IIA

103D CONGRESS

2D SESSION H. R. 3342

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

AUGUST 9 (legislative day, AUGUST 8), 1994

Received; read twice and referred to the Committee on Commerce, Science,

and Transportation

AN ACT

To establish a toll free number in the Department of Commerce to assist consumers in determining if products

are American-made.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. ESTABLISHMENT OF TOLL FREE NUMBER

4 PILOT PROGRAM.

5 (a) ESTABLISHMENT.—If the Secretary of Commerce

6 determines, on the basis of comments submitted in rule7 making under section 2, that—
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1 (1) interest among manufacturers is sufficient

2 to warrant the establishment of a 3-year toll free

3 number pilot program, and

4 (2) manufacturers will provide fees under sec5 tion 2(c) so that the program will operate without

6 cost to the Federal Government,

7 the Secretary shall establish such program solely to help

8 inform consumers whether a product is made in America

9 or the equivalent thereof. The Secretary shall publish the

10 toll-free number by notice in the Federal Register.

11 (b) CONTRACT.—The Secretary of Commerce shall

12 enter into a contract for—

13 (1) the establishment and operation of the toll

14 free number pilot program provided for in subsection

15 (a), and

16 (2) the registration of products pursuant to

17 regulations issued under section 2,

18 which shall be funded entirely from fees collected under

19 section 2(c).

20 (c) USE.—The toll free number shall be used solely

21 to inform consumers as to whether products are registered

22 under section 2 as made in America or the equivalent

23 thereof. Consumers shall also be informed that registra24 tion of a product does not mean—
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1 (1) that the product is endorsed or approved by

2 the Government,

3 (2) that the Secretary has conducted any inves4 tigation to confirm that the product is a product

5 which meets the definition of made in America or

6 the equivalent thereof, or

7 (3) that the product contains 100 percent Unit8 ed States content.

9 SEC. 2. REGISTRATION.

10 (a) PROPOSED REGULATION.—The Secretary of

11 Commerce shall propose a regulation—

12 (1) to establish a procedure under which the

13 manufacturer of a product may voluntarily register

14 such product as complying with the definition of a

15 product made in America or the equivalent thereof

16 and have such product included in the information

17 available through the toll free number established

18 under section 1(a);

19 (2) to establish, assess, and collect a fee to

20 cover all the costs (including start-up costs) of reg21 istering products and including registered products

22 in information provided under the toll-free number;

23 (3) for the establishment under section 1(a) of

24 the toll-free number pilot program; and
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1 (4) to solicit views from the private sector con2 cerning the level of interest of manufacturers in reg3 istering products under the terms and conditions of

4 paragraph (1).

5 (b) PROMULGATION.—If the Secretary determines

6 based on the comments on the regulation proposed under

7 subsection (a) that the toll-free number pilot program and

8 the registration of products is warranted, the Secretary

9 shall promulgate such regulations.

10 (c) REGISTRATION FEE.—

11 (1) IN GENERAL.—Manufacturers of products

12 included in information provided under section 1

13 shall be subject to a fee imposed by the Secretary

14 of Commerce to pay the cost of registering products

15 and including them in information provided under

16 subsection (a).

17 (2) AMOUNT.—The amount of fees imposed

18 under paragraph (1) shall—

19 (A) in the case of a manufacturer, not be

20 greater than the cost of registering the manu21 facturer’s product and providing product infor22 mation directly attributable to such manufac23 turer, and

24 (B) in the case of the total amount of fees,

25 not be greater than the total amount appro-
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1 priated to the Secretary of Commerce for sala2 ries and expenses directly attributable to reg3 istration of manufacturers and having products

4 included in the information provided under sec5 tion 1(a).

6 (3) CREDITING AND AVAILABILITY OF FEES.—

7 (A) IN GENERAL.—Fees collected for a fis8 cal year pursuant to paragraph (1) shall be

9 credited to the appropriation account for sala10 ries and expenses of the Secretary of Commerce

11 and shall be available in accordance with appro12 priation Acts until expended without fiscal year

13 limitation.

14 (B) COLLECTIONS AND APPROPRIATION

15 ACTS.—The fees imposed under paragraph

16 (1)—

17 (i) shall be collected in each fiscal

18 year in an amount equal to the amount

19 specified in appropriation Acts for such fis20 cal year, and

21 (ii) shall only be collected and avail22 able for the costs described in paragraph

23 (2).
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1 SEC. 3. PENALTY.

2 Any manufacturer of a product who knowingly reg3 isters a product under section 2 which is not made in

4 America or the equivalent thereof—

5 (1) shall be subject to a civil penalty of not

6 more than $7500 which the Secretary of Commerce

7 may assess and collect, and

8 (2) shall not offer such product for purchase by

9 the Federal Government.

10 SEC. 4. DEFINITION.

11 For purposes of this Act:

12 (1) The term ‘‘made in America or the equiva13 lent thereof’’ means—

14 (A) an unmanufactured end product mined

15 or produced in the United States; or

16 (B) an end product manufactured in the

17 United States if the value of its components

18 mined, produced, or manufactured in the Unit19 ed States equals 90 percent or more of the total

20 value of all of its components.

21 (2) The term ‘‘product’’ means a product with

22 a retail value of at least $250.

23 SEC. 5. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.

24 Nothing in this Act or in any regulation promulgated

25 under section 2 shall be construed to alter, amend, modify,

26 or otherwise affect in any way, the Federal Trade Com-
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1 mission Act or the opinions, decisions, and rules of the

2 Federal Trade Commission under such Act regarding the

3 use of the term ‘‘made in America or the equivalent there4 of’’ in labels on products introduced, delivered for intro5 duction, sold, advertised, or offered for sale in commerce.

Passed the House of Representatives August 8,

1994.

Attest: DONNALD K. ANDERSON,

Clerk.