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Amendment to Consumer Protection Act, RPPL 7-52 2008

RPPL No. 7-52
(Re: as Senate Bill No. 7-235, SD1,
HD2, CD1)

AN ACT

To amend 11 PNC, Chapter 2, the Consumer Protection Act, to make unlawful the offering of items for sale by retail establishments without clearly displaying the items' unit price, to amend Chapter 13 of the Palau National Code to extend the time for which the Bureau of Lands and Surveys has to designate, survey and monument Palau's public lands, and for other related purposes.

THE PEOPLE OF PALAU REPRESENTED IN THE OLBIIL ERA KELULAU DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

Section 1. Legislative findings. The Olbiil Era Kelulau finds that many retail establishments throughout the Republic offer their goods for sale to consumers without consistently and clearly displaying the prices of those goods. In some instances, price tags are completely missing from the item. In these cases, consumers must make a decision to purchase items without having sufficient information to determine whether they are receiving the best retail price. A lack of consistent price displays for retail goods allows merchants to manipulate prices, misleads customers into thinking they are getting the best price, takes away retailers' incentive to compete with each other, and takes away consumers' opportunity to shop for the best deals on goods. Therefore, the Olbiil Era Kelulau finds that the Consumer Protection Act should be amended to make unlawful the offering for sale of retail goods without clearly displaying the goods' price, and to make retail establishments civilly liable under the Consumer Protection Act for violations of this new provision.

Section 2. Amendment. 11 PNC is hereby amended to read as follows:

ASection 202. Definitions.

. . . .

(c) ARetail establishment@ means a shop, store, food market, convenience mart, department store, hardware store, liquor store, sporting goods store, or any other business operating within the Republic that offers retail items for sale to consumers.

Section 203. Unlawful acts or practices. The following unfair methods of competition and unfair or deceptive acts or practices in the conduct of any trade or commerce are hereby declared to be unlawful:

. . . .

(k) offering items to consumers through a retail establishment without disclosing the unit price of items using one of the following methods:

(1) displaying a stamp, tag, label, or sign within close proximity to the retail item, with a clear indication of the retail item to which it refers;

(2) affixing the unit price on the retail item itself;

(3) displaying a stamp, tag, or label on the shelf or display space contiguous with the area where the retail item is displayed;

(4) if the retail item is not conspicuously visible to the consumer, then by a sign or list conspicuously placed near the point of procurement; or

(5) by providing clearly displayed bar code scanners at reasonable intervals throughout the retail establishment with which consumers may scan an item and retrieve its price.

(l). . . .

(m). . . .

(n). . . .@

Section 3. Amendment. Chapter 13 of Title 35 of the Palau National Code, as amended by RPPL 6-31, RPPL 7-3 and RPPL 7-26, is hereby further amended as follows:

A'1305. Bureau of Land and Surveys responsibilities; land registration employees.

(a) The Bureau of Land and Surveys within a reasonable time period not to extend beyond October 30, 2008, shall proceed on a systematic basis to ensure the designation of areas and survey of all lands and the monumentation of all land within the Republic. The Bureau's duties include, but are not limited to the registration of land claims, issuing the required notices under this Chapter, providing monumentation, providing the Land Court with the required information for Land Court hearings and providing temporary and permanent mapping of land parcels and boundaries with respect to the ownership of all land within the Republic.

. . . .@

Section 4. Amendment. RPPL No. 7-2, Section 4(a) is amended to read as follows:

ASection 4. Salary Authorized.

(a) Each member of the Olbiil Era Kelulau shall receive $1,000 in compensation for each day of an Official Session that such member attends, up to a maximum of $50,000 per year. Such compensation shall be retroactive to the effective date of Charter Initiative No. 5. However, in any calendar year in which a member's term ends, the maximum compensation for such a member shall be prorated, based upon an annualized maximum compensation of $50,000, so that such a member shall receive no more than $1,923.08 bi-weekly. This compensation shall be paid according to rules and procedures promulgated by the Olbiil Era Kelulau. Payments shall be made bi-weekly on regular government paydays, with the compensation account of each member to be reconciled by the Minister of Finance with records of the member's actual attendance at the close of each calendar quarter. A record of each member's attendance, certified by a presiding officer of the appropriate house of the Olbiil Era Kelulau, shall be delivered to the Minister of Finance within 10 days of the close of each calendar quarter, for account reconciliation.

. . . .@

Section 5. Effective date. This Act shall take effect upon its approval by the President, or upon its becoming law without such approval.

PASSED: August 27, 2008

Approved this 5th day of Sept. , 2008.

/s/
Tommy E. Remengesau, Jr.
President
Republic of Palau