Guam § 40120 - Labeling Requirements.

§ 40120. Labeling Requirements.

(a) All labels of consumer commodities, as defined by this Act, shall

conform with the requirements for the declaration of net quantity of

contents of Section 4 of the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act (15 U.S.C.

1451, et. seq.) and the regulations promulgated pursuant thereto; provided,

that consumer commodities exempted from such requirements of Section 4

of the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act shall also be exempt from this

Subsection.

(b) The label of any package of a consumer commodity which bears a

representation as to the number of servings of such commodity contained in

such package shall bear a statement of the net quantity (in terms of weight,

measure or numerical count) of each such serving.

(c) If an article is alleged to be misbranded because the labeling is

misleading, or if an advertisement is alleged to be false because it is

misleading, then in determining whether the labeling or advertisement is

misleading, there shall be taken into account (among other things) not only

representations made or suggested by statement, word, design, device,

sound or in any combination thereof, but also the extent to which the

labeling or advertisement fails to reveal facts material in the light of such

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representations or material with respect to consequences which may result

from the use of the article to which the labeling or advertisement relates

under the conditions of use prescribed in the labeling or advertisement

thereof or under such conditions of use as are customary or usual.

(d) No person shall distribute or cause to be distributed in commerce

any packaged consumer commodity if any qualifying words or phrases

appear in conjunction with the separate statement of the net quantity of

contents required by Subsection (a), but nothing in this Section shall

prohibit supplemental statements, at other places on the package, describing

in nondeceptive terms the net quantity of contents; provided, that such

supplemental statements of net quantity of contents shall not include any

term qualifying a unit of weight, measure or count that tends to exaggerate

the amount of the commodity contained in the package.

(e) Whenever the Director determines that regulations containing

prohibitions or requirements other than those prescribed by Section 21(a)

are necessary to prevent the deception of consumers or to facilitate value

comparisons as to any consumer commodity, the Director shall promulgate

with respect to that commodity regulations effective to:

(1) establish and define standards for the characterization of the

size of a package enclosing any consumer commodity, which may be

used to supplement the label statement of net quantity of contents of

packages containing such commodity, but this Paragraph shall not be

construed as authorizing any limitation on the size, shape, weight,

dimensions or number of packages which may be used to enclose any

commodity;

(2) regulate the placement upon any package containing any

commodity or upon any label affixed to such commodity, of any

printed matter stating or representing by implication that such

commodity is offered for retail sale at a price lower than the ordinary

retail sale price or that a retail sale price advantage is accorded to

purchasers thereof by reason of the size of that package or the quantity

of its contents;

(3) require that the label on each package of a consumer

commodity bear (A) the common or usual name of such consumer

commodity, if any, and (B) in case such consumer commodity consists

of two or more ingredients, the common or usual name of each such

ingredient listed in order of decreasing predominance, but nothing in

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this Paragraph shall be deemed to require that any trade secret be

divulged; or

(4) prevent the nonfunctional slack-fill of packages containing

consumer commodities.

For the purpose of Paragraph (4) of Subsection (e), a package shall be

deemed to be non functional slack-filled if it is filled of substantially less

than its capacity for reasons other than (A) protection of the contents of

such package or (B) the requirements of machines used for enclosing the

contents in such package; provided, that the Director may adopt any

regulations promulgated pursuant to the Fair Packaging and Labeling Act

which shall have the force and effect of law in this Territory.

(f) Any food, drug or consumer commodity for which the manufacturer

or distributor has established or recommended a pull date or other date by

which the food, drug or consumer commodity should be used shall:

(1) Have the pull date, "best if used by date, expiration date or

other date by which the food, drug or consumer commodity should be

used, clearly marked on the packaging or labeling. Color coding may

be used if the meanings of the color codes are clearly and plainly

displayed in close proximity to the consumer commodities. Any

product with a date on it shall be clearly marked as to whether the date

is the date of packaging, the pull date, the expiration date, or some

other date.

(2) Any outdated food, drug or consumer commodity which is still

fit for human consumption and which is more than two days outdated,

may be sold, displayed in a retail store or offered for sale only if the

item is still fit for human consumption and each package is clearly

marked with the word "Outdated or "Expired Merchandise or such

other words of similar meaning as may be approved by regulations

promulgated by the Director of the Department of Public Health.

(3) Notwithstanding any provision of law, all fresh or frozen

packaged meat, fresh eggs, bread, fresh milk and fresh daily products

and ice cream, and such other food, drug and consumer commodity

designated by the Director of the Department of Public Health and

Social Services shall have a clearly designated expiration date on each

package offered for retail sale. Notwithstanding any other provision of

law, in lieu of stamping any required labels whatsoever on individual

eggs, such information may instead be stamped on each egg carton if

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the eggs are packed in individual cartons of twelve (12) eggs or less as

required by 5 GCA Chapter 66, the Chicken Egg Regulation. (g) Any

dented or damaged package or can of consumer products shall clearly

be marked "Damaged.

(h) Any fresh or frozen meat or poultry products which have had water

added shall be clearly labeled "Water added. Any meat products which have

been previously given a United States Department of Agriculture grade or

category shall have the grade or category clearly marked on each package of

meat offered for sale, whether or not later repackaged.

(i) It shall be unlawful to sell any rusty canned goods or goods with

rusty metal lids, unless the rust can be removed by rubbing with a cotton

cloth.

(j) It shall be a misdemeanor for any person to sell or offer for sale any

food, drug or consumer commodity which is not clearly labeled and marked

in English or Chamorro as herein provided for in this Chapter.

(k) In addition to criminal penalties for the violation of this Section, the

Director of Public Health and Social Services shall, by rules and regulations

to be established seize and destroy all food, drug, or consumer products

which are displayed or offered for sale which are not properly marked or

labeled in the English or Chamorro languages, and shall pursuant to

regulations, impose civil penalties and fines not exceed Five Hundred

Dollars ($500) for each failure to properly label or mark products in English

or Chamorro languages as provided by this Chapter, and may, pursuant to

regulation, and close repeated offenders; shall

(l) In addition to any other penalties provided for by law, each violation

of this Section shall be counted as at least one or more demerits as the

conditions dictate, in determining demerit points in the issuance of sanitary

permits or renewals thereof as provided for in 10 GCA Chapter 21. For

purposes of this subsection, a minimum of one (1) demerit point must be

given for each different inventory item found in violation of this Section,

but exactly identical items found in violation may be counted as one

violation.

(m) Any seller of food, drugs and consumer commodities found to

have more than twenty (20) different products displayed or offered for sale

which do not comply with the provisions of this Section shall be

immediately closed in the same manner as an unsanitary establishment

pursuant to the provisions of 10 GCA Chapter 21.

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(n) The Director of the Department of Public Health and Social

Services shall promulgate rules and regulations to implement this Section

pursuant to the Administrative Adjudication Act.