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)

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, 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