Mattress company Nectar Brand LLC d/b/a Nectar Sleep has agreed to settle FTC charges that it made false claims about its products being "assembled" in the United States.
The FTC alleged that Nectar advertised that its products were "designed and assembled in USA," even though the mattresses were wholly imported from China, with no assembly taking place in the United States.
The FTC says that in order to claim that a product is "assembled" in the USA, the manufacturer must ensure that the product was last substantially transformed in the United States, its principal assembly took place in the United States, and that its United States assembly operations were substantial.
The FTC's standards for "assembled in USA" claims are set forth in the FTC's Enforcement Policy Statement on U.S. Origin Claims.
This latest case is yet another example of the FTC's continued focus on deceptive US-origin claims. It also highlights that the FTC is concerned not only with "made in USA" claims, but also with claims that a product is "assembled" here.
Under the terms of the proposed order, Nectar is prohibited from making unqualified U.S.-origin claims for mattresses or other products or services unless it can show that the products' final assembly or processing – and all significant processing – take place in the United States and that all or virtually all ingredients or components of the product are made and sourced in the United States
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