HR 1910 · 113th Congress 2013–2015, ended

Foreign Manufacturers Legal Accountability Act of 2013

Introduced May 9, 2013 Originated House Sponsor Matt Cartwright D-PA

Latest action · Jun 3, 2013 Referred to the Subcommittee on Trade.

Progress

Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.

IntroducedMay 9, 2013
Passed HouseNot reached
Passed SenateNot reached
To the PresidentNot reached
Became lawNot reached

Summary

Foreign Manufacturers Legal Accountability Act of 2013 - Expresses the sense of Congress with respect to jurisdiction of courts in the United States over foreign manufacturers that import products into the United States.

Directs the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) (with respect to drugs, devices, cosmetics, and biological products), the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) (with respect to consumer products), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (with respect to chemical substances, new chemical substances, and pesticides) to require foreign manufacturers and producers of such products (or components used to manufacture them), in excess of a minimum value or quantity, to establish a registered agent in the United States authorized to accept service of process on their behalf for the purpose of any state or federal regulatory proceeding or civil action in state or federal court.

Deems a foreign manufacturer or producer of products covered under this Act that registers an agent to consent to the personal jurisdiction of the state or federal courts of the state in which the agent is located for the purpose of any civil or regulatory proceeding.

Requires any person who imports into the United States a covered product manufactured or produced outside the United States to provide to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) a declaration that to the best of the person's knowledge, with respect to the importation of each covered product, the foreign manufacturer or producer of the product has registered an agent in the United States. Directs the CBP Commissioner to prescribe related regulations.

Subjects an importer who fails to provide or files a false declaration to certain penalties.

Requires the Secretary of Agriculture and the Commissioner of Food and Drugs jointly to study the feasibility and advisability of requiring foreign producers of food distributed in commerce to establish a registered agent in the United States who is authorized to accept service of process on behalf of such producers for the purpose of all civil and regulatory actions in state and federal courts.

Requires the head of each agency cited in this Act similarly to study feasible and advisable methods of requiring foreign manufacturers or producers of component parts of covered products distributed in U.S. commerce to establish registered agents in the United States for purposes of such service of process.

Cosponsors 54

Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from May 9, 2013 to Nov 20, 2014; 32 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.

Seat	Cosponsor		Signed on
D-FL	Alan Grayson	Original	May 9, 2013
D-FL	Alcee L. Hastings	Original	May 9, 2013
D-NH	Ann M. Kuster	Original	May 9, 2013
D-IA	Bruce L. Braley	Original	May 9, 2013
D-NH	Carol Shea-Porter	Original	May 9, 2013
D-NY	Carolyn McCarthy	Original	May 9, 2013
R-OH	David P. Joyce	Original	May 9, 2013
D-MD	Donna F. Edwards	Original	May 9, 2013
D-CO	Ed Perlmutter	Original	May 9, 2013
D-DC	Eleanor Holmes Norton	Original	May 9, 2013
D-TX	Filemon Vela	Original	May 9, 2013
D-MI	Gary C. Peters	Original	May 9, 2013
D-TX	Gene Green	Original	May 9, 2013
D-GA	Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr.	Original	May 9, 2013
D-CT	Joe Courtney	Original	May 9, 2013
D-KY	John A. Yarmuth	Original	May 9, 2013
D-MI	John Conyers, Jr.	Original	May 9, 2013
D-MA	John F. Tierney	Original	May 9, 2013
D-MN	Keith Ellison	Original	May 9, 2013
D-CA	Linda T. Sánchez	Original	May 9, 2013
D-TX	Lloyd Doggett	Original	May 9, 2013
D-WI	Mark Pocan	Original	May 9, 2013
D-ME	Michael H. Michaud	Original	May 9, 2013
R-OH	Michael R. Turner	Original	May 9, 2013
D-PA	Robert A. Brady	Original	May 9, 2013
D-NJ	Robert E. Andrews	Original	May 9, 2013
D-TN	Steve Cohen	Original	May 9, 2013
D-OR	Suzanne Bonamici	Original	May 9, 2013
D-OH	Tim Ryan	Original	May 9, 2013
R-NC	Walter B. Jones	Original	May 9, 2013
D-IL	William L. Enyart	Original	May 9, 2013
D-MA	William R. Keating	Original	May 9, 2013
D-IN	André Carson		May 14, 2013
D-NJ	Donald M. Payne, Jr.		May 21, 2013
D-TX	Eddie Bernice Johnson		May 23, 2013
D-TX	Sheila Jackson Lee		May 23, 2013
D-CA	Barbara Lee		Jun 4, 2013
D-MN	Betty McCollum		Jun 4, 2013
D-FL	Debbie Wasserman Schultz		Jun 4, 2013
D-FL	Frederica S. Wilson		Jun 4, 2013
D-MA	James P. McGovern		Jun 4, 2013
D-CA	Julia Brownley		Jun 4, 2013
D-OR	Peter A. DeFazio		Jun 4, 2013
D-FL	Patrick Murphy		Jun 5, 2013
D-CA	Eric Swalwell		Jul 17, 2013
D-NY	Brian Higgins		Jul 18, 2013
R-FL	Bill Posey		Aug 2, 2013
D-MA	Stephen F. Lynch		Sep 25, 2013
D-MN	Collin C. Peterson		Oct 22, 2013
D-OH	Marcy Kaptur		Nov 14, 2013
D-IL	Robin L. Kelly		Jan 7, 2014
D-CA	Anna G. Eshoo		May 19, 2014
D-MA	Michael E. Capuano		Jul 30, 2014
D-IL	Bobby L. Rush		Nov 20, 2014

Committees 3

Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.

Chamber	Committee	What it did
House	Energy and Commerce Committee	Referred May 9, 2013
	Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade Subcommittee	Referred May 10, 2013
House	Ways and Means Committee	Referred May 9, 2013
	Trade Subcommittee	Referred Jun 3, 2013
House	Agriculture Committee	Referred May 9, 2013
	Conservation, Research, and Biotechnology Subcommittee	Referred May 22, 2013

Actions 6

Everything that happened, newest first.

Jun 3, 2013Referred to the Subcommittee on Trade.
May 23, 2013Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR H2916-2917)
May 22, 2013Referred to the Subcommittee on Horticulture, Research, Biotechnology, and Foreign Agriculture.
May 10, 2013Referred to the Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing, and Trade.
May 9, 2013Introduced in House

Show all 6 actions

In the Congressional Record 1

Days the Record’s own index lists this bill, newest first, with the pages and the members it names. Pages starting H are the House, S the Senate, E Extensions of Remarks.

Where	In the Record	Members	Date
House	Debate and remarks H2916	Matt Cartwright D-PA	May 23, 2013

Research

What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.

Constitutional authority

Congress has the power to enact this legislation pursuant to the following: Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 (relating to the power of Congress to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes.)

The sponsor’s statement, as printed in the page H2569.

Titles 2

Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.

Official Title as Introduced: To require foreign manufacturers of products imported into the United States to establish registered agents in the United States who are authorized to accept service of process against such manufacturers.
Short Titles as Introduced: Foreign Manufacturers Legal Accountability Act of 2013

Subjects

Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Law.

Text 1

Each version as it was printed, newest first.

May 9, 2013Introduced in House

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Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.