(NEW YORK) – The Jewelers Vigilance Committee (JVC) announced the issuance by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of the proposed revisions to the FTC Guides for the Jewelry Industry. This latest draft was issued by the FTC after consideration of the industry’s comments and answers to a series of questions posed by the FTC (submitted 9/28/12). It also follows an FTC-hosted business roundtable on June 19, 2013 in Washington, DC to discuss additional questions pertaining to certain provisions of the proposed revisions, involving precious metal items and products made of corundum and leaded glass.
Comments from the public on the current proposed amendments are due to the FTC on April 4, 2016. The current draft can be found at this link: https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/federal_register_notices/2015/12/jewelryguidesfrn.pdf?utm_source=govdelivery
JVC intends to reconvene the two groups that participated in submitting industry-wide comments to the FTC – a committee comprised of industry associations, and a second consultative committee that was open to all industry members who wished to participate in formulating the response. These committees will work to provide another industry-wide response to the FTC’s draft.
Cecilia L. Gardner, Esq., CEO of JVC stated: “This is the next step in the important process of revising the FTC Jewelry Guides to meet the challenges of the 21st century. JVC intends to ensure that our industry expresses its views on how best to formulate the standards by which our industry operates in a legal and ethical manner. We look forward to working with stakeholders from every sector to provide useful comments to the FTC in the process of revising the Guides.”
The FTC issued a statement of “Basis and Purpose” regarding their proposed revisions which can be read here: https://www.ftc.gov/system/files/documents/federal_register_notices/2015/12/jewelryguidesstatement.pdf
Anyone who wishes to file comments can do so at the following link: https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/jewelryguidesreview or by mailing comments to: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite CC-5610 (Annex O), Washington, DC 20580.
