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Bill to require English labels on products containing chemicals
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Posted on Nov 29 2004
The House of Representatives has passed a measure requiring that all chemical-containing products distributed within the Commonwealth be marked with English labels identifying their chemical contents.
House Bill 14-90, authored by Rep. Ramon A. Tebuteb, seeks to require all products imported, sold, manufactured, or distributed within the Commonwealth to bear an English label identifying each chemical and chemical compound by the chemical name.
The bill notes that some products currently imported, sold, manufactured, or distributed within the CNMI bear labels in languages other than English.
“[This] poses a potential health hazard to the general public who may be unable to determine the contents of the products, particularly when the product contains irritants, carcinogens, corrosive, toxic or highly toxic chemicals,” a portion of the bill reads.
The House Committee on Judiciary and Government Operations, which reviewed and recommended passage of the bill, said allowing consumers to know the exact contents of products will minimize injury.
The committee further maintained that the use of English is allowed because it is one of the three official languages recognized by the Commonwealth Constitution and it is widely used in public and private schools.
The bill tasks various agencies to implement the measure once it is enacted.
The Attorney General’s Office, working with the Department of Commerce, Division of Environmental Quality, and Division of Customs, would adopt regulations implementing the law.
DEQ would conduct public education for a period of six months after the law takes effect. It would be Customs’ duty to issue orders and citations for violations occurring at the ports of entry to the CNMI, while DEQ would issue orders and citations for violations by persons with products already within the CNMI.
