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ARTICLE · 13 OCTOBER 2026

FTC Opens New Channel For Questions About Its Consumer Protection Rules

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The Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Consumer Protection has launched a Rule Guidance Program that allows businesses and stakeholders to submit questions about ambiguities, conflicts, or substantive issues within FTC consumer protection rules. The program provides a formal channel for raising interpretive questions, though the Bureau retains discretion over which submissions warrant public guidance responses.

United StatesConsumer Protection
Timothy Butler
Timothy Butler
Matthew M. White
Matthew M. White
Cody Davis
Cody Davis

Businesses facing an unresolved question about a Federal Trade Commission rule now have a dedicated way to bring it to the agency’s Bureau of Consumer Protection. On Sept. 10, 2026, the Bureau announced its Rule Guidance Program, which invites stakeholders to “identify genuine ambiguities in the Commission’s rules, substantive conflicts between a rule and an existing statute or other rule, and other significant issues that may exist within Commission rules.”

If the Bureau decides an issue warrants a response, it may publish guidance so others have an opportunity to benefit from the answer.

How to Raise an Issue

The Bureau’s program page links stakeholders to an online submission form. The form directs submitters to identify the specific rule and provisions at issue, explain the potential problem, and describe the context in which it arises. Staff will review submissions, and the Bureau retains discretion to decide whether and when to address them. The Bureau will publish any

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