As Introduced

127th General Assembly
Regular Session
2007-2008
H. B. No. 585


Representative Bolon 

Cosponsors: Representatives Chandler, Harwood, Brown, Brady, Luckie, Williams, B., Newcomb, Foley 



A BILL
To enact sections 3755.01, 3755.02, 3755.03, 3755.04, 1
3755.05, 3755.06, 3755.07, and 3755.08 of the 2
Revised Code to prohibit the sale of unsafe 3
children's products and to require commercial 4
dealers and retailers to take specific actions in 5
respect to unsafe children's products they have 6
sold or are selling.7


BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

       Section 1. That sections 3755.01, 3755.02, 3755.03, 3755.04, 8
3755.05, 3755.06, 3755.07, and 3755.08 of the Revised Code be 9
enacted to read as follows:10

       Sec. 3755.01.  As used in this chapter:11

       (A)(1) "Children's product" means any product, including, but 12
not limited to, a crib, a toddler bed, a bed, a car seat, a chair, 13
a high chair, a booster chair, a hook-on chair, a bath seat, a 14
gate or another enclosure for confining a child, a play yard, a 15
stationary activity center, a carrier, a stroller, a walker, a 16
swing, or a toy or play equipment, that fulfills both of the 17
following criteria:18

       (a) The product is designed or intended for use by or for the 19
care of any child under the age of nine;20

       (b) The product is designed or intended to come into contact 21
with a child under the age of nine while the product is used.22

       (2) Notwithstanding division (A)(1) of this section, 23
"children's product" does not include products that satisfy one of 24
the following criteria:25

       (a) The product may be used by or for the care of a child 26
under the age of nine, but is designed or intended for use by the 27
general population or segments of the general population and not 28
solely or primarily for use by or for the care of a child under 29
the age of nine;30

       (b) A product that is a drug, as defined in section 3715.01 31
of the Revised Code or food, as defined in that section, or a 32
product that is intended to be ingested.33

       (B) "Commercial dealer" means a person who deals in 34
children's products or who otherwise by occupation holds one's 35
self out as having knowledge or skill peculiar to children's 36
products, or any person who is in the business of remanufacturing, 37
retrofitting, selling, leasing, subletting, or otherwise placing 38
children's products into the stream of commerce and includes 39
manufacturers, importers, distributors, and wholesalers.40

       (C) "Crib" means a bed or containment designed to accommodate 41
an infant. 42

       (D) "Distributor" and "wholesaler" mean a person, other than 43
a manufacturer or retailer, who sells, resells, or otherwise 44
places children's products into the stream of commerce.45

       (E) "End consumer" means a person who purchases a children's 46
product for personal, family, or household use or a person who 47
initially purchases a children's product for personal, family, or 48
household use and subsequently resells the item.49

       (F) "First seller" means a retailer who sells a children's 50
product that has not been used or owned previously. 51

       (G) "Importer" means a person who brings children's products 52
into this country and places them into the stream of commerce.53

       (I) "Infant" means a person less than thirty-five inches tall 54
and less than three years of age.55

       (J) "Manufacturer" means a person who makes and places 56
children's products into the stream of commerce.57

       (K) "Person" has the same meaning as in section 1.59 of the 58
Revised Code and also includes limited liability companies.59

       (M) "Retailer" means a person who sells, leases, or sublets 60
children's products to the public or an end consumer.61

       (N) "Unsafe children's product" means a children's product to 62
which any of the following statements apply:63

       (1) The children's product does not conform to all applicable 64
federal laws and regulations setting forth standards for the 65
children's product;66

       (2) The children's product has been recalled for any reason 67
by or in cooperation with an agency of the federal government or 68
the commercial dealer of the children's product, and the recall 69
has not been rescinded;70

       (3) An agency of the federal government or the children's 71
product's commercial dealer has issued a warning that the intended 72
use of a specific children's product constitutes a safety hazard, 73
and the warning has not been rescinded;74

       (4) The children's product is a crib that fails to conform to 75
the standards for crib safety endorsed or established by the 76
consumer product safety commission of the United States, 77
including, but not limited to, 16 C.F.R. 1303 and 1509 and 17 78
C.F.R. 1508, or the standards for crib safety endorsed or 79
established by the American society for testing and materials 80
international, including, but not limited to, standards F 406, F 81
966, and F 1169 of the American society for testing and materials 82
international.83

       Sec. 3755.02.  (A) On or after the effective date of this 84
section, no commercial dealer or retailer may manufacture, 85
remanufacture, retrofit, distribute, sell at wholesale or retail, 86
contract to sell or resell, lease, sublet, import, or otherwise 87
place into the stream of commerce an unsafe children's product.88

       (B) A commercial dealer or retailer did not violate division 89
(A) of this section if the unsafe children's product the 90
commercial dealer or retailer sold was not included on the 91
comprehensive list maintained by the department of commerce 92
pursuant to division (A) of section 3755.03 of the Revised Code at 93
least twenty-four hours prior to the time the commercial dealer or 94
retailer sold that unsafe children's product.95

       (C) A commercial dealer is not violating division (A) of this 96
section if the unsafe children's product the commercial dealer 97
sells is retrofitted and all of the following conditions apply:98

       (1) The retrofit was approved by an agency of the federal 99
government;100

       (2) At the time the commercial dealer sells or transfers the 101
retrofitted children's product, the retrofitted children's product 102
is accompanied by a notice declaring that the retrofitted 103
children's product is safe for use by a child under the age of 104
nine; 105

       (3) The notice required by division (C)(2) of this section 106
contains a description of the original problem that made the 107
children's product unsafe, a description of the retrofit that 108
explains how the original problem was eliminated, the name and 109
address of the commercial dealer who accomplished the retrofit and 110
who is certifying that the work was done, and the name and model 111
number of the children's product that was retrofitted.112

       (D) A commercial dealer or retailer is not violating division 113
(A) of this section if the unsafe children's product the 114
commercial dealer or retailer is selling is accompanied, at the 115
time of sale or transfer by the commercial dealer or retailer, by 116
supplies and instructions for the consumer to accomplish a 117
retrofit that is approved by an agency of the federal government.118

       (E) A retailer is not violating division (A) of this section 119
if the retailer is a first seller and the retailer accomplishes, 120
prior to the sale of the unsafe children's product, the retrofit 121
that is approved by an agency of the federal government.122

       Sec. 3755.03.  The director of commerce shall do all of the 123
following:124

       (A) Maintain and update a comprehensive list of unsafe 125
children's products;126

       (B) Update the comprehensive list required by division (A) of 127
this section within twenty-four hours after the children's product 128
is publicly identified as an unsafe children's product by virtue 129
of the processes for making this determination as described in 130
division (N) of section 3755.01 of the Revised Code;131

       (C) Make the list required by division (A) of this section 132
available to the public at no cost; 133

       (D) Post on the web site maintained by the department the 134
list required by division (A) of this section, a hyperlink to the 135
specific recall notice or warning issued for each children's 136
product included on that list for which such a hyperlink exists, 137
and a hyperlink to www.recalls.gov or its successor uniform 138
resource locator;139

       (E) Review and update the hyperlinks described in division 140
(D) of this section as frequently as is practicable;141

       (F) Include information regarding the list required by 142
division (A) of this section in regular publications or mailings 143
issued by the department on the subject of consumer protection;144

       (G) Adopt rules pursuant to Chapter 119. of the Revised Code 145
that are necessary and proper to implement this section.146

       Sec. 3755.04.  If a commercial dealer places into the stream 147
of commerce a children's product for which that commercial dealer 148
or an agency of the federal government subsequently issues a 149
recall or warning, within the twenty-four hours after the 150
commercial dealer issues that recall or within twenty-four hours 151
after the commercial dealer receives a recall or warning notice 152
concerning that children's product from an agency of the federal 153
government, whichever is applicable, or if both are applicable, 154
the earlier of those times, the commercial dealer shall initiate 155
each of the following steps:156

       (A) Provide the recall notice or warning and other pertinent 157
information concerning that children's product to all of the 158
commercial dealer's commercial customers, other than end 159
consumers, to whom the commercial dealer sold, leased, sublet, or 160
transferred that children's product in this state; 161

       (B) Provide the information described in division (A) of this 162
section to the person designated by the commercial customer to 163
receive information concerning recalls or warnings for that 164
children's product;165

       (C) If the commercial dealer maintains a web site, place all 166
of the following on the web site:167

       (1) On the home page or first entry point of the web site, a 168
hyperlink of the uniform resource locator for the web site that 169
contains the specific recall notice or warning that was issued for 170
that children's product;171

       (2) A description of that children's product;172

       (3) The reason for the recall or warning;173

       (4) A picture of that children's product;174

       (5) Instructions on how to participate in the recall or 175
warning.176

       (D) When providing the information required by divisions (A) 177
and (B) of this section, the commercial dealer shall not include 178
sales or marketing information for that children's product or any 179
other product, but may include return and exchange policies; 180

       Sec. 3755.05.  (A) If a retailer receives a notice of a 181
recall or warning about a children's product from a commercial 182
dealer or federal agency, and if the retailer at any time offered 183
that children's product for sale in this state, the retailer shall 184
do all of the following with respect to that children's product:185

       (1) Within three business days after receipt of the recall or 186
warning notice, remove that children's product from the shelves of 187
its stores or program its registers to ensure that the children's 188
product cannot be sold;189

       (2) If that children's product is sold through the retailer's 190
web site, within three business days after receipt of the recall 191
or warning notice, remove all offers to sell that children's 192
product from the web site or disable the function that allows 193
consumers to purchase that children's product through the web 194
site;195

       (3) Within thirty days after the retailer receives the recall 196
or warning notice, send to any purchaser of that children's 197
product who provided an e-mail or shipping address at the time of 198
purchase, to either address provided, a notice that includes all 199
of the following:200

       (a) A description of the children's product;201

       (b) The reason for the recall or warning;202

       (c) A picture of the children's product;203

       (d) Instructions on how to participate in the recall or 204
warning.205

       (4) Not include sales or marketing information on that 206
children's product or any other product when providing the recall 207
or warning information required by division (A)(3) of this 208
section, but the retailer may include return and exchange 209
policies;210

       (5) Within five business days after the retailer receives the 211
recall or warning notice from a commercial dealer or federal 212
agency, post the recall or warning notice in a conspicuous 213
location in each retail store operated by that retailer in this 214
state for at least one hundred twenty days;215

       (6) If the children's product for which a recall or warning 216
was issued was sold on the retailer's web site, within five 217
business days after the receipt of the notice of the recall or 218
warning from a commercial dealer, place on its web site all of the 219
following:220

       (a) On the home page or the first entry point of the 221
retailer's web site, a hyperlink of the uniform resource locator 222
for the web site that contains the specific recall notice or 223
warning that was issued for the children's product in question; 224

       (b) A description of the children's product;225

       (c) The reason for the recall or warning;226

       (d) A picture of the children's product;227

       (e) Instructions on how to participate in the recall or 228
warning.229

       (B) A retailer who is not a first seller shall comply with 230
division (A) of this section except that a retailer who is not a 231
first seller shall have five days following the placement of a 232
recalled children's product on the list maintained by the director 233
of commerce as required under division (A) of section 3755.03 of 234
the Revised Code to comply with divisions (A)(1) and (2) of this 235
section. 236

       (C) A retailer who is both a first seller and a secondhand or 237
resale seller shall comply with division (A) of this section in 238
respect to products for which the retailer is the first seller and 239
shall comply with division (B) of this section in respect to 240
products for which the retailer is not the first seller.241

        (D) A commercial dealer who also performs as a retailer shall 242
comply with section 3755.04 of the Revised Code for activities the 243
commercial dealer engages in as a commercial dealer and shall 244
comply with this section for activities the commercial dealer 245
engages in as a retailer.246

       Sec. 3755.06.  Nothing in this chapter shall be interpreted 247
to allow any department, board, or other agency of the state or a 248
political subdivision of the state to issue recalls.249

       Sec. 3755.07.  Nothing in this chapter relieves a commercial 250
dealer or retailer from complying with requirements that may be 251
imposed on the commercial dealer or retailer by an agency of the 252
federal government.253

       Sec. 3755.08.  (A) If, by the attorney general's own 254
inquiries or as a result of complaints the attorney general 255
receives, the attorney general has reasonable cause to believe 256
that a person has engaged in or is engaging in an act or practice 257
that violates this chapter, the attorney general may do any of the 258
following:259

       (1) Exercise the same powers as those described in section 260
1345.06 of the Revised Code, except that information acquired as 261
described in division (E) of section 1345.06 of the Revised Code 262
shall be usable in an action for damages under division (A)(3) of 263
this section;264

       (2) Bring an action to obtain a temporary restraining order, 265
preliminary injunction, or permanent injunction to restrain the 266
act or practice that violates this chapter;267

       (3) Bring an action for a civil penalty in a court of 268
competent jurisdiction against the person.269

       (B) If the attorney general brings an action for a civil 270
penalty pursuant to division (A)(3) of this section, the court may 271
impose a civil penalty of not more than five hundred dollars for 272
each day that the violation continues. Civil penalties collected 273
pursuant to this division shall be paid as follows: one-fourth of 274
the amount to the treasurer of the county in which the action is 275
brought and three-fourths to the attorney general reimbursement 276
fund created by section 109.11 of the Revised Code.277