Acronyms (colloquial) FPLA Public law 89-755 | Effective November 3, 1966 Statutes at Large 80 Stat. 1296 | |
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Long title To regulate interstate and foreign commerce by preventing the use of unfair or deceptive methods of packaging or labeling of certain consumer commodities distributed in such commerce, and for other purposes. Enacted by the 89th United States Congress | ||
The Fair Packaging and Labeling Act is a U.S. law that applies to labels on many consumer products. It requires the label to state:
The contents statement must include both metric and U.S. customary units.
Passed under Lyndon B. Johnson in 1966, the law first took effect on July 1, 1967. The metric labeling requirement was added in 1992 and took effect on February 14, 1994. The law is codified as 15 U.S.C. §§ 1451–1461.
There has been an effort by industry threatened by a European Union directive that would force metric-only labeling starting January 1, 2010, to amend the FPLA to allow manufacturers to use metric-only labeling. An amendment to delay indefinitely metric-only labeling was adopted by the European Commission September 10, 2007, approved by the European Parliament November 29, 2007, and by the European Economic and Social Committee December 12, 2007. The E.U. will review this policy again in 2018 and may then maintain the status quo or set a deadline for mandatory metric only.