[PASSED] On Expiration Dates

[Sedgistan]

So here I am in the GA again after all this time. This was a general idea that popped into my head a while ago, and which I only recently refined and converted into a proposal.

Essentially, the idea of the proposal is that the length of time during which certain items - specifically those which are necessary for the physical well-being of those who purchase and use them - will properly function must be known by those who distribute these items and provided to the consumer. This is for the safety and education of those who purchase/receive said items.

Enjoy. Comments are wanted. I also would like a little help figuring out exactly which category to put this in.
SOCIAL JUSTICE <3
NOT RLY I DONT LIKE THAT...
FINE DAMMIT AFTER 3 MONTHS OF SITTING AROUND SOCIAL JUSTICE FFS

There are a few odd little things I'd like to edit which I will be thinking about while this is being drafted and which I wouldn't mind suggestions on - for example, I'm not particularly fond of the title, and that's a somewhat important part of the proposal.
I WUV MY PWOPOZAL AND SENTIENTS BS IS SILLY-WILLY

I have NO LONGER highlighted a few things in red which I personally have a problem with.

(Image)
On Expiration Dates
Category: Social Justice | Strength: Mild | Proposed by: A mean old man

The World Assembly,

ASSERTING its belief that the people of all nations have a right to live without unnecessary fears of damage to their physical well-being,

RECOGNIZING that many companies produce goods which significantly degrade or cease to function after a period of time,

BELIEVING that the average length of time that certain goods last must be known in order to promote the safety of the consumer,

NOTING that this holds true for items such as medical supplies/equipment and food,

DEFINES, solely for the purposes of this resolution, a "necessity" as any item which is intended for organic consumption and/or an item that, if it was not in proper condition or if it was not functioning, would lead to the deprivation of any sort of bodily activity that is required for the extension of any organism's lifetime,

CHARGES any distributor of any necessity to attain an accurate and average prediction of how long each and every necessity that they distribute will last until it degrades to a level of quality at which it will directly "lead to the deprivation of any sort of bodily activity that is required for the extension of [one's] lifetime,"

MANDATES that the distributors of a necessity provide, in a readily comprehensible fashion, all of the information that they have been charged to acquire by the previous clause to any who wish to view it,

FURTHER MANDATES that any recipient(s) of a necessity be provided with the information on how long the exact necessity that they are receiving lasts by the distributor of said necessity.

(Image)
Item Longevity Awareness Act
Category: UNSURE – Suggestions plox? | Strength: Significant | Proposed by: A mean old man

The World Assembly,

ASSERTING its belief that the people of all nations have a right to live without unnecessary and daily fears of damage to their physical well-being,

RECOGNIZING that many companies have and will continue to produce goods which are designed to deteriorate and/or cease to function after a general (and sometimes deliberate) period of time or are simply manufactured at a level of quality at which the goods’ rates of deterioration and ultimate times of failure tend to be somewhat unpredictable,

UNDERSTANDING that all goods will inevitably spoil, deteriorate, or malfunction at some point after they are produced and that requiring manufacturers to be aware of the longevity of all the items they produce would be unreasonable, however acknowledging that the average length of time that certain goods last must be known in order to promote the safety of the consumer,

BELIEVING that adequate examples of such goods would be certain varieties of life supporting medical equipment; the average span of time during which certain medical equipment functions properly must be known for the safety of those whose lives depend on the proper functioning of such equipment, and the World Assembly notes examples of this sort of equipment as (but not limited to):
• pacemakers,
• intravenous infusion pumps and rapid infusers (for IV therapy),
• artificial and organic replacement heart valves,
• artificial and organic replacement internal organs [REDUNDANT - will replace],

FURTHER BELIEVING that, if those whose safety depends on the functioning of these products are aware of approximately how long these products will adequately function, they may prevent avoidable physical damage to their own persons,

FORMS the Item Longevity League, or “ILL,” the sole duty of which will be to investigate and identify goods that it believes qualify as important in the daily and long-term health of the individuals who rely upon said goods,

MANDATES that companies and manufacturers based in WA nations who produce and distribute goods identified by the ILL must be honestly aware of the average length of time that 100 or more of each individual ILL-identified product they produce will properly serve their purpose and charges these distributers to provide this information on the amount of time their products properly function to any who wish to access it,

REQUIRING that, for the safety of the consumer, the information addressed in the previous clause be provided to those who purchase ILL-identified items by the distributer while the purchase is being made,

HEREBY passes the “Item Longevity Awareness Act” and puts all of its active components into effect in all WA nations.

---

Question: "Who verifies that this is being done?
Much as I loath to see yet another WA body set up to monitor this type of thing, it is essential that someone collate the records and data and see that the job is being done."

Answer: "Well, I wasn't really sure that we needed another WA agency to organize the operation; after all, it seems more practical to me to allow those involved in the production and distribution of necessities at a more local level to accurately attain information on the products they make and sell. According to the wording of this legislation, they MUST attain an "accurate" expiration date, otherwise they are violating WA law and would therefore be burned into oblivion by the thousand fires of impossibility. Plus, like you, I'm terribly sick of seeing writers take what I believe is an easy way out of writing effective legislation by creating more stupid, redundant, WA-organized councils of some sort to do the writers' work for them."

and that this drop in quality can result in the development of toxic qualities in certain products,

and that this drop in quality can cause
and that certain products, as a result of this drop in quality
inevitable drop in quality

[Embolalia]

I do like the idea of consumer protection, but I think this may be drilling down into a slightly too-specific segment of that. And it may be a symptom of too much contact with Aram Koopman, but I wonder if mandating that information be provided at time of purchase might not be the most effective, or the most reasonable way of providing these protections.
Perhaps instead a more general quality assessment organization, rating products on not just reliability but also factors such as safety, usability, and other factors. I might also add that this should be for products sold in WA nations, rather than products made by companies based in the WA. Otherwise, you're just pleading for those companies to leave for other, less regulated places.

OOC: Perhaps inspiration could be taken from the RL Consumers' Union, which proactively rates products and publishes its findings in Consumer Reports.

[A mean old man]

Hmm. I shall certainly consider those suggestions.

[Mousebumples]

So far as a category goes ... I'd think ... Social Justice, maybe?

Social Justice
A resolution to reduce income inequality and increase basic welfare.

And, honestly, while I agree that this is an unmet need, in terms of WA legislation, it seems to be fairly fine-tuned and specific. As such, I believe a "mild" strength would be more appropriate.

[A mean old man]

So far as a category goes ... I'd think ... Social Justice, maybe?

Social Justice
A resolution to reduce income inequality and increase basic welfare.

That's definitely a possibility.

And, honestly, while I agree that this is an unmet need, in terms of WA legislation, it seems to be fairly fine-tuned and specific. As such, I believe a "mild" strength would be more appropriate.

Although, unlike certain WAGA resolutions, it actually mandates certain actions be taken rather than simply encourages them. However I can understand this opinion.

[Mousebumples]

And, honestly, while I agree that this is an unmet need, in terms of WA legislation, it seems to be fairly fine-tuned and specific. As such, I believe a "mild" strength would be more appropriate.

Although, unlike certain WAGA resolutions, it actually mandates certain actions be taken rather than simply encourages them. However I can understand this opinion.

I'm mostly basing my recommendation off of previous mod rulings on other (unrelated) proposals. I can't think of specific examples off-hand, but I'm sure someone else will pop in here with their thoughts on the subject (be they modly or otherwise) ...

[Bears Armed]

So far as a category goes ... I'd think ... Social Justice, maybe?

Social Justice
A resolution to reduce income inequality and increase basic welfare.

.

The Mods have previously ruled that any 'Social Justice' proposal must both reduce income inequality and increase basic welfare in order to be legal: How would this proposal reduce income inequality?


How about adding a clause to state that a manufacturer or supplier can not be sued (in any WA nation) because a product has stopped working properly if if that product has already lasted for at least as long as they forecast when it was supplied, and packaging the proposal as 'Tort Reform' instead?

[Charlotte Ryberg]

So far as a category goes ... I'd think ... Social Justice, maybe?

Social Justice
A resolution to reduce income inequality and increase basic welfare.

.

The Mods have previously ruled that any 'Social Justice' proposal must both reduce income inequality and increase basic welfare in order to be legal: How would this proposal reduce income inequality?


How about adding a clause to state that a manufacturer or supplier can not be sued (in any WA nation) because a product has stopped working properly if if that product has already lasted for at least as long as they forecast when it was supplied, and packaging the proposal as 'Tort Reform' instead?

That category may be better because it seems it's talking about product standards, yet I am confusing this draft for durable goods in general due to the title.

[Unibot]

Eduard took a swing of scotch, draining it in one swoop. "I've noticed quite a bit of ethnocentracism in this proposal -- you're a frosty old capitalist, my boy. You used terms like 'consumer' and 'company' to describe what many know as, a goddahm 'person' and the 'government', or 'home-grown agriculture'. As a suggestion, how'll about going to the poorest of the poorest, and just educating them about these things.. food biodegradation, proper and safe nutrition and food safety. Because of the illiteracy of those subjects, you'll probably have to go right to their doors, a simple pamphlet won't do. However, that seems a hell of lot more worth-while. Furthermore, you may want to take a look at the "Food and Drug Standards".

[Knootoss]

<Aram scribbles>

Item Longevity Awareness Act
Category: Civil Rights | Strength: Significant Mild| Proposed by: A mean old man

The World Assembly,

ASSERTING its belief that the people of all nations have a right to live without unnecessary and daily fears of damage to their physical well-being,

RECOGNIZING that many companies have and will continue to produce goods which are designed to deteriorate and/or cease to function after a general (and sometimes deliberate) period of time or are simply manufactured at a level of quality at which the goods’ rates of deterioration and ultimate times of failure tend to be somewhat unpredictable,

UNDERSTANDING that all goods will inevitably spoil, deteriorate, or malfunction at some point after they are produced and that requiring manufacturers to be aware of the longevity of all the items they produce would be unreasonable, however acknowledging BELIEVING that the average length of time that certain goods last must be known in order to promote the safety of the consumer,

FURTHER BELIEVING that adequate examples of such goods would be certain varieties of this is especially true for life supporting medical equipment; the average span of time during which certain medical equipment functions properly must be known for the safety of those whose lives depend on the proper functioning of such equipment, and the World Assembly notes examples of this sort of equipment as (but not limited to):
• pacemakers,
• intravenous infusion pumps and rapid infusers (for IV therapy),
• artificial and organic replacement heart valves,
• artificial and organic replacement internal organs [REDUNDANT - will replace],

FURTHER BELIEVING that, if those whose safety depends on the functioning of these products are aware of approximately how long these products will adequately function, they may prevent avoidable physical damage to their own persons,

FORMS the Item Longevity League, or “ILL,” the sole duty of which will be to investigate and identify goods that it believes qualify as important in the daily and long-term health of the individuals who rely upon said goods, (Define those goods here in the resolution instead! Don't give the gnomes an open mandate!)

MANDATES that companies and manufacturers based in WA nations who produce and distribute goods identified by the ILL must be honestly aware of the average length of time that 100 or more of each individual ILL-identified product they produce will properly serve their purpose and charges theseCHARGES distributors of these goods to provide thisinformation onabout the amount of time their products properly function to any who wishes to access it,

REQUIRING that, for the safety of the consumer, the information addressed in the previous clause be provided to those who purchase ILL-identified items by the distributerto the consumer while the purchase is being made,

HEREBY passes the “Item Longevity Awareness Act” and puts all of its active components into effect in all WA nations.

Reasoning:

• "Social justice" is an irritating, overused category. This resolution will not especially benefit the poor, nor will it redistribute wealth. "Civil Rights" would be a much better category for consumer protection.
• The limited scope of the resolution makes it 'mild' at best.
• Removed unnecessary verbosity. Let's not torture the resolution-reading officials too much by requiring them to read more than a single paragraph's worth of text. REEDING R HARD.
• Please replace ILL with a general definition of the products it should encompass. That way you get a clear, fair debate - not an open ended mandate for power-hungry gnomes wishing to expand their area of control. Something like "all products which would threaten lives when they might malfunction" or something.

Ambassador Aram Koopman
World Assembly representative for the Dutch Democratic Republic of Knootoss

[A mean old man]

. . .Furthermore, you may want to take a look at the "Food and Drug Standards".

I don't see how that relates to this proposal. Is it this clause which you are implying I take note of?

ORDERS that food and drug products being sold must bear upon them a label certified by the WAFDRA which clearly displays the quality grade that the product has been given by national quality-inspection facilities

...because that doesn't say anything about how long said items would last after they are produced.

[A mean old man]

Item Longevity Awareness Act
Category: Civil Rights | Strength: Mild | Proposed by: A mean old man

The World Assembly,

ASSERTING its belief that the people of all nations have a right to live without unnecessary and daily fears of damage to their physical well-being,

RECOGNIZING that many companies produce goods which cease to function after a general period of time,

BELIEVING that the average length of time that certain goods last must be known in order to promote the safety of the consumer,

this is especially true for life supporting medical equipment; the average span of time during which certain medical equipment functions properly must be known for the safety of those whose lives depend on the proper functioning of such equipment,

CHARGES distributors of these goods to provide information about the amount of time their products properly function to any who wishes,

REQUIRING that the information addressed in the previous clause be provided to the consumer while the purchase is being made,

Made Knootoss's version of my proposal legible...

• Removed unnecessary verbosity. Let's not torture the resolution-reading officials too much by requiring them to read more than a single paragraph's worth of text. REEDING R HARD.

Hmm. I like my verbosity.

I'll go through it again myself and see what I can eliminate.

• Please replace ILL with a general definition of the products it should encompass. That way you get a clear, fair debate - not an open ended mandate for power-hungry gnomes wishing to expand their area of control. Something like "all products which would threaten lives when they might malfunction" or something.

That isn't a bad idea and I hadn't thought of providing a definition. I just get nervous when I define anything in WA resolutions because of...

*shudder*

...loopholes.

But I can certainly give it a shot.

[A mean old man]

Item Longevity Awareness Act
Category: Civil Rights | Strength: Mild | Proposed by: A mean old man

The World Assembly,

ASSERTING its belief that the people of all nations have a right to live without unnecessary and daily fears of damage to their physical well-being,

RECOGNIZING that many companies produce goods which significantly degrade or cease to function after a general period of time,

BELIEVING that the average length of time that certain goods last must be known in order to promote the safety of the consumer,

NOTING that this is especially true for life supporting medical equipment; the average span of time during which certain medical equipment functions properly must be known for the safety of those whose lives depend on the proper functioning of such equipment,

FURTHER NOTING that this also holds true for even more common and basic necessities, such as food,

DEFINES, solely for the purposes of this resolution, a "necessity" as any item which is intended for human consumption and/or an item that, if it was not in proper condition or if it was not functioning, would lead to the deprivation a human being of any sort of bodily activity that is required for the extension of the lifetime of said human being,

CHARGES any distributor of any necessity to attain an accurate and average prediction of how long every individual necessity that they distribute will last until it degrades to a level of quality at which it will directly "lead to the deprivation of a human being of any sort of bodily activity that is required for the extension of the lifetime of said human being,"

MANDATES that the distributors of a necessity provide, in a readily comprehensible fashion, all of the information that they have been charged to acquire by the previous clause to any who wish to view it,

FURTHER MANDATES that any recipient(s) of a necessity be provided with the information on how long the exact necessity that they are receiving lasts by the distributer of said necessity.

[A mean old man]

*whistle...*

So ... comments? Concerns? Loopholes? Random and irrelevant insults (actually, no thanks)?

...

Is it really that dull?

I guess I shouldn't expect anything like the debates on my last two resolutions...
Though that's a good thing.

[Charlotte Ryberg]

Honoured ambassador, I am still confused as to whether you meant equipment like life support machinery and wheelchairs. Food welfare is already covered. Or do you mean durable goods?

Ms. S. Harper.

[Urgench]

We see no benefit in regulating this at an international level. This appears to be an entirely national matter.



Yours,

[Knootoss]

I have further comments on this topic, but right now I am too high on Pink Bunny Cola to formulate a well-considered opinion.

Ambassador Aram Koopman
World Assembly representative for the Dutch Democratic Republic of Knootoss

[Knootoss]

Item Longevity Awareness Act
Category: Civil Rights | Strength: Mild | Proposed by: A mean old man

The World Assembly,

ASSERTING its belief that the people of all nations have a right to live without unnecessary and daily fears of damage to their physical well-being,

RECOGNIZING that many companies produce goods which significantly degrade or cease to function after a general period of time,

BELIEVING that the average length of time that certain goods last must be known in order to promote the safety of the consumer,

NOTING that this is especially true for life supporting medical equipment; the average span of time during which certain medical equipment functions properly must be known for the safety of those whose lives depend on the proper functioning of such equipment,

FURTHER NOTING that this also holds true for even more common and basic necessities, such as food,

DEFINES, solely for the purposes of this resolution, a "necessity" as any item which is intended for human consumption and/or an item that, if it was not in proper condition or if it was not functioning, would lead to the deprivation a human being of any sort of bodily activity that is required for the extension of the lifetime of said human being,

CHARGES any distributor of any necessity to attain an accurate and average prediction of how long every individual necessity that they distribute will last until it degrades to a level of quality at which it will directly "lead to the deprivation of a human being of any sort of bodily activity that is required for the extension of the lifetime of said human being,"

MANDATES that the distributors of a necessity provide, in a readily comprehensible fashion, all of the information that they have been charged to acquire by the previous clause to any who wish to view it,

FURTHER MANDATES that any recipient(s) of a necessity be provided with the information on how long the exact necessity that they are receiving lasts by the distributer of said necessity.

General comments:

• The examples should probably follow after the definition, if examples have to be given at all.
• The definition seems okay at first glance, but I'd want someone other than me to comment on it as well. It seems to lump two very different categories of products together, and I am not sure how wise that is.
• Perhaps "wish to purchase" would be a better clause than "wish to view", as the latter is very onerous and could be abused.
• I don't get what the final clause does what the clause before it doesn't already cover.

Therefore:

Item Longevity Awareness Act
Category: Civil Rights | Strength: Mild | Proposed by: A mean old man

The World Assembly,

ASSERTING its belief that the people of all nations have a right to live without unnecessary and daily fears of damage to their physical well-being,

RECOGNIZING that many companies produce goods which significantly degrade or cease to function after a general period of time,

BELIEVING that the average length of time that certain goods last must be known in order to promote the safety of the consumer,

NOTING that this is especially true for life supporting medical equipment; the average span of time during which certain medical equipment functions properly must be known for the safety of those whose lives depend on the proper functioning of such equipment,

FURTHER NOTING that this also holds true for even more common and basic necessities, such as food,

DEFINES, solely for the purposes of this resolution, a "necessity" as any item which is intended for human consumption and/or an item that, if it was not in proper condition or if it was not functioning, would lead to the deprivation a human being of any sort of bodily activity that is required for the extension of the lifetime of said human being, (Review!)

CHARGES any distributor of any necessity to attain an accurate and average prediction of how long every individual necessity that they distribute will last until it degrades to a level of quality at which it will directly "lead to the deprivation of a human being of any sort of bodily activity that is required for the extension of the lifetime of said human being,"

MANDATES that the distributors of a necessity provide, in a readily comprehensible fashion, all of the information that they have been charged to acquire by the previous clause to any who wish to view it,

FURTHER MANDATES that any recipient(s) of a necessity be provided with the information on how long the exact necessity that they are receiving lasts by the distributer of said necessity.

Ambassador Aram Koopman
World Assembly representative for the Dutch Democratic Republic of Knootoss

[Eireann Fae WA Mission]

"How very anthrocentric of you, Ambassador Koopman. What would Melöʃina say?"

[Knootoss]

A good point. A definition should refer to "human, or other, lesser race" - in order to be inclusive.

Ambassador Aram Koopman
World Assembly representative for the Dutch Democratic Republic of Knootoss

[Eireann Fae WA Mission]

Alexandra smirks, and winks at the Knootian Ambassador. "I think you're pretty lucky Mel's at the bar right now, Ambassador. She'd probably drown you if she heard that!"

[Bears Armed]

A good point. A definition should refer to "human, or other, lesser race" - in order to be inclusive.

Ambassador Aram Koopman
World Assembly representative for the Dutch Democratic Republic of Knootoss

"Hwat!?!"

*(defenstrates Aram)*

Splash!



______________________________________________________________

OOC: I'm not sure that the 'Human Rights' category is actually a good fit for this proposal, because that usually deals with freedom from "oppressive" legislation/behaviour rather than consumer affairs... Maybe you could/should check with the Mods before submitting it under that heading?

[Eireann Fae WA Mission]

Alexandra jumps as the Knootian Ambassador is thrown out the window by the local representative from Bears Armed. "Guess I spoke too soon..."

[Mallorea and Riva]

Alexandra jumps as the Knootian Ambassador is thrown out the window by the local representative from Bears Armed. "Guess I spoke too soon..."

Zakath sprinted into the room and slid to a stop by the window. I missed it? I knew I shouldn't have fallen asleep in that other room, I woke up surrounded by marching skeletons.
As to the resolution, it would seem to be a reasonable piece of legislation.

[A mean old man]

This has been very slightly edited and submitted.