BILL NUMBER: SB 465 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 16, 2013
INTRODUCED BY Senator Correa
FEBRUARY 21, 2013
An act to amend Section 12603 12606
of the Business and Professions Code, relating to packaging and
labeling.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SB 465, as amended, Correa. Fair Packaging and Labeling
Act. Act: containers: slack fill .
Existing law establishes the Department of Food and Agriculture
and sets forth its powers and duties, including, but not limited to,
enforcement of the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act. The act prohibits
specified persons from distributing any packaged
commodity that is not in conformity with prescribed packaging and
labeling requirements , except as provided . The act
prohibits a container wherein commodities are packed to have a false
bottom, false sidewalls, false lid or covering, or to be constructed
or filled as to facilitate the perpetration of deception or fraud.
The act prohibits a container from being made, formed, or
filled as to be misleading. The act provides that a container that
does not allow a consumer to fully view its contents violates this
provision if it contains nonfunctional slack fill. The act provides
that nonfunctional slack fill is the empty space in a package that is
filled to less than its capacity for other than specified reasons.
The bill would specify that the presence of nonfunctional slack
fill in a package is required for a violation of any of these
container-related provisions. This bill would specify that
nonfunctional slack fill is the empty space in a package that is
filled to substantially less than its capacity for other than any one
or more of the specified reasons. The bill also would declare that
the changes to these provisions do not constitute a change in, but
are declaratory of, existing law.
This bill would make nonsubstantive changes to the latter
provision.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no.
State-mandated local program: no.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 12606 of the
Business and Professions Code is amended to read:
12606. (a) No container wherein commodities are packed shall have
a false bottom, false sidewalls, false lid or covering, or be
otherwise so constructed or filled, wholly or partially, as to
facilitate the perpetration of deception or fraud , except that
the presence of nonfunctional slack fill as specified in subdivision
(c) shall be required for any violation of this provision .
(b) No container shall be made, formed, or filled as to be
misleading , except that the presence of nonfunctional slack
fill as specified in subdivision (c) shall be required for
any violation of this provision . A container that
does not allow the consumer to fully view its contents shall be
considered to be filled as to be misleading if it contains
nonfunctional slack fill. Slack
(c) As used in this section,
slack fill is the difference between the actual capacity of a
container and the volume of product contained therein. Nonfunctional
slack fill is the empty space in a package that is filled to
substantially less than its capacity for reasons other than
any one or more of the following:
(1) Protection of the contents of the package.
(2) The requirements of machines used for enclosing the contents
of the package.
(3) Unavoidable product settling during shipping and handling.
(4) The need to utilize a larger than required package or
container to provide adequate space for the legible presentation of
mandatory and necessary labeling information, such as those based on
the regulations adopted by the Food and Drug Administration or state
or federal agencies under federal or state law, laws or regulations
adopted by foreign governments, or under an industrywide voluntary
labeling program.
(5) The fact that the product consists of a commodity that is
packaged in a decorative or representational container where the
container is part of the presentation of the product and has value
that is both significant in proportion to the value of the product
and independent of its function to hold the product, such as a gift
combined with a container that is intended for further use after the
product is consumed, or durable commemorative or promotional
packages.
(6) An inability to increase the level of fill or to further
reduce the size of the package, such as where some minimum package
size is necessary to accommodate required labeling, discourage
pilfering, facilitate handling, or accommodate tamper-resistant
devices.
(7) The product container bears a reasonable relationship to the
actual amount of product contained inside, and the dimensions of the
actual product container, the product, or the amount of product
therein is visible to the consumer at the point of sale, or where
obvious secondary use packaging is involved.
(8) The dimensions of the product or immediate product container
are visible through the exterior packaging, or where the actual size
of the product or immediate product container is clearly and
conspicuously depicted on any side of the exterior
packaging, accompanied by a clear and conspicuous disclosure that the
representation is the "actual size" of the product or the immediate
product container.
(9) The presence of any headspace within an immediate product
container necessary to facilitate the mixing, adding, shaking, or
dispensing of liquids or powders by consumers prior to use.
(10) The exterior packaging contains a product delivery or dosing
device if the device is visible, or a clear and conspicuous depiction
of the device appears on the exterior packaging, or it is readily
apparent from the conspicuous exterior disclosures or the nature and
name of the product that a delivery or dosing device is contained in
the package.
(11) The exterior packaging or immediate product container is a
kit that consists of a system, or multiple components, designed to
produce a particular result that is not dependent upon the quantity
of the contents, if the purpose of the kit is clearly and
conspicuously disclosed on the exterior packaging.
(12) The exterior packaging of the product is routinely displayed
using tester units or demonstrations to consumers in retail stores,
so that customers can see the actual, immediate container of the
product being sold, or a depiction of the actual size thereof prior
to purchase.
(13) The exterior packaging consists of single or multiunit
presentation boxes of holiday or gift packages if the purchaser can
adequately determine the quantity and sizes of the immediate product
container at the point of sale.
(14) The exterior packaging is for a combination of one purchased
product, together with a free sample or gift, wherein the exterior
packaging is necessarily larger than it would otherwise be due to the
inclusion of the sample or gift, if the presence of both products
and the quantity of each product are clearly and conspicuously
disclosed on the exterior packaging.
(15) The exterior packaging or immediate product container
encloses computer hardware or software designed to serve a particular
computer function, if the particular computer function to be
performed by the computer hardware or software is clearly and
conspicuously disclosed on the exterior packaging.
(c)
( d) Any sealer may seize a container that
facilitates the perpetration of deception or fraud and the contents
of the container. By order of the superior court of the county within
which a violation of this section occurs, the containers seized
shall be condemned and destroyed or released upon conditions the
court may impose to insure against their use in violation of this
chapter. The contents of any condemned container shall be returned to
the owner thereof if the owner furnishes proper facilities for the
return. A proceeding under this section is a limited civil case if
the value of the property in controversy is less than or equal to the
maximum amount in controversy for a limited civil case under Section
85 of the Code of Civil Procedure.
SEC. 2. The amendments to Section 12606 of the
Business and Professions Code made by Section 1 of this act do not
constitute a change in, but are declaratory of, existing law.
SECTION 1. Section 12603 of the Business and
Professions Code is amended to read:
12603. A person subject to the prohibition in Section 12602 shall
not distribute any packaged commodity unless it is in conformity
with regulations that shall be established by the director that shall
provide:
(a) The commodity shall bear a label specifying the identity of
the commodity and the name and place of business of the manufacturer,
packer, or distributor.
(b) The net quantity of contents (in terms of weight or mass,
measure, numerical count, or time) shall be separately and accurately
stated in a uniform location upon the principal display panel of
that label, using the most appropriate units of both the customary
inch-pound system of measure, and except as provided in subdivisions
(c) and (d), the SI (Systeme International d'Unites) metric system.
(c) On a random package labeled in terms of pounds and decimal
fractions of the pound, the statement may be carried out to not more
than three decimal places and is not required to, but may include a
statement in terms of the SI metric system carried out to not more
than three decimal places.
(d) The requirements of subdivision (b) concerning labeling using
the metric system do not apply to nonconsumer packages, foods that
are packaged at the retail store level, or to the sale or
distribution of products whose labels have been printed prior to
February 14, 1994.
(e) This section shall become operative on February 14, 1994.