FTC, Black & Decker Settles Charges

WASHINGTON (AP) â€” Black & Decker has agreed to settle government charges that the company claimed some of its residential lock products were ``All American Made'' when they actually contained

Thursday, December 28th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) â€” Black & Decker has agreed to settle government charges that the company claimed some of its residential lock products were ``All American Made'' when they actually contained many foreign parts and were assembled abroad.

The Federal Trade Commission charged in a statement Thursday that the Kwikset Corporation, a Black & Decker subsidiary, used false or misleading advertising and packaging for its lock products in violation of the government's ``Made in USA'' standard.

Kwikset, based in Irvine, Calif., is the world's leading manufacturer of residential lock systems, Black & Decker spokeswoman Barbara Lucas said. Their products include locksets, deadbolts, knobs and handles.

Under the proposed settlement, the companies are prohibited from misrepresenting the extent to which the Kwikset lock products are made in the United States. The companies don't admit violating any law by agreeing.

Black & Decker, based in Towson, Md., had no comment on the settlement, Lucas said.

In 1998, the FTC issued guidelines to clarify its standard that ``all or virtually all'' of a product must be of U.S. origin to make a ``Made in USA'' claim. The product should have very little or no foreign content.

Companies do not have to receive FTC approval before using the labeling, but the commission can take action against false and unsubstantiated ``Made in USA'' claims, as it does other misleading advertising.

The FTC charged that numerous Kwikset products displayed misleading claims.

For example, the packaging on the Kwikset Tylo Unkeyed Knobs lockset displays a stars and stripes shield with the words ``All American Made'' on the top, front and side panels. A shield on the bottom panel reads ``All American Made and Proud of It.''

On a side panel, however, small print says ``Assembled in Mexico.''

While the FTC said the Kwikset products involved were made with ``significant foreign components,'' they would not say which countries the parts came from.

``It's not public information,'' FTC spokesman Howard Shapiro said. ``A lot of information that companies provide to the agency is treated confidentially.''

The proposed agreement is subject to public comment until Jan. 29, after which the commission will decide whether to make it final.

In 1997, the FTC abandoned a proposal to permit companies to use the ``Made in USA'' label if a product had as little as 75 percent U.S. parts and labor. The commission instead decided to stick with the existing standard limiting such labels to merchandise produced almost entirely with U.S. labor and materials.

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On the Net:

Federal Trade Commission: http://www.ftc.gov

Black & Decker corporate site: http://www.bdk.com

Kwikset Corporation: http://www.kwikset.com