Agency alleges that face mask maker misled consumers with Made in the USA claims

The Federal Trade Commission has referred a complaint to the Department of Justice alleging Adam J. Harmon and two companies he controls falsely told consumers that personal protective equipment they marketed during the pandemic, as well as light fixtures they sold, were made in the U.S. The FTC charged Harmon and his two companies, Axis LED Group, LLC and ALG-Health LLC, with violating the COVID-19 Consumer Protection Act, the Made in USA Labeling Rule and the FTC Act. The agency’s proposed order would stop them from making deceptive claims that products were Made in USA – or, that because they were Made in USA, they provided superior protection from COVID-19. The order also would require them to pay a civil penalty for their past deceptive claims. “ALG and its CEO slapped the Made in USA label on masks that were made overseas, and now they’re paying the price,” says Sam Levine, Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. “As Americans struggle to obtain safe, authentic personal protective equipment, the Commission will use every tool we have to root out false claims and phony labels.” During the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, Harmon began operating under the name ALG-Health LLC, and selling personal protective equipment such as masks, gowns, and gloves. According to the complaint, Harmon and ALG made numerous false and misleading claims that their PPE products were all or virtually all made in the U.S., even though the products were wholly imported or incorporated significant imported materials or subcomponents. These claims and other false statements – including that the defendants’ products were U.S.-origin respirators, certified by the National Institute for Occupational Safety (NIOSH) – violated the COVID-19 Consumer Protection Act, the complaint alleges. Specifically, the defendants harmed consumers by deceiving them about the country of origin of their products and deceiving consumers about the efficacy of their Covid-19 PPE products. To settle the compalin, Harmon and his companies must stop making deceptive U.S.-origin labeling and advertising claims. Harmon and his companies are prohibited from claiming that products are made in the U.S. unless they can show that the product’s final assembly or processing – and all significant processing – takes place in the U.S. and that all or virtually all ingredients or components of the product are made and sourced in the U.S.

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