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The Business Council supports this legislation, which makes several amendments to the expanded “bottle bill” approved as part of the FY 2010 budget.
Importantly, this bill repeals the mandate for a New York State-specific “universal product code” on all beverage containers subject to the state's deposit law.
This provision would impose significant costs, and significant disruptions in the product delivery chain. The Business Council supports its repeal.
For manufacturers, mandating a state-specific UPC will impose significant costs for the development of graphics and printing plates, and downtime for changeover in production lines.
Moreover, this requirement – and the June 1, 2009 compliance date – raises serious concerns about product and containers that have already been produced, and are already in the distribution chain. Under this bill, these finished products and empty containers would not be saleable in New York State on June 1. Producers, wholesalers and retailers would incur significant costs re-shipping these items to non-UPC mandate markets.
Likewise, a New York State specific UPC mandate will continue to impose costs and compliance burdens on manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers, due to the cost of maintaining dual inventories for in-state and out-of-state markets.
Finally, this mandate also raises constitutional issues, as an impairment of interstate commerce.
For these reasons, The Business Council supports repeal of the UPC mandate, and supports approval of S.4736-A/A.8143.