PRIME Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 2208 To require online retailers to prominently disclose product country-of-origin information, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JULY 23, 2019 Mr. SCOTT of Florida introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To require online retailers to prominently disclose product country-of-origin information, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Promoting Responsi- 4 bility In Markets and E-Retailers Act of 2019’’ or the 5 ‘‘PRIME Act’’. 6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 7 In this Act: 8 (1) COMMISSION.—The term ‘‘Commission’’ 9 means the Federal Trade Commission. 10 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:40 Jul 29, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2208.IS S2208 jbell on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS 2 •S 2208 IS (2) COUNTRY OF ORIGIN.—The term ‘‘country 1 of origin’’ has the meaning given such term for pur- 2 poses of section 304 of the Tariff Act of 1939 (19 3 U.S.C. 1304). 4 (3) INTERNET APPLICATION.—The term ‘‘inter- 5 net application’’ means a computer program or soft- 6 ware application that is downloaded by a user to an 7 internet-connected device. 8 (4) ONLINE RETAIL PLATFORM.—The term 9 ‘‘online retail platform’’ means any internet website 10 or other online platform through which products are 11 sold. 12 SEC. 3. COUNTRY OF ORIGIN REQUIREMENTS FOR ONLINE 13 RETAILERS AND SELLERS. 14 (a) IN GENERAL.—Beginning on the date that is 180 15 days after the date of the promulgation of final regulations 16 implementing this section— 17 (1) it shall be unlawful for any person to oper- 18 ate an online retail platform that does not comply 19 with the requirements of subsection (b); and 20 (2) it shall be unlawful for any person who of- 21 fers a product for sale through an online retail plat- 22 form to knowingly provide false information to the 23 platform with respect to the country of origin of 24 such product. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Jul 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2208.IS S2208 jbell on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS 3 •S 2208 IS (b) COUNTRY OF ORIGIN DISCLOSURE REQUIRE- 1 MENTS.—The requirements of this subsection, with re- 2 spect to an online retail platform, are the following: 3 (1) The online retail platform requires any per- 4 son who wishes to sell a product through the plat- 5 form to provide the platform with information on the 6 country of origin of such product which shall in- 7 clude, if applicable, the country of origin of the 8 product as the product is marked or labeled pursu- 9 ant to section 304 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 10 U.S.C. 1304) and the regulations promulgated under 11 such Act. 12 (2) With respect to any article of foreign origin 13 imported into the United States that is subject to 14 the country of origin marking requirement of section 15 304 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1304) and 16 is offered for sale on the online retail platform, the 17 platform discloses, in a conspicuous manner and in 18 the same language that is used on the rest of the 19 platform, the name of the country of origin (as such 20 term is defined for purposes of such section 304) of 21 that article. 22 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Jul 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2208.IS S2208 jbell on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS 4 •S 2208 IS SEC. 4. COUNTRY OF ORIGIN DISCLOSURE REQUIREMENTS 1 FOR SELLERS OF INTERNET APPLICATIONS. 2 Beginning on the date that is 180 days after the date 3 of the promulgation of final regulations implementing this 4 section— 5 (1) it shall be unlawful for any person to sell 6 or distribute an internet application unless the per- 7 son discloses to any individual who downloads such 8 application, in a clear and conspicuous manner and 9 in the same language that is used on the rest of the 10 platform on which such application is sold or distrib- 11 uted— 12 (A) the country in which the developer of 13 such application is located; 14 (B) the country in which the publisher of 15 such application is located; and 16 (C) if applicable, the country in which the 17 parent corporation of such developer or pub- 18 lisher is located; and 19 (2) it shall be unlawful for the developer or 20 publisher of an internet application to knowingly 21 provide false information to a seller or distributor of 22 internet applications with respect to the country in 23 which such developer or publisher or the parent cor- 24 poration of such developer or publisher is located. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Jul 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2208.IS S2208 jbell on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS 5 •S 2208 IS SEC. 5. ENFORCEMENT. 1 (a) UNFAIR AND DECEPTIVE ACTS OR PRACTICES.— 2 A violation of this Act shall be treated as a violation of 3 a rule defining an unfair or deceptive act or practice pre- 4 scribed under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade 5 Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). 6 (b) POWERS OF COMMISSION.— 7 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall en- 8 force this Act in the same manner, by the same 9 means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and 10 duties as though all applicable terms and provisions 11 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 12 et seq.) were incorporated into and made a part of 13 this Act. 14 (2) PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES.—Any person 15 that violates this Act shall be subject to the pen- 16 alties (including the provisions of subsections (l) and 17 (m) of section 5 of such Act which provide for a 18 maximum civil penalty per violation of $42,350 (as 19 of February 14, 2019)), and entitled to the privi- 20 leges and immunities, provided in the Federal Trade 21 Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.). 22 (c) CONSULTATION WITH U.S. CUSTOMS AND BOR- 23 DER PROTECTION.—In carrying out this Act and promul- 24 gating rules under this Act, the Commission shall consult 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Jul 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S2208.IS S2208 jbell on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS 6 •S 2208 IS with the Commissioner of U.S. Customs and Border Pro- 1 tection. 2 (d) RULEMAKING.—The Commission shall promul- 3 gate in accordance with section 553 of title 5, United 4 States Code, such rules as may be necessary to carry out 5 this Act. 6 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 22:28 Jul 26, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S2208.IS S2208 jbell on DSK3GLQ082PROD with BILLS