Bill Text: NY A05610 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Relates to establishing restrictions on the sale of over-the-counter diet pills and dietary supplements for weight loss or muscle building; prohibits the sale of over-the-counter diet pills or dietary supplements for weight loss or muscle building to people under 18; exempts certain protein powders, protein drinks and foods.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-1)
Status: (Passed) 2023-10-25 - signed chap.558 [A05610 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-A05610-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5610--D Cal. No. 174 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY March 17, 2023 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. ROZIC, HEVESI, McDONALD, AUBRY, SIMON, NOVAKHOV -- read once and referred to the Committee on Consumer Affairs and Protection -- reported and referred to the Committee on Codes -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- again reported from said committee with amendments, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- reported from committee, advanced to a third reading, amended and ordered reprinted, retaining its place on the order of third reading -- again amended on third reading, ordered reprinted, retaining its place on the order of third reading AN ACT to amend the general business law, in relation to establishing restrictions on the sale of over-the-counter diet pills and dietary supplements for weight loss or muscle building The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The general business law is amended by adding a new section 2 391-oo to read as follows: 3 § 391-oo. Sale of over-the-counter diet pills and dietary supplements 4 for weight loss or muscle building. 1. For purposes of this section the 5 following terms shall have the following meanings: 6 (a) "Dietary supplements for weight loss or muscle building" means a 7 class of dietary supplement as defined in section three hundred ninety- 8 one-o of this article that is labeled, marketed, or otherwise repres- 9 ented for the purpose of achieving weight loss or muscle building, but 10 shall not include protein powders, protein drinks and foods marketed as 11 containing protein unless the protein powder, protein drink or food 12 marketed as containing protein contains an ingredient other than protein 13 which would, considered alone, constitute a dietary supplement for 14 weight loss or muscle building. 15 (b) "Over-the-counter diet pills" means a class of drugs labeled, 16 marketed, or otherwise represented for the purpose of achieving weight EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD02273-14-3A. 5610--D 2 1 loss that are lawfully sold, transferred, or furnished over-the-counter 2 with or without a prescription pursuant to the federal food, drug, and 3 cosmetic act, 21 U.S.C. section 301 et seq., or regulations adopted 4 thereunder. 5 (c) "Retail establishment" means any vendor that, in the regular 6 course of business, sells dietary supplements for weight loss or muscle 7 building or over-the-counter diet pills at retail directly to the 8 public, including, but not limited to, pharmacies, grocery stores, other 9 retail stores, and vendors that accept orders placed by mail, telephone, 10 electronic mail, internet website, online catalog, or software applica- 11 tion. 12 (d) "Delivery sale" means any sale of over-the-counter diet pills or 13 dietary supplements for weight loss or muscle building to a consumer if: 14 (i) the consumer submits the order for the sale by means of a tele- 15 phone or other method of voice transmission, mail, or the internet or 16 other online service, or the seller is otherwise not in the physical 17 presence of the buyer when the request for purchase or order is made; or 18 (ii) the over-the-counter diet pills or dietary supplements for weight 19 loss or muscle building are delivered to the buyer by common carrier, 20 private delivery service, or other method of remote delivery, or the 21 seller is not in the physical presence of the buyer when the buyer 22 obtains possession of the over-the-counter diet pills or dietary supple- 23 ments for weight loss or muscle building. 24 (e) "Delivery seller" means a vendor, including online retailers, who 25 makes delivery sales of over-the-counter diet pills or dietary supple- 26 ments for weight loss or muscle building. Such vendors shall include 27 persons who accept orders placed by mail, telephone, electronic mail, 28 internet website, online catalog, or software application. 29 2. No person, firm, corporation, partnership, association, limited 30 liability company, or other entity shall sell or offer to sell or give 31 away, as either a retail or wholesale promotion, an over-the-counter 32 diet pill or dietary supplement for weight loss or muscle building with- 33 in this state to any person under eighteen years of age. Retail estab- 34 lishments shall require proof of legal age for purchase of such 35 products. For purposes of this section, proof of legal age shall mean 36 (a) a valid driver's license or non-driver's identification card issued 37 by the commissioner of motor vehicles, the federal government, any 38 United States territory, commonwealth or possession, the District of 39 Columbia, a state government within the United States, a provincial 40 government of the dominion of Canada, or the city of New York, or (b) a 41 valid passport issued by the United States government or any other coun- 42 try, or (c) an identification card issued by the armed forces of the 43 United States, indicating that the individual is at least eighteen years 44 of age, or (d) a student identification card, provided such card indi- 45 cates the date of birth of the individual. Such identification need not 46 be required of any individual who reasonably appears to be at least 47 twenty-five years of age; provided, however, that such appearance shall 48 not constitute a defense in any proceeding alleging the sale of any 49 over-the-counter diet pills and dietary supplements for weight loss or 50 muscle building to an individual under eighteen years of age. 51 3. (a) Any person operating a retail establishment may perform a tran- 52 saction scan as a precondition for the purchase of over-the-counter diet 53 pills or dietary supplements for weight loss or muscle building. 54 (b) In any instance where the information deciphered by the trans- 55 action scan fails to match the information printed on the driver's 56 license or non-driver identification card, or if the transaction scanA. 5610--D 3 1 indicates that the information is false or fraudulent, the attempted 2 transaction shall be denied. 3 (c) In any proceeding pursuant to subdivision five of this section, it 4 shall be an affirmative defense that such person had produced a driver's 5 license or non-driver identification card apparently issued by a govern- 6 mental entity, successfully completed that transaction scan, and that 7 over-the-counter diet pills or dietary supplements for weight loss of 8 muscle building were sold, delivered or given to such person in reason- 9 able reliance upon such identification and transaction scan. In evalu- 10 ating the applicability of such affirmative defense, the court shall 11 take into consideration any written policy adopted and implemented by 12 the seller to effectuate the provisions of this section. Use of a trans- 13 action scan shall not excuse any person operating a retail establishment 14 from the exercise of reasonable diligence otherwise required by this 15 section. 16 (d) A retail establishment or employee of such establishment shall 17 only use a device capable of deciphering any electronically readable 18 format, and shall only use the information recorded and maintained 19 through the use of such devices, for the purposes contained in this 20 subdivision. No retail establishment or employee of such establishment 21 shall resell or disseminate the information recorded during such a scan 22 to any third person. Such prohibited resale or dissemination includes 23 but is not limited to any advertising, marketing or promotional activ- 24 ities. Notwithstanding the restrictions imposed by this subdivision, 25 such records may be released pursuant to a court ordered subpoena or 26 pursuant to any other statute that specifically authorizes the release 27 of such information. Each violation of this subdivision shall be punish- 28 able by a civil penalty of not more than one thousand dollars. 29 (e) A retail establishment or employee of such establishment may elec- 30 tronically or mechanically record and maintain only the information from 31 a transaction scan necessary to effectuate this section. Such informa- 32 tion shall be limited to the following: (i) name, (ii) date of birth, 33 (iii) driver's license or non-driver identification number, and (iv) 34 expiration date. 35 4. Notwithstanding subdivision two of this section, a delivery seller, 36 including an online retailer, who mails or ships over-the-counter diet 37 pills or dietary supplements for weight loss or muscle building to 38 consumers: 39 (a) shall not sell, deliver, or cause to be delivered any over-the- 40 counter diet pills or dietary supplements for weight loss or muscle 41 building to a person under eighteen years of age; and 42 (b) shall use a method of mailing or shipping: 43 (i) that requires the purchaser placing the delivery sale order, or an 44 adult who is at least eighteen years of age to sign to accept delivery 45 of the shipping container at the delivery address; and 46 (ii) that requires the person who signs to accept delivery of the 47 shipping container to provide proof, in the form of a valid, govern- 48 ment-issued identification bearing a photograph of the individual, that 49 the person is at least eighteen years of age. 50 5. Whenever there shall be a violation of this section, an application 51 may be made by the attorney general in the name of the people of the 52 state of New York, to a court or justice having jurisdiction by a 53 special proceeding to issue an injunction, and upon notice to the 54 defendant of not less than five days, to enjoin and restrain the contin- 55 uance of such violation; and if it shall appear to the satisfaction of 56 the court or justice that the defendant has, in fact, violated thisA. 5610--D 4 1 section, an injunction may be issued by the court or justice, enjoining 2 and restraining any further violations, without requiring proof that any 3 person has, in fact, been injured or damaged thereby. Whenever a court 4 shall determine that a violation of this section has occurred, the court 5 may impose a civil penalty of not more than five hundred dollars. 6 6. When determining whether an over-the-counter diet pill or dietary 7 supplement is labeled, marketed, or otherwise represented for the 8 purpose of achieving weight loss or muscle building, the court shall 9 consider, but is not limited to, the following factors: 10 (a) whether the product contains: 11 (i) an ingredient approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration 12 for weight loss or muscle building; 13 (ii) a steroid; or 14 (iii) creatine, green tea extract, raspberry ketone, garcinia cambo- 15 gia, green coffee bean extract; 16 (b) whether the product's labeling or marketing bears statements or 17 images that express or imply that the product will help: 18 (i) modify, maintain, or reduce body weight, fat, appetite, overall 19 metabolism, or the process by which nutrients are metabolized; or 20 (ii) maintain or increase muscle or strength; 21 (c) whether the product or its ingredients are otherwise represented 22 for the purpose of achieving weight loss or building muscle; or 23 (d) whether the retailer has categorized the dietary supplement for 24 weight loss or muscle building by: 25 (i) placing signs, categorizing, or tagging the supplement with state- 26 ments described in paragraph (b) of this subdivision; 27 (ii) grouping the supplements with other weight loss or muscle build- 28 ing products in a display, advertisement, webpage, or area of the store; 29 or 30 (iii) otherwise representing that the product is for weight loss or 31 muscle building. 32 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after 33 it shall have become a law.