FTC Finalizes Settlement with Paint Companies Over Misleading Environmental Benefit Labeling | Practical Law

FTC Finalizes Settlement with Paint Companies Over Misleading Environmental Benefit Labeling | Practical Law

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently finalized its settlement with Sherwin-Williams Co. and PPG Architectural Finishes Inc. over the labeling of their paints as containing zero volatile organic compounds (VOCs). It also released a enforcement policy statement regarding VOC-free architectural coatings.

FTC Finalizes Settlement with Paint Companies Over Misleading Environmental Benefit Labeling

by PLC Commercial
Published on 06 Mar 2013 • USA (National/Federal)
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently finalized its settlement with Sherwin-Williams Co. and PPG Architectural Finishes Inc. over the labeling of their paints as containing zero volatile organic compounds (VOCs). It also released a enforcement policy statement regarding VOC-free architectural coatings.
On March 6, 2013, the FTC announced that it had finalized its settlement with Sherwin-Williams Co. and PPG Architectural Finishes, Inc. regarding the misleading labeling of the environmental benefits of their paints. The FTC had charged those companies with making false and unsubstantiated claims that some of their paints contained zero volatile organic compounds (VOCs) after tinting. VOCs are carbon-containing compounds that easily evaporate at room temperatures and can be harmful to humans and the environment. The FTC noted specifically that while the zero-VOC claim may be true for uncolored base paints, it is not true for tinted paints, which typically have much higher levels of the harmful compounds. Under the terms of the settlement, the companies agreed to stop making the claim that the interior paints involved in the complaint contain "zero" VOCs.
Concurrent with the announcement of the settlement, the FTC released its new Enforcement Policy Statement Regarding VOC-Free Claims for Architectural Coatings. Among other things, the FTC policy clarifies that, under the FTC's Guides for the Use of Environmental Marketing Claims (Green Guides), the "trace test" is a "background level" and not an "acknowledged trace" amount for VOCs in paint and coatings. That is, when companies market their paints and coatings as "free of" VOCs, they must be able to show that "the level of the specified substance is no more than that which would be found" as a background level and not the acknowledged trace amount.
The FTC also posted an article on its blog to provide guidance on making environmental claims about paint and guidance on complying with the Green Guides, which the FTC revised and released on October 1, 2012.
For more information on the settlement with the paint companies, see Legal Update, FTC Agrees to Settlement with Paint Companies Over Charges of Misleading Environmental Claims.
For more information on the new FTC's Green Guides, see Article, The Revised Green Guides: New Standards for Environmental Marketing Claims.