Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, CONSUMER PROTECTION NEWS: FTC Issues Enforcement Policy for “Zero-VOC” Paint Claims, Approves Final Sherwin-Williams and PPG Settlements, (Mar 6, 2013)

By William Zale, J.D.

The FTC has approved final orders settling charges that two of the nation’s leading paint companies, Sherwin-Williams and PPG Architectural Finishes, made false and unsubstantiated claims that some of their paints contained zero volatile organic compounds (VOCs) after tinting (In the Matter of The Sherwin-Williams Co., FTC File No. 112 3198; In the Matter of PPG Architectural Finishes, Inc., FTC File No. 112 3160). Based on these cases, the FTC today issued a new enforcement policy statement regarding VOC-free claims for architectural coatings.

VOCs are carbon-containing compounds that easily evaporate at room temperatures. Some VOCs can be harmful to human health and the environment. Historically, interior paints, which are the subject of the FTC’s cases against Sherwin-Williams and PPG, have contained significant levels of VOCs.

In settling the FTC’s complaints, the two companies agreed to orders requiring them to stop making the allegedly deceptive claim that their Dutch Boy Refresh and Pure Performance interior paints, respectively, contain “zero” VOCs. According to the agency, while this may be true for uncolored “base” paints, it is not true for tinted paint, which typically has much higher levels of the compounds, and which consumers usually buy.

The enforcement policy statement clarifies that the operative portion of the first prong of the FTC’s “trace test” is “background level” and not “acknowledged trace” amount for VOCs in paint and coatings. That is, when companies market their paints and coatings as “free of” VOCs, they must comply with the first prong of the agency’s Green Guides’ trace test by showing that “the level of the specified substance is no more than that which would be found” as a background level, and not the acknowledged trace amount.

The FTC also has a new blog post to help businesses understand how they can make environmental marketing claims for paint while complying with the FTC’s Green Guides for environmental marketing claims.

The Commission votes approving the final orders were 3-0-2, with Commissioners Jon Leibowitz and Joshua D. Wright not participating. The vote to issue the enforcement policy statement was 4-0-1, with Commissioner Leibowitz not participating.

Companies: Sherwin-Williams Co.; PPG Architectural Finishes, Inc.

News: ConsumerProtection FederalTradeCommissionNews