349-a. Observant consumer protection law. 1. No person selling or exposing for sale any mezuzah or tefillin which, to the seller's knowledge, does not satisfy orthodox Hebrew ritual requirements shall represent, by direct or implied oral or written statement, that such mezuzah or tefillin is kosher or meets orthodox Hebrew religious requirements.
2. No manufacturer, fabricator or importer of mezuzahs or tefillin shall sell or transfer for sale any mezuzah or tefillin unless the following truthful consumer information is printed legibly upon the article itself, upon its packaging, or upon a label securely attached thereto:
(a) the name and address of the manufacturer, fabricator, or importer;
(b) in the case of any mezuzah or tefillin that, in the form reasonably expected to be sold at retail, is not in accordance with orthodox Hebrew ritual requirements, the word "non-kosher."
3. No person selling or exposing for sale any mezuzah or tefillin shall sell such article without the accompanying consumer information specified in subdivision two of this section.
4. Any sale, transfer for sale, or exposure for sale in violation of the provisions of this section shall be deemed a deceptive practice within the meaning of section three hundred forty-nine of this chapter, and any remedy provided therein shall be available for the enforcement of this section.
5. (a) "Mezuzah" means the religious article designed to be affixed, according to Jewish law, to the doorposts of rooms in a home, including the parchment or other matter upon which passages from the Bible are written, and the writing thereon.
(b) "Tefillin" means the religious article, also known as "phylacteries," designed to be worn, according to Jewish law, on the upper arm and head during morning prayers, including the parchment or other matter upon which passages from the Bible are written, the writing thereon, the capsules in which the parchment is contained, and the straps affixed thereto.
Last modified: February 3, 2019