BILL NUMBER: SB 661	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 29, 2013
	AMENDED IN SENATE  APRIL 2, 2013

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  75%
  90%  of the total manufacturing costs for the
merchandise and the merchandise was last substantially transformed in
the United States.  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. 
   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, 
corporation   corporation,  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  75
  90  percent of the total manufacturing costs for
the merchandise.
   (2) No more than  25   10  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. 
   (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.