WASHINGTON—The Federal Trade Commission has added tires to the products covered in its Guides for the Rebuilt, Reconditioned and Other Used Automotive Parts Industry.
The commission's decision to stop issuing its Tire Advertising and Labeling Guides was behind the addition of tires to the Used Auto Parts Guides, the FTC said in a July 14 Federal Register notice announcing a revision to the Used Auto Parts Guides.
Changes in tire technology and marketing necessitated the rescission of the Tire Advertising and Labeling Guides, as did new regulations from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration requiring disclosure of information included in the guides, according to the July 14 notice.
“The few remaining provisions of the tire guides did not warrant keeping them as a separate regulation,” the notice said.
The rescission announcement noted that used and retreaded tires are seldom found in the consumer market but comprise some 60 percent of the truck tire market, the FTC said. It also noted that failing to disclose that a tire is used or retreaded would probably constitute deception under the Federal Trade Commission Act, it said.
In any case, used tires are now a proper focus of the Used Auto Parts Guides, according to the notice. There is no longer any risk of overlap with the tire guides, and excluding them from the Used Auto Parts Guides could be interpreted to mean that sellers have no obligation to disclose when a tire is used or retreaded, it said.
The revised Guides for the Rebuilt, Reconditioned and Other Used Automotive Parts Industry becomes effective on Aug. 22.