Editing Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (section)

{{Short description|U.S. law that applies to labels on many consumer products}}
{{Infobox U.S. legislation
| shorttitle= Fair Packaging and Labeling Act
| longtitle= 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.
| acronym= FPLA
| enacted by= 89th
| effective date= November 3, 1966
| public law url= http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/STATUTE-80/pdf/STATUTE-80-Pg1296.pdf
| cite public law= 89-755
| cite statutes at large= {{usstat|80|1296}}
| acts amended= [[Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act]]
| title amended= {{unbulleted list|[[Title 15 of the United States Code|15 U.S.C.: Commerce and Trade]]|[[Title 21 of the United States Code|21 U.S.C.: Food and Drugs]]}}
| sections created= {{Usc-title-chap|15|39}} § 1451 et seq.
| sections amended= {{Usc-title-chap|21|9}} §§ 301, 321, 331-337
| leghisturl= 
| introducedin= Senate
| introducedbill= {{USBill|89|S.|985}}
| introducedby= [[Philip Hart]] ([[Democratic Party (United States)|D]]–[[Michigan|MI]])
| introduceddate= June 9, 1966
| committees= [[Committee on Energy and Commerce]]
| passedbody1= Senate
| passeddate1= June 9, 1966
| passedvote1= [http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/89-1966/s316 72-9]
| passedbody2= House
| passeddate2= October 3, 1966
| passedvote2= [http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/89-1966/h355 300-8]
| conferencedate= October 17, 1966
| agreedbody3= Senate
| agreeddate3= October 17, 1966
| agreedvote3= Cleared
| agreedbody4= House
| agreeddate4= October 17, 1966
| agreedvote4= [http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/89-1966/h373 242-6]
| signedpresident= [[Lyndon B. Johnson]]
| signeddate= November 3, 1966
| amendments= 
}}

The '''Fair Packaging and Labeling Act''' is a U.S. law that applies to [[label]]s on many consumer products. It requires the label to state:

*The identity of the product;
*The name and place of business of the manufacturer, packer, or distributor; and
*The net quantity of contents.

The contents statement must include both [[SI|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 {{usc|15|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,<ref>{{cite web
 |url         = http://ts.nist.gov/WeightsAndMeasures/Metric/upload/EUMetricDirective2010.pdf
 |title       = Council Directive of 20 December 1979 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to units of measurement and on the repeal of Directive 71/354/EEC
 |id          = CONSLEG: 1980L0181 — 09/02/2000
 |access-date  = 2007-03-03
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20070206182651/http://ts.nist.gov/WeightsAndMeasures/Metric/upload/EUMetricDirective2010.pdf
 |archive-date = 6 February 2007
 }}</ref> to amend the FPLA to allow manufacturers to use metric-only labeling.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://ts.nist.gov/WeightsAndMeasures/Metric/forumdir.cfm
|title=Forum on Permissible Metric-Only Labeling
|accessdate=2007-03-03 |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20070206182248/http://ts.nist.gov/WeightsAndMeasures/Metric/forumdir.cfm |archivedate = February 6, 2007}}</ref>  An amendment to indefinitely delay 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.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://ec.europa.eu/prelex/detail_dossier_print.cfm?CL=en&DosID=196132| title = Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Directive 80/181/EEC on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to units of measurement; COM (2007) 510; 2007/0187/COD| accessdate = 2008-05-19| author = European Union| author-link = European Union| date = | year = | work = Prelex: Monitoring of the decision-making process between institutions}}</ref>