81 FR 52854 - Mars Petcare US, Inc.; Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment

FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

Federal Register Volume 81, Issue 154 (August 10, 2016)

Page Range		52854-52855
FR Document		2016-18906

The consent agreement in this matter settles alleged violations of federal law prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or practices. The attached Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes both the allegations in the draft complaint and the terms of the consent order--embodied in the consent agreement--that would settle these allegations.

Federal Register, Volume 81 Issue 154 (Wednesday, August 10, 2016)

[Federal Register Volume 81, Number 154 (Wednesday, August 10, 2016)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52854-52855]
From the Federal Register Online [www.thefederalregister.org]
[FR Doc No: 2016-18906]

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FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION

[File No. 152 3229]

Mars Petcare US, Inc.; Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid
Public Comment

AGENCY: Federal Trade Commission.

ACTION: Proposed consent agreement.

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SUMMARY: The consent agreement in this matter settles alleged
violations of federal law prohibiting unfair or deceptive acts or
practices. The attached Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes both
the allegations in the draft complaint and the terms of the consent
order--embodied in the consent agreement--that would settle these
allegations.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before September 6, 2016.

ADDRESSES: Interested parties may file a comment at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/marspetcareconsent online or on paper,
by following the instructions in the Request for Comment part of the
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION section below. Write ``In the Matter of Mars
Petcare US, Inc., File No.152-3229--Consent Agreement'' on your comment
and file your comment online at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/marspetcareconsent by following the instructions on the Web-based form.
If you prefer to file your comment on paper, write ``In the Matter of
Mars Petcare US, Inc., File No.152-3229--Consent Agreement'' on your
comment and on the envelope, and mail your comment to the following
address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600
Pennsylvania Avenue NW., Suite CC-5610 (Annex D), Washington, DC 20580,
or deliver your comment to the following address: Federal Trade
Commission, Office of the Secretary, Constitution Center, 400 7th
Street SW., 5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex D), Washington, DC 20024.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: David M. Newman, (415-848-5123), FTC
Western Region, 901 Market Street, Suite 570, San Francisco, CA 94103.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Pursuant to Section 6(f) of the Federal
Trade Commission Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 2.34, 16 CFR 2.34,
notice is hereby given that the above-captioned consent agreement
containing consent order to cease and desist, having been filed with
and accepted, subject to final approval, by the Commission, has been
placed on the public record for a period of thirty (30) days. The
following Analysis to Aid Public Comment describes the terms of the
consent agreement, and the allegations in the complaint. An electronic
copy of the full text of the consent agreement package can be obtained
from the FTC Home Page (for August 4, 2016), on the World Wide Web at:
http://www.ftc.gov/os/actions.shtm.
You can file a comment online or on paper. For the Commission to
consider your comment, we must receive it on or before September 6,
2016. Write ``In the Matter of Mars Petcare US, Inc., File No.152-
3229--Consent Agreement'' on your comment. Your comment--including your
name and your state--will be placed on the public record of this
proceeding, including, to the extent practicable, on the public
Commission Web site, at http://www.ftc.gov/os/publiccomments.shtm. As a
matter of discretion, the Commission tries to remove individuals' home
contact information from comments before placing them on the Commission
Web site.
Because your comment will be made public, you are solely
responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any
sensitive personal information, like anyone's Social Security number,
date of birth, driver's license number or other state identification
number or foreign country equivalent, passport number, financial
account number, or credit or debit card number. You are also solely
responsible for making sure that your comment does not include any
sensitive health information, like medical records or other
individually identifiable health information. In addition, do not
include any ``[t]rade secret or any commercial or financial information
which . . . is privileged or confidential,'' as discussed in Section
6(f) of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 46(f), and FTC Rule 4.10(a)(2), 16 CFR
4.10(a)(2). In particular, do not include competitively sensitive
information such as costs, sales statistics, inventories, formulas,
patterns, devices, manufacturing processes, or customer names.
If you want the Commission to give your comment confidential
treatment, you must file it in paper form, with a request for
confidential treatment, and you have to follow the procedure explained
in FTC Rule 4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).\1\ Your comment will be kept
confidential only if the FTC General Counsel, in his or her sole
discretion, grants your request in accordance with the law and the
public interest.
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\1\ In particular, the written request for confidential
treatment that accompanies the comment must include the factual and
legal basis for the request, and must identify the specific portions
of the comment to be withheld from the public record. See FTC Rule
4.9(c), 16 CFR 4.9(c).
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Postal mail addressed to the Commission is subject to delay due to
heightened security screening. As a result, we encourage you to submit
your comments online. To make sure that the Commission considers your
online comment, you must file it at https://ftcpublic.commentworks.com/ftc/marspetcareconsent by following the instructions on the Web-based
form. If this Notice appears at http://www.regulations.gov/#!home, you
also may file a comment through that Web site.
If you file your comment on paper, write ``In the Matter of Mars
Petcare US, Inc., File No.152-3229--Consent Agreement'' on your comment
and on the envelope, and mail your comment to the following address:
Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania
Avenue NW., Suite

[[Page 52855]]

CC-5610 (Annex D), Washington, DC 20580, or deliver your comment to the
following address: Federal Trade Commission, Office of the Secretary,
Constitution Center, 400 7th Street SW., 5th Floor, Suite 5610 (Annex
D), Washington, DC 20024. If possible, submit your paper comment to the
Commission by courier or overnight service.
Visit the Commission Web site at http://www.ftc.gov to read this
Notice and the news release describing it. The FTC Act and other laws
that the Commission administers permit the collection of public
comments to consider and use in this proceeding as appropriate. The
Commission will consider all timely and responsive public comments that
it receives on or before September 6, 2016. You can find more
information, including routine uses permitted by the Privacy Act, in
the Commission's privacy policy, at http://www.ftc.gov/ftc/privacy.htm.

Analysis of Proposed Consent Order To Aid Public Comment

The Federal Trade Commission (``FTC'' or ``Commission'') has
accepted, subject to final approval, an Agreement Containing Consent
Order from Mars Petcare US, Inc. (``respondent''). The proposed consent
order has been placed on the public record for thirty (30) days for
receipt of comments by interested persons. Comments received during
this period will become part of the public record. After thirty (30)
days, the Commission will again review the agreement and the comments
received, and will decide whether it should withdraw from the agreement
and take appropriate action or make final the agreement's proposed
order.
This matter involves the advertising, marketing, and sale by
respondent of dog food under the Eukanuba brand. Respondent has
marketed its Eukanuba brand dog foods through retail outlets. According
to the FTC complaint, respondent claimed that its dog food could
increase the longevity of dogs by 30 percent or more.
Specifically, the FTC complaint alleges that respondent represented
that dogs in a ten-year study that were fed Eukanuba brand dog food and
received proper care lived exceptionally long lives--including 30
percent or more longer than their typical lifespan. The complaint
alleges that these claims are false or unsubstantiated and thus violate
the FTC Act. The complaint also alleges that respondent represented
that scientific tests prove that feeding dogs its Eukanuba brand dog
food can enable dogs to live exceptionally long lives or to live 30
percent or more longer than their typical lifespan. The complaint
alleges that these claims are false and thus violate the FTC Act.
The proposed consent order contains provisions designed to prevent
respondent from engaging in similar acts or practices in the future.
Specifically, Part I addresses the unsubstantiated claims alleged in
the complaint. Part I prohibits respondent from making misleading or
unsubstantiated representations that its Eukanuba-brand pet foods or
any other pet food can enable dogs to live 30 percent or more longer
than their typical lifespan or live exceptionally long lives. It also
prohibits respondent from making misleading or unsubstantiated claims
regarding the health benefits of any pet food. It requires that
respondent possesses and relies upon ``competent and reliable
scientific evidence'' to substantiate any such representation.
Part II of the proposed order addresses the allegedly false claims
that scientific tests prove that feeding dogs respondent's Eukanuba
brand dog food can enable dogs to live 30 percent or more longer or
substantially longer than their typical lifespan. Part II prohibits
respondent, when advertising any pet food, from misrepresenting the
existence, contents, validity, results, conclusions, or interpretations
of any test, study, or research, or misrepresenting that any health
benefits of the pet food are scientifically proven.
Parts III-VI of the proposed order contain compliance and
recordkeeping requirements. Part III requires respondent acknowledge
receipt of the order, to provide a copy of the order to certain current
and future principals, officers, directors and employees, and to obtain
an acknowledgement from each such person that they have received a copy
of the order. Part IV requires the filing of compliance reports within
one year after the order becomes final and within 14 days of any change
in respondent that would affect compliance with the order. Part V
requires respondent to maintain certain records, including records
necessary to demonstrate compliance with the order. Part VI requires
respondent to submit additional compliance reports when requested by
the Commission and to permit the Commission or its representatives to
interview respondent's personnel. Finally, Part VII provides that the
order will terminate after twenty (20) years, with certain exceptions.
The purpose of this analysis is to facilitate public comment on the
proposed order, and it is not intended to constitute an official
interpretation of the complaint and proposed order or to modify the
proposed order's terms in any way.

By direction of the Commission.
Donald S. Clark,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 2016-18906 Filed 8-9-16; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6750-01-P

Document Created: 2016-08-10 01:59:56
Document Modified: 2016-08-10 01:59:56

Category		Regulatory Information
Collection		Federal Register
sudoc Class		AE 2.7: GS 4.107: AE 2.106:
Publisher		Office of the Federal Register, National Archives and Records Administration
Section		Notices
Action		Proposed consent agreement.
Dates		Comments must be received on or before September 6, 2016.
Contact		David M. Newman, (415-848-5123), FTC Western Region, 901 Market Street, Suite 570, San Francisco, CA 94103.
FR Citation		81 FR 52854