The Federal Trade Commission has put out a request for comments on
their review of the current guidelines which they are ready to
change.
“Invitation To Comment: The Commission systematically reviews all of
its current rules and guides to ensure that they continue to achieve
their intended purpose without unduly burdening commerce. As part of
this review, the Commission requests public comments on the overall
costs, benefits, necessity, regulatory and economic impact of, and
possible modifications to, the FTC’s Guides for the Jewelry,
Precious Metals, and Pewter Industries.”
The request was dated July 2, 2012 and the deadline for any comments
is on August 27, 2012. Most of the review is about lead-filled ruby
material and whether a lab-grown diamond or other gemstone can or
should be termed as “cultured”. In that argument, many people at the
recent meeting of the Florida Gulfcoast Chapter GIA Alumni
Association felt it would lend too much legitimacy to cheap material
since many consumers associate the word cultured to equal a high
level of quality from the century-long marketing of Akoya pearls.
I cannot find the place on Ganoksin that tells me how to share a
link to the FTC site and have to get back to work. If you wish to
read the entire proposal, you will find it as a link as a PDF at the
top of the page of the FTC call for comments, next to the date of
the proposal. You will have toparse out the website from the
following:
http://www.ganoksin.com/gnkurl/ep7zfc
It is only a little over a week to get any comments in. If you
choose to mail your comments, they must be received by the deadline.