US Remanufacturers Urged to Lobby for Right to Repair

US Remanufacturers Urged to Lobby for Right to Repair

Tricia Judge, the Executive Director of the International Imaging Technology Council (I-ITC), has written to hundreds of remanufacturers in the US, urging them to lobby the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

The matter is urgent, and petitions must be lodged by February 2, 2024.

“Tell the FTC you support new rules that give us a right to repair,” said Judge in her opening comments. “The FTC is seeking public comments on a rule-making petition to bolster the right to repair.”

Remanufacturers can go online and add their submission, visit the Federal eRulemaking Portal for docket number FTC-2023-0077 and follow the instructions to submit your comments.

“The FTC has issued a new request for public comments on a petition asking the agency to adopt rules supporting our right to repair,” Judge added. “The FTC opened a comment submission period in response to a petition submitted by US PIRG and iFixit. The comments the FTC receives from the public are critical: they help the agency assess public support for new rules ensuring a right to repair.”

“There is no set format for comments, and they tend to weed out duplicate submissions, so we make no specific suggestions. Your comments can be as brief or wordy as you like. You can view some of the hundreds of comments submitted so far to understand what others are saying.”

Most of all, the FTC wants to hear from you. That could be a story about your repair operations as a cartridge remanufacturer or seller of remanufactured cartridges.

iFixit, one of the petition proponents, has proposed the following language:

“The United States needs more Right to Repair rules. A lack of repair competition is hurting consumers and small repair businesses. Without national action to protect our repair rights, corporate repair monopolies will keep us wasting our money and our planet’s resources and prematurely sending products to the dump. I support this petition and call on the FTC to take action!”

What does the petition ask the FTC for? 

The PIRG and iFixit petition seeks to restore competition in repair markets nationwide. The two organizations identified several ways companies could make repair easier and more widely available. They include:

• Increase the accessibility of consumable components – the FTC should determine that parts that routinely wear out, like batteries, should be replaceable and readily available for the product’s entire lifespan.
• Ensure the availability of common parts so that components prone to wear and tear are easy to obtain.
• Ensure that consumers have repair choices and the liberty to choose their repair provider or opt for DIY solutions.
• Provide sustained product support so that key product functions remain intact even if the product is discontinued, with repairs possible through independent shops.
• Ensure that identical components are interchangeable by limiting the pairing of parts -components from identical devices should be interchangeable without manufacturer intervention.
• Protect consumer privacy by ensuring independent repair shops are not mandated to disclose customers’ personal information to manufacturers.

The FTC has been instrumental in advocating for the Right to Repair. Their landmark 2021 report, “Nixing the Fix,” debunked manufacturers’ justifications for repair restrictions. The FTC has taken action against companies like Harley-Davidson, Weber, and Westinghouse for voiding warranties for third-party repair work.

Related:

• The Time and Tide Were on Our Side: Tricia Judge remembers how the epic battle at the US Supreme Court definitively decided the issues of post-sale restrictions and the effects of foreign first sales.
• Remanufacturing: From Dirty to Debutante: Reman has been perceived as the garage-based “aftermarket” producing dirty, worn products that may cost less but perform less. No more.

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