BSA Releases Draft Standard on Remanufactured Cartridge

Consumers in the USA have difficulty differentiating remanufactured and non-OEM newly built cartridges, so the Business Solutions Association (BSA) has released a draft industry standard to define remanufactured ink and toner cartridges.

According to BSA’s definition, “A remanufactured ink or remanufactured toner cartridge is defined as an original OEM cartridge that has been previously used and the marking substance consumed, and then is subsequently collected, inspected, cleaned, had new or reconditioned parts installed, re-filled with ink or toner, and quality tested so that its capability to print has been restored”.

BSA also adds, “A remanufactured cartridge should not be referred to by any of these common terms: replacement, reconditioned, refurbished, rebuilt, compatible, new compatible, newly remanufactured, newly manufactured, newly built, newly refreshed, new build, new plastic, factory fresh, non-OEM, OEM compatible. These terms do not reflect a truly remanufactured cartridge and serve to perpetuate product misidentification and customer confusion”.

Furthermore, the First Sale Doctrine in USA restricts the source of empty OEM cartridge. Only those collected from first users within United States are legal source.

BSA is seeking feedback from industry and the general public for the proposal before 22 October. It expects to official release the standards on January 1, 2014 or sooner.