COOL Online Act
Reps. Gimenez and Norcross Introduce Bipartisan Bill to Require Country of Origin Labels for Online Products
The COOL Online Act is currently in the early stages of the legislative process. It has been sent to three different House committees for review and is considered active. There are no specific dates scheduled for future votes at this time.
Legislative Progress
The bill has support from both parties and addresses a common consumer complaint, but it is still in the very early stages of the lawmaking process.
Key Points
Impact Analysis
Personal Impact
Small businesses selling foreign-made goods online would need to add country-of-origin and seller location information to every product listing. This creates a new compliance burden, especially for sellers who source from multiple countries. However, very small sellers (under $20,000 in annual sales and fewer than 200 transactions) are fully exempt, and all sellers get a safe harbor if they rely in good faith on information from their suppliers.
“the term ``small seller'' means a seller with annual sales of less than $20,000 and fewer than 200 discrete sales.”
Milestones
Referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committees on Ways and Means, and Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Sent to a congressional committee for expert review. The committee decides whether this bill moves forward.
Introduced in House
The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.
Votes
No votes have been recorded for this legislation yet.
Related News
2 articles
Country of Origin Labeling Online Act Introduced
H.R. 9057, introduced May 29 by Rep. Gimenez, would require online sellers to clearly disclose a product's country of origin and the seller's principal place of business. The bill aims to close a loophole where online sales are not subject to the same labeling requirements as physical stores.
Senate Commerce Committee Oversight of the FTC
During a contentious oversight hearing, Senator Tammy Baldwin highlighted the COOL Online Act, which would require products sold online to disclose where they are made. The bill, previously co-led by J.D. Vance, seeks to empower the FTC to enforce country-of-origin transparency in e-commerce.
Source Information
Document Type
Congressional Bill
Official Title
COOL Online Act
Data Sources
Sponsor
Cosponsors
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