Massachusetts § 115A - Unit pricing of packaged commodities; retail sale; regulations; enforcement; penalties; report

§ 115A. Unit pricing of packaged commodities; retail sale; regulations; enforcement; penalties; report

Section 115A. The director of standards may adopt regulations establishing lists of packaged commodities necessary for personal, family or household use to be offered for sale at retail and which may not be sold in retail stores unless there is posted in a conspicuous place at or near the point of sale the price per pound, pint or other unit or measurement of contents and the total sales price. Such regulations shall exempt any packaged commodity whose net weight is one whole unit or two whole units and which has the retail price plainly marked thereon. No packaged commodity shall be included in these regulations which must be individually marked with the cost per unit of weight, liquid, or dry measure, as provided in section one hundred and eighty-one of chapter ninety-four. Said director of standards may adopt such further regulations as are necessary to carry out the intent of this section, provided that a public hearing shall be held relative to any packaged commodity proposed to be regulated. The director of standards and local sealers and deputy sealers of weights and measures and local inspectors and deputy inspectors of weights and measures in cities and towns shall enforce any regulation adopted pursuant to the authorization contained in this section, and shall issue notices of violations of this section. Whoever violates any provision of this section shall for the first offense be punished by a fine of not less than ten nor more than fifty dollars, and for a subsequent offence by a fine of not less than twenty-five nor more than one hundred dollars or shall be subject to a civil citation as provided in section 29A of chapter 98.

Said director of standards shall annually report to the general court on or before the last Wednesday in January of each year relative to any action taken by it pursuant to this section in the preceding year.

This section shall not apply to a retail establishment that has a sales volume of less than $5,000,000 per year of in-store sales.