Section 214-H. Unit pricing

1. Consumer information required. Each person
  who sells, offers or exposes for sale  in  a  retail  store  a  consumer
  commodity  shall  disclose  to the consumer the unit price and the total
  price of the commodity as provided in this section.
    2. Definitions. a. "Consumer commodities" shall  mean  the  following,
  however packaged or contained:
    (1)  food,  including  all  material,  solid, liquid or mixed, whether
  simple or compound, used or intended for consumption by human beings  or
  domestic  animals  normally kept as household pets and all substances or
  ingredients to be added thereto for any purpose; and
    (2) napkins, facial tissues, toilet tissues,  foil  wrapping,  plastic
  wrapping, paper toweling, disposable plates; and
    (3) detergents, soaps and other cleansing agents; and
    (4) non-prescription drugs, female hygiene products and toiletries.
    b.  "Retail store" shall mean a store which sells consumer commodities
  at retail, which store is not primarily engaged in the sale of food  for
  consumption  on  the  premises,  or  which is not primarily engaged in a
  specialty trade which the commissioner determines, by regulation,  would
  be  inappropriate  for  unit  pricing.    An  establishment  which sells
  consumer commodities only to its members shall be deemed to be  included
  within  this  definition  unless  the  members  must pay a direct fee to
  qualify for membership and the establishment is not required to  collect
  sales tax on transactions with members, pursuant to article twenty-eight
  of the tax law.
    c.  "Unit  price"  of  a  consumer  commodity shall mean the price per
  measure.
    d. "Price per measure" shall mean:
    (1) price per pound for commodities whose net quantity is expressed in
  units of weight, except for such commodities whose net  weight  is  less
  than  one  ounce  which  shall  be  expressed  as  price  per  ounce and
  commodities in powdered form which purport to be or are represented  for
  special  dietary  use  solely  as  a  food  for infants by reason of its
  simulation of human  milk  or  suitability  as  a  complete  or  partial
  substitute  for  human  milk  which  shall  be  expressed  as  price per
  reconstituted fluid ounce; provided that the same  unit  of  measure  is
  used for the same commodity in all sizes;
    (2)  price  per  pint  or  quart for commodities whose net quantity is
  stated in fluid ounces,  pints,  quarts  or  gallons  or  a  combination
  thereof,  except for such commodities in concentrated liquid or ready to
  feed form which purport to be or are represented for special dietary use
  solely as a food for infants by reason of its simulation of  human  milk
  or  suitability as a complete or partial substitute for human milk which
  shall  be  expressed  as  price  per  reconstituted  fluid   ounce   for
  commodities  in  concentrated  liquid form and price per fluid ounce for
  commodities in ready to feed  form;  provided  that  the  same  unit  of
  measure  is  used for the same commodity in all sizes sold in the retail
  establishment;
    (3) price per one  hundred  for  commodities  whose  net  quantity  is
  expressed by count, except as otherwise provided by regulation;
    (4)  price  per  foot  for commodities whose net quantity is stated in
  units of length, except for such commodities whose net quantity  exceeds
  one  hundred  feet,  which  shall  be expressed as price per one hundred
  feet, and the "ply" count, if  any,  provided  that  the  same  unit  of
  measure is used for the same commodity in all sizes;
    (5)  price  per  square  foot  or  square  yard,  as  appropriate, for
  commodities whose net quantity is expressed in units  of  area  and  the
  "ply"  count, if any, provided that the same unit of measure is used for
  the same commodity in all sizes; or

    (6) such other price per measure, including metric equivalents of  the
  customary  measures, as the commissioner shall by regulation permit. The
  commissioner  shall  establish  such  metric  equivalents  whenever   he
  determines  that any commodity subject to the provisions of this section
  is being sold, offered or exposed for sale by metric measure.
    3.  Exemptions.  a.  The provisions of this section shall not apply to
  the following consumer commodities:
    (1) food sold for consumption on the premises;
    (2) prepackaged food containing separate  and  identifiable  kinds  of
  food  segregated  by physical division within the package; and any other
  foods for which the commissioner determines, by  rules  and  regulation,
  that unit pricing would not be meaningful;
    (3)  any food which is primarily or exclusively a gourmet or specialty
  food, provided that the commissioner determines by regulation that  unit
  pricing  would  be  impractical for such food, and provided further that
  such food is segregated and displayed as a gourmet or specialty food;
    (4) any commodity whose net quantity as offered for sale is one pound,
  one ounce, one pint or quart, one hundred count, one foot,  one  hundred
  feet,  one  square  foot,  one  square  yard  or equivalent metric units
  established by the commissioner, provided that it has the  retail  price
  marked plainly thereon;
    (5) milk, and other similar low fat products such as two percent milk,
  one percent milk and skim milk, cream, melloream and vegetable oil blend
  whose  net  quantity as offered for sale is one half pint, one pint, one
  quart, one half gallon, one gallon, one half liter,  one  liter;  frozen
  desserts such as ice cream, light ice cream, low-fat ice cream, fat-free
  ice cream, sherbet, sorbet, frozen yogurt, and any other product similar
  in  appearance,  odor  and  taste to such products whose net quantity as
  offered for sale is one half pint, one pint, one quart, one half gallon,
  one gallon, and multiples of quarts and gallons; and  butter,  vegetable
  spread,  oleo  margarine  and margarine whose net quantity is one fourth
  pound, one half pound, one pound or multiples of one pound, one  hundred
  twenty-five  grams,  two  hundred  fifty  grams,  five  hundred grams or
  multiples of five hundred grams, flour whose net quantity as offered for
  sale is in five or ten pound bags;
    (6) fresh food produce.
    b. The provisions of this section shall not apply to any retail  store
  having  had  annual  gross sales of consumer commodities in the previous
  calendar year of less than two and one-half million dollars.
    4. Means of disclosure. A consumer commodity sold, or offered for sale
  or exposed for sale, subject to this section, shall have the unit  price
  and total price disclosed to the consumer in one of the following ways:
    a.  if  the  item  is  conspicuously  visible  to the consumer, by the
  attachment of a stamp, tag or label directly under the item on the shelf
  on which the item is displayed, or, in the case  of  refrigerated  items
  not displayed on shelves, in a manner to be prescribed by regulation; or
    b. if the item is not conspicuously visible to the consumer, by a sign
  or  list  conspicuously  placed  near  the  point  of procurement, or by
  affixing the unit price and total price on the commodity itself.
    5. The commissioner may  promulgate  regulations  to  effectuate  this
  section.
    6.  Nothing  in  this  section  shall be construed to conflict with or
  limit section one hundred ninety of this chapter.
    7. Violations and penalties. a. A violation of this section  shall  be
  subject  to  the  applicable  penalties  of  this chapter except for the
  penalties specified in section forty-one thereof.
    For purposes  of  this  section,  each  group  of  identical  consumer
  commodities for which on any single day the total selling price or price

  per  measure  is  not  displayed  in accordance with this section or the
  regulations promulgated thereunder shall be considered  a  violation  of
  this  section.  Improper unit pricing caused by nonintentional technical
  errors, however, shall not constitute a violation.
    b. Each group of units not unit priced or improperly unit priced shall
  constitute  a  violation. Each individual unit, however, not unit priced
  or improperly unit  priced  shall  not  constitute  a  violation  unless
  displayed alone.
    c.  Each  day  a  violation  is  continued shall constitute a separate
  violation.
    d. The provisions of this  section  and  the  regulations  promulgated
  hereunder  may  be  enforced concurrently by the director of a municipal
  consumer affairs office or a municipal director of weights and measures.
    8. Preemption. Except as provided in paragraph b of subdivision  three
  of  this  section, any local law, ordinance, rule or regulation relating
  to labeling, displaying or other disclosure of the price per measure  of
  any commodity must be consistent with the provisions of this section and
  the rules and regulations adopted hereunder.