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The voluntary program, developed by the Upholstered Furniture Action Council (UFAC), came in response to a draft mandatory safety standard for upholstered furniture which the Commission considered in November 1, 1978. UFAC is an industry trade organization headquartered in High Point, North Carolina, and comprised of five large furniture associations which represent approximately 80 per cent of the upholstered furniture industry's annual sales volume. A year ago CPSC staffers recommended that the Commission issue a mandatory federal safety standard. At that time, the furniture industry had not devised a program that could produce upholstered furniture which would resist cigarette ignition. The voluntary plan, which was developed by industry in early 1979, has resulted in "significant progress" toward the goal of manufacturing such furniture, CPSC staff reported recently. Every year upholstered furniture fires caused by smoldering cigarettes kill at least 500 people and seriously injure an additional 1,700, according to CPSC estimates. However, CPSC does not have the authority to regulate cigarettes as an ignition source or in any other way. In 1976, there was an attempt to amend a CPSC law so that cigarettes as an ignition source would be placed within CPSC's regulatory jurisdiction. Congress did not approve the amendment.