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Bill 4361

                    Current Status

Bill Number:                      4361
Type of Legislation:              General Bill GB
Introducing Body:                 House
Introduced Date:                  20000111
Primary Sponsor:                  Altman
All Sponsors:                     Altman, Stille, Loftis
Drafted Document Number:          l:\council\bills\swb\5017mm00.doc
Residing Body:                    House
Current Committee:                Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee 26 
                                  HLCI
Subject:                          Bar Code and Scale Accuracy Act of 2000, 
                                  automated retail checkout system; Consumer 
                                  Affairs, Commerce Department


                        History

Body    Date      Action Description                     Com     Leg Involved
______  ________  ______________________________________ _______ ____________
House   20000126  Co-Sponsor added (Rule 5.2) by Rep.            Loftis
House   20000111  Introduced, read first time,           26 HLCI
                  referred to Committee
House   19991229  Prefiled, referred to Committee        26 HLCI


                             Versions of This Bill

TO AMEND CHAPTER 9, TITLE 39, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO WEIGHTS AND MEASURES, BY ADDING SECTION 39-9-75 SO AS TO ENACT THE "BAR CODE AND SCALE ACCURACY ACT OF 2000", TO DEFINE "AUTOMATED RETAIL CHECKOUT SYSTEM", TO PROVIDE FOR THE DISCRETIONARY AND MANDATORY EXAMINATION OF THE OPERATION OF AUTOMATED RETAIL CHECKOUT SYSTEMS BY THE COMMISSIONER OF AGRICULTURE FOR THE PURPOSE OF ENSURING PRICE CONFORMITY WITH ADVERTISED AND DISPLAYED PRICES, AND TO PROVIDE FOR CRIMINAL FINES AND CIVIL CITATIONS FOR VIOLATIONS OF THIS SECTION.

Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:

SECTION 1. Title 39, Chapter 9, of the 1976 Code is amended by adding:

"Section 39-9-75. (A) This section may be cited as the 'Bar Code and Scale Accuracy Act of 2000'.

(B) For purposes of this section, 'automated retail checkout system' means a cash register, computer, terminal, or other device capable of interpreting the universal product code, commonly known as the bar code, or other code, that is placed on an item offered for sale and used to determine the price of the item by manual or machine code entry or connected scales to weigh and price items.

(C) In addition to all other duties provided in this chapter, the Commissioner of Agriculture:

(1) shall examine and test, in every twelve-month period, the operation of all automated retail checkout systems in all establishments with three or more of the systems; and

(2) may examine and test, upon complaint to him, the operation of any automated retail checkout system which is the subject of the complaint.

(D) The examination and test prescribed must ensure that the price for which an item is offered or advertised for sale, including the advertised special price offered to a customer using a store-issued discount card, conforms to the:

(1) unit and net prices displayed to the customer; and

(2) price the customer is charged by the automated retail checkout system.

(E) The commissioner may examine and test the operation of any automated retail checkout system in any establishment, regardless of the number of cash registers in the establishment, on a more frequent basis than the schedule required in subsection (C).

(F)(1) Failure of a price conformity as described in subsection (D) is a violation of this section and, upon conviction, the owner or manager of the establishment must be fined one hundred dollars for a first offense, two hundred fifty dollars for a second offense, and five hundred dollars for the third and each subsequent offense.

(2) Notwithstanding imposition of the criminal penalties prescribed in item (1), the commissioner also may issue a civil citation in the amount of one hundred dollars for each violation, not to exceed two thousand five hundred dollars for each inspection. For purposes of the civil citation, each item for which the price fails to conform as described in subsection (D) is a separate civil violation.

(3) The commissioner also may seek injunctive relief for violations as described in this section, and he may refer violations of this section to the State Attorney General for civil action or criminal prosecution in connection with violations.

(4) A current record of all fines, penalties, and citations issued as provided in this section must be maintained in the files of the Department of Agriculture and must be available for public inspection.

(G) An establishment with three or more automated retail checkout systems must post a conspicuously sized and lettered sign, in a conspicuous location at the site of each of the systems, stating a toll-free telephone number for use by a customer in lodging a complaint with the Commissioner of Agriculture and explaining the customer's right to file a complaint of nonconformity.

(H) The commissioner shall issue and enforce reasonable regulations based on national industry standards and other criteria necessary to the administration of this section."

SECTION 2. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor and implementation must be funded by the General Assembly beginning in the general appropriations act for the fiscal year of its effective date.

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