COOL Online Act
Sponsored By: Senator Tammy Baldwin
Introduced
Summary
This bill would require conspicuous country-of-origin and seller-location disclosures for new imported products sold online. It assigns enforcement to the Federal Trade Commission as unfair or deceptive trade practices.
Show full summary
- Consumers would see country-of-origin and the seller's principal place of business on online product pages, making origin information easier to find.
- Online retailers and marketplaces would have to display origin and seller-country for products marked under the Tariff Act. Retailers are protected if they rely in good faith on third-party information and promptly remove false claims.
- Small sellers with under $20,000 in annual sales and fewer than 200 discrete sales would be exempt from the disclosure rules.
- Manufacturers, importers, distributors, sellers, suppliers, and private labelers would be required to provide the needed origin and seller-location information to retailers.
- Certain marked drugs would need online listings to include the manufacturer, packer, or distributor name and place of business as required by FDA labeling law.
- The FTC would enforce violations as FTC Act rule violations and would be directed to coordinate with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Department of Agriculture via a Memorandum of Understanding within six months. The disclosure requirement would take effect 12 months after that memorandum is published.
Your PRIA Score
Personalized for You
How does this bill affect your finances?
Sign up for a PRIA Policy Scan to see your personalized alignment score for this bill and every other piece of legislation we track. We analyze your financial profile against policy provisions to show you exactly what matters to your wallet.
Bill Overview
Analyzed Economic Effects
1 provisions identified: 0 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.
Online origin and seller labels
If enacted, this bill would require online product pages to show the product's country of origin and the seller's principal place of business for items covered by U.S. marking rules. Identical products made in multiple countries would list all countries of origin. Manufacturers, importers, distributors, and private labelers would have to give that information to retailers. Small sellers (under $20,000 in annual sales and fewer than 200 sales), certain farm commodities, inspected meat, poultry, egg products, FDA-regulated foods and drugs, and used items sold on marketplaces would be exempt. Retailers who show supplier-provided info would get a safe harbor and would not be liable if they relied in good faith and removed false claims quickly. The Federal Trade Commission would enforce the rule. Agencies must publish a public Memorandum of Understanding within 6 months, and the rule would take effect 12 months after that publication.
Sponsors & CoSponsors
Sponsor
Tammy Baldwin
WI • D
Cosponsors
Rick Scott
FL • R
Sponsored 1/29/2025
Roll Call Votes
No roll call votes available for this bill.
View on Congress.govTake It Personal
Get Your Personalized Policy View
Start a Free Government Policy Watch to see how policy affects your household, then upgrade to PRIA Full Coverage for year-round monitoring.
Already have an account? Sign in