II 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1421 

To require origin and location disclosure for new products of foreign origin 

offered for sale on the internet. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MAY 3, 2023 

Ms. BALDWIN (for herself, Mr. VANCE, Mr. SCOTT of Florida, Mr. HAWLEY, 

Mr. BRAUN, and Mr. BROWN) introduced the following bill; which was 

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

Transportation 

A BILL 

To require origin and location disclosure for new products 

of foreign origin offered for sale on the internet. 

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

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Country Of Origin La5 beling Online Act’’ or the ‘‘COOL Online Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. MANDATORY ORIGIN AND LOCATION DISCLOSURE 

7 FOR NEW PRODUCTS OF FOREIGN ORIGIN 

8 OFFERED FOR SALE ON THE INTERNET. 

9 (a) MANDATORY DISCLOSURE.— 


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1 (1) IN GENERAL.— 

2 (A) DISCLOSURE.—Subject to subpara3 graph (B), it shall be unlawful for a product 

4 that is marked or required to be marked under 

5 section 304 of the Tariff Act of 1930 (19 

6 U.S.C. 1304) to be introduced, sold, advertised, 

7 or offered for sale in commerce on an internet 

8 website unless the internet website description 

9 of the product indicates in a conspicuous 

10 place— 

11 (i) the country of origin of the prod12 uct (or, in the case of a multi-sourced 

13 product, the countries of origin), in a man14 ner consistent with the regulations pre15 scribed under such section 304; and 

16 (ii) the country in which the seller of 

17 the product has its principal place of busi18 ness. 

19 (B) EXCLUSIONS.— 

20 (i) AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS.—The 

21 disclosure requirements under clauses (i) 

22 and (ii) of subparagraph (A) shall not 

23 apply to— 

24 (I) a covered commodity (as de25 fined in section 281 of the AgriculVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 May 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1421.IS S1421

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1 tural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 

2 U.S.C. 1638)); 

3 (II) a meat or meat food product 

4 subject to inspection under the Fed5 eral Meat Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 

6 601 et seq.); 

7 (III) a poultry or poultry product 

8 subject to inspection under the Poul9 try Products Inspection Act (21 

10 U.S.C. 451 et seq.); or 

11 (IV) an egg product subject to 

12 regulation under the Egg Products 

13 Inspection Act (21 U.S.C. 1031 et 

14 seq.). 

15 (ii) FOOD AND DRUGS.—The disclo16 sure requirements under clauses (i) and 

17 (ii) of subparagraph (A) shall not apply to 

18 a food or drug (as those terms are defined 

19 in paragraphs (f) and (g), respectively, of 

20 section 201 of the Federal Food, Drug, 

21 and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 321) that is 

22 subject to the jurisdiction of the Food and 

23 Drug Administration. 

24 (iii) USED OR PREVIOUSLY OWNED

25 ARTICLES.—The disclosure requirements 


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1 under clauses (i) and (ii) of subparagraph 

2 (A) shall not apply to any used or pre3 viously owned article sold by an internet 

4 website marketplace or a seller on an inter5 net website marketplace. For the purposes 

6 of the preceding sentence, the term ‘‘used 

7 or previously owned article’’ means an arti8 cle that was previously sold or offered for 

9 sale at retail. 

10 (iv) SMALL SELLER.—The disclosure 

11 requirements under clauses (i) and (ii) of 

12 subparagraph (A) shall not apply to goods 

13 listed by a small seller. For the purposes 

14 of the preceding sentence, the term ‘‘small 

15 seller’’ means a seller with annual sales of 

16 less than $20,000 and fewer than 200 dis17 crete sales. 

18 (C) MULTI-SOURCED PRODUCTS.—For 

19 purposes of subparagraph (A)(i), a product 

20 shall be considered to be a ‘‘multi-sourced prod21 uct’’ if a seller offers for sale a finished prod22 uct, identical versions of which are produced in 

23 multiple countries. 

24 (2) CERTAIN DRUG PRODUCTS.—It shall be un25 lawful for a drug that is not subject to section 


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1 503(b)(1) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic 

2 Act (21 U.S.C. 353(b)(1)) and that is required to be 

3 marked under section 304 of the Tariff Act of 1930 

4 (19 U.S.C. 1304) to be offered for sale in commerce 

5 to consumers on an internet website unless the inter6 net website description of the drug indicates in a 

7 conspicuous place the name and place of business of 

8 the manufacturer, packer, or distributor that is re9 quired to appear on the label of the drug in accord10 ance with section 502(b) of the Federal Food, Drug, 

11 and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 352(b)). 

12 (3) OBLIGATION TO PROVIDE.—A manufac13 turer, importer, distributor, seller, supplier, or pri14 vate labeler seeking to have a product introduced, 

15 sold, advertised, or offered for sale in commerce 

16 shall provide the information identified clauses (i) 

17 and (ii) of paragraph (1)(A) or paragraph (2), as 

18 applicable, to the relevant retailer. 

19 (4) SAFE HARBOR.—A retailer or a seller on an 

20 internet website marketplace satisfies the disclosure 

21 requirements under clauses (i) and (ii) of paragraph 

22 (1)(A) or paragraph (2), as applicable, if the disclo23 sure includes the country of origin and seller infor24 mation provided by a third-party manufacturer, imVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 May 17, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1421.IS S1421

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1 porter, distributor, seller, supplier, or private labeler 

2 of the product. 

3 (b) ENFORCEMENT BY THE COMMISSION.— 

4 (1) UNFAIR OR DECEPTIVE ACTS OR PRAC5 TICES.—A violation of subsection (a) shall be treated 

6 as a violation of a rule prescribed under section 

7 18(a)(1)(B) of the Federal Trade Commission Act 

8 (15 U.S.C. 57a(a)(1)(B)). 

9 (2) POWERS OF THE COMMISSION.— 

10 (A) IN GENERAL.—The Commission shall 

11 enforce this section in the same manner, by the 

12 same means, and with the same jurisdiction, 

13 powers, and duties as though all applicable 

14 terms and provisions of the Federal Trade 

15 Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) were in16 corporated into and made a part of this section. 

17 (B) PRIVILEGES AND IMMUNITIES.—Any 

18 person that violates subsection (a) shall be sub19 ject to the penalties and entitled to the privi20 leges and immunities provided in the Federal 

21 Trade Commission Act (15 U.S.C. 41 et seq.) 

22 as though all applicable terms and provisions of 

23 that Act were incorporated and made part of 

24 this section. 


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1 (C) AUTHORITY PRESERVED.—Nothing in 

2 this section may be construed to limit the au3 thority of the Commission under any other pro4 vision of law. 

5 (3) INTERAGENCY AGREEMENT.—Not later 

6 than 6 months after the date of enactment of this 

7 section, the Commission, the U.S. Customs and Bor8 der Protection, and the Department of Agriculture 

9 shall— 

10 (A) enter into a Memorandum of Under11 standing or other appropriate agreement for the 

12 purpose of providing consistent implementation 

13 of this section; and 

14 (B) publish such agreement to provide 

15 public guidance. 

16 (4) DEFINITION OF COMMISSION.—In this sub17 section, the term ‘‘Commission’’ means the Federal 

18 Trade Commission. 

19 (c) LIMITATION OF LIABILITY.—A retailer or seller 

20 is not in violation of subsection (a) if— 

21 (1) a third-party manufacturer, distributor, sell22 er, supplier, or private labeler provided the retailer 

23 or seller with a false or deceptive representation as 

24 to the country of origin of a product or its parts or 

25 processing; and 


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1 (2) the retailer or seller— 

2 (A) relied in good faith on that representa3 tion; and 

4 (B) took immediate action to remove any 

5 such false or deceptive representations upon no6 tice. 

7 (d) AUTHORITY PRESERVED.—Nothing in this sec8 tion may be construed to limit the authority of the Depart9 ment of Agriculture, the Food and Drug Administration, 

10 or U.S. Customs and Border Protection under any other 

11 provision of law. 

12 (e) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect 

13 12 months after the date of the publication of the Memo14 randum of Understanding or agreement under subsection 

15 (b)(3). 

Æ 


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