Amended in Senate April 29, 2013

Amended in Senate April 2, 2013

Senate Bill No. 661

Introduced by Senator Hill

February 22, 2013

An act to amend Section 17533.7 of the Business and Professions Code, relating to advertising.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

SB 661, as amended, Hill. False advertising.

Existing law makes it unlawful for any person, firm, corporation, or association to sell, or offer for sale, merchandise that advertises itself as being made or manufactured in the United States when any article, unit, or part of the merchandise has been entirely or substantially made, manufactured, or produced outside of the United States.

This bill would eliminate the requirement that any article, unit, or part of the merchandise also be substantially manufactured in the United States in order for the merchandise to advertise that it is made in the United States. The bill would further provide that any merchandise has been substantially made, manufactured, or produced within the United States if specified requirements are met, including that United States manufacturing costs constitute begin delete 75% end delete begin insert 90% end insert of the total manufacturing costs for the merchandise and the merchandise was last substantially transformed in the United States. begin insert The bill would also create a rebuttable presumption that the merchandise has been substantially made, manufactured, or produced within the United States if an independent 3rd-party verification organization certifies that the merchandise meets all of these requirements. end insert

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 17533.7 of the Business and Professions
Code is amended to read:

17533.7.  

(a) It is unlawful for any person, firm, begin delete corporation end delete
begin insert corporation, end insert or association to sell or offer for sale in this state any
merchandise on which merchandise or on its container there
appears the words “Made in U.S.A.,” “Made in America,”
“U.S.A.,” or similar words when the merchandise has been entirely
or substantially made, manufactured, or produced outside of the
United States.

(b) For purposes of this section, any merchandise has been
substantially made, manufactured, or produced within the United
States if it meets all of the following requirements:

(1) United States manufacturing costs constitute begin delete 75 end delete begin insert 90 end insert percent
of the total manufacturing costs for the merchandise.

(2) No more than begin delete 25 end delete begin insert 10 end insert percent of the total manufacturing costs
for the merchandise were either incurred outside of the United
States as a result of the unavailability of raw materials in the United
States, or incurred as the costs of a component, part, article, or unit
of the merchandise imported into the United States as a result of
the unavailability of the same component, part, article, or unit of
the merchandise from a domestic manufacturer.

(3) The merchandise was last substantially transformed in the
United States.

begin insert

(c) Certification by an independent third-party verification
organization that the merchandise meets all of the requirements
of subdivision (b) shall create a rebuttable presumption, affecting
the burden of producing evidence, that the merchandise has been
substantially made, manufactured, or produced within the United
States.

end insert