COOL Online Act

II 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION S. 3707 To require clear disclosure of seller location and country-of-origin labeling for products advertised for sale on the internet and to prohibit false and misleading representation of United States origin on products, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 13, 2020 Ms. BALDWIN (for herself, Mr. SCOTT of Florida, Mr. MURPHY, and Mrs. LOEFFLER) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and re- ferred to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation A BILL To require clear disclosure of seller location and country- of-origin labeling for products advertised for sale on the internet and to prohibit false and misleading representa- tion of United States origin on products, 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 ‘‘Country Of Origin La- 4 beling Online Act’’ or the ‘‘COOL Online Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 May 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3707.IS S3707 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 3707 IS SEC. 2. MANDATORY ORIGIN AND LOCATION DISCLOSURE 1 FOR PRODUCTS ADVERTISED FOR SALE ON 2 THE INTERNET. 3 (a) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for a product 4 to be introduced, sold, advertised, or offered for sale in 5 commerce on an internet website unless the internet 6 website description of the product— 7 (1)(A) except as provided in subparagraph (B), 8 indicates in a conspicuous place the country of ori- 9 gin of the product, in a manner consistent with the 10 regulations prescribed under section 304 of the Tar- 11 iff Act of 1930 (19 U.S.C. 1304) and the country 12 of origin marking regulations administered by U.S. 13 Customs and Border Protection; or 14 (B) includes, in the case of— 15 (i) a new passenger motor vehicle (as de- 16 fined in section 32304 of title 49, United States 17 Code), the disclosure required by such section; 18 (ii) a textile fiber product (as defined in 19 section 2 of the Textile Fiber Products Identi- 20 fication Act (15 U.S.C. 70b)), the disclosure in 21 labeling required by such Act; 22 (iii) a wool product (as defined in section 23 2 of the Wool Products Labeling Act of 1939 24 (15 U.S.C. 68)), the disclosure in labeling re- 25 quired by such Act; 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 May 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3707.IS S3707 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 3707 IS (iv) a fur product (as defined in section 2 1 of the Fur Products Labeling Act (15 U.S.C. 2 69)), the disclosure in labeling required by such 3 Act; 4 (v) a covered commodity (as defined in sec- 5 tion 281 of the Agricultural Marketing Act of 6 1946 (7 U.S.C. 1638)), the country of origin 7 information required by section 282 of such Act 8 (7 U.S.C. 1638a); and 9 (vi) a pharmaceutical product subject to 10 the jurisdiction of the Food and Drug Adminis- 11 tration, the disclosure required by section 502 12 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act 13 (21 U.S.C. 352); and 14 (2) indicates in a conspicuous place the country 15 in which the seller of the product is located (and, if 16 applicable, the country in which any parent corpora- 17 tion of such seller is located), in a manner consistent 18 with the regulations prescribed under such section 19 304. 20 (b) LIMITATION.—The disclosure of a product’s coun- 21 try of origin required pursuant to subsection (a)(1) shall 22 not be made in such a manner as to represent to a con- 23 sumer that the product is in whole, or substantial part, 24 of domestic origin consistent with the decisions and orders 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 May 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3707.IS S3707 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 3707 IS of the Commission issued pursuant to section 5 of the 1 Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 5). 2 (c) APPLICATION TO THIRD-PARTY MARKET- 3 PLACE.— 4 (1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding section 5 230(c)(1) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 6 U.S.C. 230(c)(1)), subject to paragraph (2), the re- 7 quirements of this section shall apply to the provider 8 or publisher of any internet marketplace. 9 (2) LIMITATION.—The requirements of this sec- 10 tion shall not apply to the provider or publisher of 11 any internet website marketplace that can dem- 12 onstrate that it acted in good faith reliance on the 13 written designation of a product’s country of origin 14 made by a product’s manufacturer, marketer, or im- 15 porter. 16 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON FALSE AND MISLEADING REP- 17 RESENTATION OF UNITED STATES ORIGIN ON 18 PRODUCTS. 19 (1) UNLAWFUL ACTIVITY.—Notwithstanding 20 any other provision of law, including section 21 230(c)(1) of the Communications Act of 1934 (47 22 U.S.C. 230(c)(1)), it shall be unlawful to make any 23 false or deceptive representation that a product or 24 its parts or processing are of United States origin 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 May 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3707.IS S3707 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 3707 IS in any labeling, advertising, or other promotional 1 materials, or any other form of marketing, including 2 marketing through digital or electronic means in the 3 United States. 4 (2) DECEPTIVE REPRESENTATION.—For pur- 5 poses of paragraph (1), a representation as to 6 United States origin is deceptive if, at the time the 7 representation is made, it cannot be substantiated as 8 an unqualified or qualified express or implied origin 9 claim in accordance with— 10 (A) the Commission’s Enforcement Policy 11 Statement on U.S. Origin Claims (62 Fed. Reg. 12 63756 et seq.); or 13 (B) such further rules or policies as the 14 Commission may publish from time to time. 15 SEC. 4. ENFORCEMENT BY COMMISSION. 16 (a) UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACTS OR PRACTICES.— 17 A violation of section 2 or 3 shall be treated as a violation 18 of a rule defining an unfair or a deceptive act or practice 19 under section 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commis- 20 sion Act (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). 21 (b) POWERS OF THE FEDERAL TRADE COMMIS- 22 SION.— 23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall en- 24 force this Act in the same manner, by the same 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 May 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3707.IS S3707 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 6 •S 3707 IS means, and with the same jurisdiction, powers, and 1 duties as though all applicable terms and provisions 2 of the Federal Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 3 et seq.) were incorporated into and made a part of 4 this Act. 5 (2) PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES.—Any person 6 that violates section 2 or 3 shall be subject to the 7 penalties and entitled to the privileges and immuni- 8 ties provided in the Federal Trade Commission Act 9 (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) as though all applicable terms 10 and provisions of that Act were incorporated and 11 made part of this Act. 12 (3) AUTHORITY PRESERVED.—Nothing in this 13 Act may be construed to limit the authority of the 14 Commission under any other provision of law. 15 SEC. 5. DEFINITION OF COMMISSION. 16 In this Act, the term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Fed- 17 eral Trade Commission. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 03:59 May 30, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S3707.IS S3707 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS