966                               Laws of Maryland                      [Ch. 437

CHAPTER 437
(Senate Bill 198)

AN ACT to add new Section 21E to Article 83 of the Annotated
Code of Maryland (1969 Replacement Volume, 1970 Supplement),
title "Sales and Notices," subtitle "Consumer Protection," to fol-
low immediately after Section 21D thereof, to provide that certain
retail stores must indicate certain price information, including unit
selling prices, on certain products under certain circumstances; to
provide for enforcement of this section; and to authorize the
Attorney General to issue rules and regulations necessary or as
an aid to the effectuation of this Act.

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of Maryland,
That new Section 21E be and it is hereby added to Article 83 of the
Annotated Code of Maryland (1969 Replacement Volume, 1970 Sup-
plement), title "Sales and Notices," subtitle "Consumer Protection,"
to follow immediately after Section 21D thereof, and to read as
follows:

21E. Unit Pricing

(a) Definitions. As used in this section:

"Consumer Commodity" means any food, drug, device, cosmetic,
or other article, product or commodity of any kind or class which is

(1)  customarily produced for sale by retail sales agencies or
instrumentalities for consumption by individuals, for use by indi-
viduals for purposes of personal care or in the performance of
services ordinarily in or around the household, and

(2)  usually consumed or expended in the course of such use or
performance. , BUT NOT AN ITEM WHICH WEARS OR DETE-
RIORATES FROM USAGE,

"Unit price" of an item means the retail price of that item
expressed in dollars and cents per unity as follows: . THE FOLLOW-
ING UNITS AND ANY UNITS COMMONLY IN USE IN THE
UNITED STATES MAY BE USED IF APPROPRIATE:

(1)  per pound for items where the net quantity of the item is
expressed in pounds or ounces or both;

(2)  per kilogram (1000 grams) for items where the net quantity
of the item is expressed in kilograms or grams or both;

(3) per quart for items where the net quantity of the item is
expressed in quarts, pints, fluid ounces or a combination thereof;

(4) per foot 100 FEET for items where the net quantity of the
item is expressed in yards or feet or inches or a combination thereof;

(5)  per square foot 100 SQUARE FEET where the net quantity
of the item is expressed in square yards, square feet, square inches
or a combination thereof;

(6)  per 100 units where the item is expressed in terms of a
numerical count.