H.R. 3646: Foreign Manufacturers Legal Accountability Act of 2011

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H.R. 3646: Foreign Manufacturers Legal Accountability Act of 2011

112th Congress · introduced 2011-12-13 · Law · Latest: Referred to the Subcommittee on Nutrition and Horticulture .

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Official title

Foreign Manufacturers Legal Accountability Act of 2011

Plain summary

Foreign Manufacturers Legal Accountability Act of 2011 - 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), the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (with respect to chemical substances, new chemical substances, and pesticides), and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) (with respect to a motor vehicle or motor vehicle products) to require foreign manufacturers and producers of such products (or components used to manufacture them), in excess of a minimum value, quantity, and frequency of importation, to register an agent in the United States who is 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 judicial proceeding. Requires any person who imports into the United States a covered product manufactured or produced outside the United States to make 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. Subjects to certain penalties an importer who fails to provide this or files a false declaration. Requires foreign manufacturers or producers of a covered product to report within five business days to the head of the applicable agency their determination to conduct a safety recall or other safety campaign of a covered product that is identical or substantially similar to a covered product offered for sale in the United States. Requires the Secretary of Agriculture and the Commissioner of Food and Drugs to study jointly the feasibility and advisability of requiring foreign producers of food distributed in commerce to register an agent in the United States who is authorized to accept service of process on behalf of such producers for the purpose of any state or federal regulatory proceeding or civil action in state or federal court. Requires the head of an applicable agency similarly to study the feasibility of methods requiring foreign manufacturers or producers of component parts of covered products distributed in U.S. commerce to register agents in the United States for purposes of such service of process. Requires the Comptroller General to study methods to enforce judgments of any state or federal regulatory proceeding or civil action in state or federal court against Chinese manufacturers that exported defective drywall to the United States during 2004-2007.

Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House), quoted unchanged (nonpartisan). Read the source.

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Alternatives

Needs sources: no published alternatives yet (for example a different bill, a law instead of an amendment, or keeping current law). We only show items backed by a published source. Suggest one.

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Officials and money

Sponsor: Rep. Sutton, Betty [D-OH-13] · 28 cosponsors

Cost estimate: No cost estimate published yet.

Cosponsors on this site

Michael R. Turner (R-OH), Linda T. Sánchez (D-CA), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), Gary C. Peters (D-MI), Joe Courtney (D-CT), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Henry C. "Hank" Johnson, Jr. (D-GA), Christopher Murphy (D-CT), Janice D. Schakowsky (D-IL), Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)

No linked floor roll calls in our collected records yet. This does not mean the bill has never had a vote. Check the official bill history.

Sources

• Congressional Research Service summary (Introduced in House)
• Congress.gov
• Data: GovInfo BILLSTATUS bulk data (Library of Congress), BILLSTATUS-112hr3646.xml <https://www.govinfo.gov/bulkdata/BILLSTATUS/112/hr>

Record fed-us-cong112-hr3646 · catalog fed-us-congress-bills-cong112 · updated 2026-11-15 by psicol fed-bills-cong112