§ 10.6 Procedure when a recommended standard is not supported by a consen

sus.

If the Department determines that a recommended standard is not supported by a consensus, the Department may:

(a) Return the recommended standard to the Standard Review Committee for further action, with or without suggestions;

(b) Terminate the development of the recommended standard under these procedures; or

(c) Take such other action as it may deem necessary or appropriate under the circumstances.

§ 10.7 Standing Committee.

(a) The Department will establish and appoint the members of a Standing Committee prior to the publication of a standard. The committee may include members from the Standard Review Committee, and will consist of qualified representatives of producers, distributors, and users or consumers of the product covered by the standard, and representatives of appropriate general interest groups such as municipal, State, and Federal agencies. Representatives of Federal agencies shall be advisory, nonvoting members. (Alternates to committee members may be designated by the Department.)

(b) Appointments to a Standing Committee may not exceed a term of 5 years. However, the committee may be reconstituted by the Department whenever appropriate, and members may be reappointed by the Department to succeeding terms. Appointments to the committee will be terminated upon the withdrawal of the standard.

(c) The Department will be responsible for the organization of the committee. Any formal operating procedures developed by the committee shall be subject to approval by the Department. The committee may conduct business either in a meeting or through correspondence, but only if a quorum participates. A quorum shall consist of two-thirds of all voting members of the committee. A majority of the voting members of the committee participating shall be required to approve any actions taken by the com

mittee except for the approval of revisions of the standard which shall be governed by the provisions of § 10.4 (b), (c), and (d).

(d) The members of a Standing Committee should be knowledgeable about: (1) The product or products covered by the standard;

(2) The standard itself; and

(3) Industry and trade practices relating to the standard.

(e) The committee shall:

(1) Keep itself informed of any advancing technology or marketing practices that might affect the standard;

(2) Provide the Department with interpretations of provisions of the standard upon request;

(3) Make recommendations to the Department concerning the desirability or necessity of revising or amending the standard;

(4) Receive and consider proposals to revise or amend the standard; and

(5) Recommend to the Department the revision or amendment of a standard.

§ 10.8 Publication of standard.

(a) A Voluntary Product Standard published by the Department under these procedures will be assigned an appropriate number for purposes of identification and reference. Public notice will be given regarding the publication and identification of the standard. A voluntary standard by itself has no mandatory or legally binding effect. Any person may choose to use or not to use such a standard. Appropriate reference in contracts, codes, advertising, invoices, announcements, product labels, and the like may be made to a Voluntary Product Standard published under these procedures. Such reference shall be in accordance with such policies as the Department may establish, but no product may be advertised or represented in any manner which would imply or tend to imply approval or endorsement of that product by the Department or by the Federal Government.

(b) A fee will be charged to the proponent group, when appropriate, to cover the initial publication expenses incurred in printing the final standard. This fee will entitle the proponent group to a thousand copies of the

standard. Additional copies may be purchased from the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402.

§ 10.9 Review of published standards.

(a) Each standard published under these procedures will be reviewed by the Department, with such assistance of the Standing Committee or others as may be deemed appropriate by the Department, within 5 years after initial issuance or last revision and at least every 5 years thereafter. The purpose of this review will be to determine whether the standard has become obsolete, technically inadequate, no longer acceptable to or used by the industry, or inconsistent with law or established public policy.

(b) If any of the above conditions is found to exist, the Department will initiate action to amend, revise, or withdraw the standard in accordance with § 10.10 or § 10.12. If none of the above conditions is found to exist, the standard will be kept in effect.

§ 10.10 Revision or amendment of a standard.

(a) A published standard shall be subject to revision or amendment when it is determined to be inadequate by its Standing Committee or by the Department for one or more of the following reasons or for any other appropriate reason:

(1) Any portion of the standard is obsolete, technically inadequate, or no longer generally acceptable to or used by the industry;

(2) The standard or any part of it is inconsistent with law or established public policy; or

(3) The standard or any part of it is being used to mislead users or consumers or is determined to be against the interest of users, consumers, or the public in general.

(b) A revision of a standard shall be considered by the Department to include changes which are comprehensive in nature, which have a substantive effect on the standard, which change the level of performance or safety, or the design characteristics of the product being standardized, or which cannot reasonably be injected into a standard without disturbing the

general applicability of the standard. Each suggestion for revision shall be submitted by the Department of the Standing Committee for appropriate consideration. The Standing Committee will serve the same functions in the revision of a standard as the Standard Review Committee serves in the development of a new standard. The processing of a revision of a standard will be dependent upon the age of the standard as computed from its effective date and will be accomplished as follows:

(1) A proposed revision of a standard older than 5 years at the time such proposed revision is submitted to the Standing Committee by the Department shall be processed as a new standard under these procedures and, when approved for publication, the standard shall be republished and reidentified to indicate the year in which the revision became effective. The revised standard will supersede the previously published standard.

(2) A proposed revision of a standard less than 5 years at the time such proposed revision is submitted to the Standing Committee by the Department shall be processed as a new standard except that:

(i) Distribution for acceptance or rejection shall be made to an appropriate list of producers, distributors, and users and consumers compiled by the Department;

(ii) If the revision affects only one subsection of the requirement section and/or only one subsection of the test methods section, it may be circulated separately for determining consensus and subsequently published as an addendum to the standard with appropriate dissemination and public notice of the addendum; and

(iii) If the revision does not change the level of performance or safety, or the design characteristics of the product being standardized, the standard need not be reidentified.

(c) An amendment to a standard shall be considered by the Department to be any non-editorial change which is not comprehensive in nature, which has no substantive effect on the standard, which does not change the level of performance or safety, or the design characteristics of the product

being standardized, and which reasonably can be injected into a standard without disturbing the general applicability of the standard. Each suggestion for amendment shall be submitted by the Department to the Standing Committee for appropriate consideration. An amendment to a standard recommended by not less than 90 percent of the members of the committee eligible to vote and found acceptable by the Department, will be published as an addendum (until the standard is republished) and distributed to acceptors of record. Public notice of the amendment shall be given and copies of the amendment shall be distributed to those filing written requests.

§ 10.11 Editorial changes.

The Department may, without prior notice, make such editorial or other minor changes as it deems necessary to reduce ambiguity or to improve clarity in any proposed, recommended, or published standard, or revision or amendment thereof.

§ 10.12 Withdrawal of a published standard.

(a) Any standard published under these or any previous procedures may be withdrawn by the Department at any time. Such action will be taken, if, after consultation with the Standing Committee as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, and after public notice, the Department determines that the standard is obsolete, technically inadequate, no longer generally acceptable to and used by the industry, inconsistent with law or established public policy, not in the public interest, or otherwise inappropriate, and revision or amendment is not feasible or would serve no useful purpose.

(b) Before withdrawing a published standard, the Department will review the relative advantages and disadvantages of amendment, revision, development of a new standard, or withdrawal with the members of the Standing Committee, if such committee was appointed within the previous 5 years.

(c) Public notice of intent to withdraw an existing standard will be given and a 30-day period will be provided for the filing of written objections to the withdrawal. Such objections to the

(2) Any partnership, association, corporation, or other organization organized under the laws of, or having its principal place of business in, the United States or any State or possession, Puerto Rico, the District of Columbia, the Virgin Islands, or the Canal Zone; and

(3) Any partnership, association, corporation, or other organization organized under the laws of, or having its principal place of business in, Southern Rhodesia, which is owned or controlled by any persons described in paragraph (a)(1) or (2) of this section. (b) "Person" includes an individual, partnership, association, corporation, or other organization.

§ 11.2 Prohibited transportation and discharge.

(a) No person may carry on any ship documented under the laws of the United States or under charter to any person subject to the jurisdiction of the United States any commodity or product if he knows or has reason to believe that said commodity or product is destined directly or indirectly to any person or body in Southern Rhodesia, or to any person or body for the purposes of any business carried on in or operated from Southern Rhodesia and no person may discharge from any such ship any commodity or product at any port or place in transit to Southern Rhodesia unless there is in force a license for the shipment of such commodity or product under the Export Control Act of 1949, as amended or under the Rhodesian Sanctions Regulations issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, Department of the Treasury or under section 414 of the Mutual Security Act of 1954, as amended.

(b) No person may carry on any ship documented under the laws of the United States or under charter to any person subject to the jurisdiction of the United States any commodity or product originating in Southern Rhodesia and exported therefrom after May 29, 1968, nor any asbestos, iron ore, chrome, pig iron, sugar, tobacco, copper, meat, and meat products, and hides, skins, and leather originating in Southern Rhodesia and exported therefrom after December 16, 1966 (in

cluding ferrochrome produced elsewhere from chrome ore or concentrates originating in Southern Rhodesia and exported therefrom after Dec. 16, 1966) unless a license under the Rhodesian Sanctions Regulations issued by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, Department of the Treasury has been obtained.

(c) The prohibitions of this order apply to the owner, lessee, charterer or operator of such ship and to any officer, employee or agent of such owner, lessee, charterer or operator who participates in such prohibited carriage.

§ 11.3 Application for adjustment or exceptions.

Any person affected by any provisions of this Part 11 may file an application for an adjustment or exception upon the ground that such provision works an exceptional hardship upon him arising from transactions commenced before the date of the issuance of Executive Order 11419 (July 29, 1968). Such an application may be made by letter or telegram addressed to the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Domestic and International Business, Washington, D.C. 20230, reference 15 CFR Part 11. Any such application should specify in detail the facts which support the applicant's claim for an exception or adjustment. § 11.4 Reports.

Persons subject to this Part 11 shall submit such reports to the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Domestic and International Business as he shall require, subject to the terms of the Federal Reports Act.

§ 11.5 Records.

Each person participating in any transaction covered by this part shall retain in his possession, for at least 2 years, records of shipments in sufficient detail to permit an audit that determines for each transaction that the provisions of this Part 11 have been met. This does not specify any particular accounting method and does not require alteration of the system of records customarily maintained, provided such records supply an adequate basis for audit. Records may be retained in

the form of microfilm or other photographic copies instead of the originals.

$11.6 Violations.

(a) Attention is directed to section 5(b) of the United Nations Participation Act of 1945 (22 U.S.C. sec. 287c), which provides in part:

Any person who willfully violates or evades or attempts to violate or evade any order, rule, or regulation issued by the President pursuant to subsection (a) of this section shall, upon conviction be fined not more than $10,000, or, if a natural person, be imprisoned for not more than 10 years, or both; and the officer, director, or agent of any corporation who knowingly participates in such violation or evasion shall be punished by a like fine, imprisonment, or both, and any property, funds, securities, papers, or other articles or documents, or any vessel, together with her tackle, apparel, furniture, and equipment, or vehicle, or aircraft, concerned in such violation shall be forfeited to the United States (Dec. 20, 1945, ch. 583, sec. 5, 59 Stat. 620; Oct. 10, 1949, ch. 660, sec. 3, 63 Stat. 735).

This section of the United Nations Participation Act of 1945 is applicable to violations of any provisions of this part and to violations of the provisions of any license, ruling, regulations, order, direction or instruction issued pursuant to this part or otherwise under section 5 of the United Nations Participation Act, Executive Order 11322, and Executive Order 11419.

(b) Attention is also directed to 18 U.S.C. 1001 which provides:

Whoever, in any matter within the jurisdiction of any department or agency of the United States knowingly and willfully falsifies, conceals, or covers up by any trick, scheme, or device a material fact, or makes any false, fictitious or fraudulent statements or representations, or makes or uses any false writing or document knowing the same to contain any false, fictitious or fradulent statement or entry, shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than 5 years, or both.

AUTHORITY: Secs. 5(d), 5(e), 80 Stat. 1298, 15 U.S.C. 1454; sec. 3, Dept. Order 177 (31 FR 6746), as amended (32 FR 3110).

SOURCE: 32 FR 11074, July 29, 1967, unless otherwise noted.

§ 12.1 Introduction.

(a) These procedures apply to the discharge of the responsibility given to the Secretary of Commerce by sections 5(d) and 5(e) of the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (Pub. L. 89-755, 80 Stat. 1299), hereinafter called the "Act". The word "Secretary", as used hereinafter, shall refer to the Secretary of Commerce or his authorized delegate.

(b) The Secretary does not have the responsibility or the authority under the Act to issue any regulations governing the packaging or labeling practices of private industry.

(c) The Secretary does have the responsibility and authority to:

(1) Determine whether the reasonable ability of consumers to make value comparisions with respect to any consumer commodity or reasonably comparable consumer commodities is impaired by undue proliferation of the weights, measures, or quantities in which such commodity or commodities are being distributed in packages for sale at retail.

(2) Request manufacturers, packers, and distributors, where a determination of undue proliferation has been made, to participate in the development of a voluntary product standard under the procedures governing the Department's voluntary standards program.

(3) Report to Congress with a recommendation as to whether legislation providing regulatory authority should be enacted, when after 1 year following the date private industry has been requested to participate in the development of a voluntary product standard it is determined that such a standard will not be published, or when following the publication of such a standard it is determined that the standard has not been observed.

(d) The Act does not furnish a detailed, definitive explanation of "undue proliferation". It does, however, point out that the condition of "undue proliferation" must be one