure to develop or abide by voluntary product standards

If (1) after one year after the date on which the Secretary of Commerce first makes the request of manufacturers, packers, and distributors to participate in the development of a voluntary product standard as provided in subsection (d) of this section, he determines that such a standard will not be published pursuant to the provisions of such subsection (d), or (2) if such a standard is published and the Secretary of Commerce determines that it has not been observed, he shall promptly report such determination to the Congress with a statement of the efforts that have been made under the voluntary standards program and his recommendation as to whether Congress should enact legislation providing regulatory authority to deal with the situation in question.

Pub. L. 89–755, § 5Nov. 3, 196680 Stat. 1298 Pub. L. 96–88, title V, § 509(b)Oct. 17, 197993 Stat. 695 Pub. L. 102–245, title I, § 107(a)(1)Feb. 14, 1992106 Stat. 13 Pub. L. 102–329Aug. 3, 1992106 Stat. 847(, , ; , , ; , (2), , ; , §§ 1(1), (2), 3, , , 848.)

Editorial Notes

Amendments

Pub. L. 102–245, § 107(a)(1)Feb. 14, 1992Pub. L. 102–329, § 31992—, (2), (b), which directed amendment of section, effective two years after , by substituting “weight or mass” for “weight” in subsec. (c)(1) and “weights or masses” for “weights” in subsec. (d), was repealed by .

Pub. L. 102–329, § 1(1)Subsec. (c)(1). , substituted “weight or mass” for “weight”.

Pub. L. 102–329, § 1(2)Subsec. (d). , substituted “weights or masses” for “weights”.

Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

Change of Name

section 509(b) of Pub. L. 96–88 section 3508(b) of Title 20“Secretary of Health and Human Services” substituted for “Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare” in subsec. (a) pursuant to , which is classified to , Education.

Effective Date of 1992 Amendment

Pub. L. 102–329Feb. 14, 1994section 2 of Pub. L. 102–329 section 1453 of this titleAmendment by effective , but with such amendment to have no effect on the sale or distribution of products whose labels have been printed before such date, no application to unit pricing, advertising, recipe programs, nutrition labeling, or other general pricing information, and no construction requiring changes in package size or affecting in any way the size of packages, see , set out as a note under .