Remanufacturing industry and general public asked for opinion on BSA’s draft industry standard for the definition of remanufactured cartridges in the US.
OPI reports that the Business Solutions Association (BSA), a trade association that represents manufacturers, wholesalers and manufacturer representatives in the business products and related industries, has released a draft industry standard for the definition of ink and toner cartridges.
The draft was put together by the BSA after it recognised that there is no such industry standard in the US, with the association claiming that the lack of a standardised definition for remanufactured cartridges “is confusing consumers when trying to differentiate between remanufactured products and non-OEM newly built cartridges”.
Within the proposed Standard, the BSA defines a remanufactured cartridge 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”.
It adds that a remanufactured cartridge should not be referred to as a “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”, with the BSA noting that such terms “do not reflect a truly remanufactured cartridge and serve to perpetuate product misidentification and customer confusion”.
Following the release of the draft industry standard, the BSA is asking industry members and the general public for their feedback, and welcomes input on the proposed standards as well as suggestions for any amendments and improvements that could be made.
Any feedback comments must be received by the BSA by 22 October, with the association hoping to finalise the document and release it during or shortly after its annual meeting in Florida at the end of October.
Those interested can view the proposed standard in full here as well as download and complete a comment form provided by BSA.