[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1428 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1428

  To prohibit civil liability actions from being brought or continued 
   against food manufacturers, marketers, distributors, advertisers, 
 sellers, and trade associations for damages or injunctive relief for 
claims of injury resulting from a person's weight gain, obesity, or any 
          health condition related to weight gain or obesity.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             July 17, 2003

 Mr. McConnell introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
               referred to the Committee on the Judiciary

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  To prohibit civil liability actions from being brought or continued 
   against food manufacturers, marketers, distributors, advertisers, 
 sellers, and trade associations for damages or injunctive relief for 
claims of injury resulting from a person's weight gain, obesity, or any 
          health condition related to weight gain or obesity.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Commonsense Consumption Act of 
2003''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITION ON BRINGING OF QUALIFIED CIVIL LIABILITY ACTIONS IN 
              FEDERAL OR STATE COURT.

    (a) In General.--A qualified civil liability action may not be 
brought in any Federal or State court.
    (b) Dismissal of Pending Actions.--A qualified civil liability 
action that is pending on the date of the enactment of this Act shall 
be dismissed immediately by the court in which the action was brought 
or is currently pending.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Engaged in the business.--The term ``engaged in the 
        business'' means a person who manufactures, markets, 
        distributes, advertises, or sells a qualified product in the 
        person's regular course of trade or business.
            (2) Manufacturer.--The term ``manufacturer'' means, with 
        respect to a qualified product, a person who is lawfully 
        engaged in the business of manufacturing the product in 
        interstate or foreign commerce.
            (3) Person.--The term ``person'' means any individual, 
        corporation, company, association, firm, partnership, society, 
        joint stock company, or any other entity, including any 
        governmental entity.
            (4) Qualified product.--The term ``qualified product'' 
        means a food (as defined in section 201(f) of the Federal Food 
        Drug and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 321(f)).
            (5) Qualified civil liability action.--The term ``qualified 
        civil liability action'' means a civil action brought by any 
        person against a manufacturer or seller of a qualified product, 
        or a trade association, for damages or injunctive relief based 
        on a claim of injury resulting from a person's weight gain, 
        obesity, or any health condition that is related to weight gain 
        or obesity, but shall not include--
                    (A) an action in which a manufacturer or seller of 
                a qualified product knowingly and willfully violated a 
                Federal or State statute applicable to the 
                manufacturing, marketing, distribution, advertisement, 
                labeling, or sale of the product, and the violation was 
                a proximate cause of the claim of injury resulting from 
                a person's weight gain, obesity, or health condition 
                related to weight gain or obesity;
                    (B) an action for breach of contract or express 
                warranty in connection with the purchase of a qualified 
                product; or
                    (C) an action regarding the sale of a qualified 
                product which is adulterated (as described in section 
                402 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 
                U.S.C. 342)).
            (6) Seller.--The term ``seller'' means, with respect to a 
        qualified product, a person lawfully engaged in the business of 
        marketing, distributing, advertising, or selling a qualified 
        product in interstate or foreign commerce.
            (7) State.--The term ``State'' includes each of the several 
        States of the United States, the District of Columbia, the 
        Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Guam, American 
        Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, 
        and any other territory or possession of the United States, and 
        any political subdivision of any such place.
            (8) Trade association.--The term ``trade association'' 
        means any association or business organization (whether or not 
        incorporated under Federal or State law) that is not operated 
        for profit, and 2 or more members of which are manufacturers, 
        marketers, distributors, advertisers, or sellers of a qualified 
        product.
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