CERC Wants TV Energy Label Obligations Confined to ‘Point of Manufacture’

TV makers, not retailers, should be responsible for affixing energy use labels on products, the CE Retailers Coalition told the FTC. The commission has started a rulemaking process on requiring EnergyGuide labels for TVs and other CE products.

The only way to avoid “consumer confusion” is requiring the application of the label, whether adhesive or cling, at “the point of manufacture,” CERC said in comments at the agency. “A separate retail label is too susceptible to being based on incomplete or obsolete information, and can too easily become detached, or associated with the wrong product on display,” CERC said.

CERC opposed labeling both on the product and the box because “they carry the potential for inconsistent or erroneous messaging to consumers.” For the same reason, labeling “options that rely on a particular retail implementation should be avoided,” it said. The commission must clarify that, for energy use disclosure required to be published in paper catalogs and on Web sites, it is the “responsibility of the manufacturer to provide the retailer all required energy label information,” it said. Weekly circulars or fliers from retailers shouldn’t be treated as catalogs, CERC said.

The FTC’s proposals seem to require that a retailer use labels for catalogs and Web sites in the same size as those used in the store, CERC said, but that would not be “feasible.” It’s also unclear whether a retailer who chooses to use disclosure language instead of labels in catalogs must repeat that language for every TV shown, the group said. “If a retailer opts to reprint the label on the website or in a catalogue, CERC proposes that the FTC permit the label to be shown in a catalog or on the website in a size smaller than that required in a store,” it said.

If a retailer opts to use the disclosure language, it should be allowed to print or display the language in the same font size used in the product’s other descriptive language and print the disclosure statement once on a page on which TVs are displayed, rather than with each individual product, CERC said. It would be impractical to affix labels on TVs nine inches or less, CERC said, so for such products “labeling obligations should be considered satisfied by providing the label only on the box.” The six-month lead time proposed by the commission for manufacturers to comply with the labeling rules is insufficient, CERC said, suggesting that it be increased to nine months. The commission also should avoid any “implementation requirements” during the holiday season between October and January, it said.