The Guides disclaim binding force in their own text, and set out their reach just as plainly

16 CFR Part 23 opens with a section about itself. Sub-section (d) describes the guides as the Federal Trade Commission's current thinking about claims for jewelry and articles made from precious metals and pewter, and then removes any doubt about their operation in one sentence: "They do not confer any rights on any person and do not operate to bind the FTC or the public."

The same sub-section records what happens where the Commission does act: in an enforcement action it must prove that the practice at issue violates Section 5 of the FTC Act. That is the operative standard the document points at. Part 23 is the Commission's account of how it currently reads claims in this trade; it is not a schedule of offences, and no clause in it converts a description into a penalty.

This distinction matters for how the rest of the text should be quoted. A clause that begins "It is unfair or deceptive to…" is stating the Commission's position on a form of words. It is not a statement that a particular listing has broken a law, and this page does not make that step for any listing.

The first is about who. § 23.0(b) applies the guides to persons, partnerships or corporations "at every level of the trade (including but not limited to manufacturers, suppliers, and retailers)". The three categories named are positions in a supply chain, and the list is introduced as an open one. The sorting the clause performs is by trade position — where a business sits between making an article and selling it. Whether any particular business falls inside that description is not something this page can settle.

The second is about where a claim appears. § 23.0(c) applies to claims and representations about industry products in labeling, advertising, promotional materials and all other forms of marketing. It reaches claims asserted directly and claims asserted by implication, and it lists the carriers: word, symbol, emblem, logo, illustration, depiction, and product brand name. A picture and a brand name are named in the same sentence as a label.

Under those two statements sits the product scope in § 23.0(a): gemstones and their laboratory-created and imitation substitutes; natural and cultured pearls and their imitations; metal watch bands that are not permanently attached to a watch; articles made of precious metals; and all pewter articles. The watch itself is not in that list — only the band, and only where it is not permanently attached.

The sentence in § 23.0(d) removes one thing: the idea that Part 23 is itself the rule under which a case is decided. It confers no rights, and it binds neither the Commission nor the public.

It leaves the rest of the section standing. The product scope is still stated. The levels of trade are still stated. The marketing surfaces — including illustration and depiction — are still stated. And the document still records that the Commission, in an enforcement action, proceeds by proving a Section 5 violation. A reader who stops at "not binding" has read the sub-section that describes the document and skipped the sub-sections that describe its subject.

The practical shape of this page is therefore narrow on purpose. It tells you what kind of document you are holding, whom its own text addresses, which surfaces its own text names, and which edition is current. It does not tell you what to write, and it does not tell you whether anything you have written is enough.