Title: Crime Subcommittee Hearing Thursday U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr., Chairman News Advisory For immediate release Contact: Jeff Lungren/Terry Shawn July 25, 2001 (202) 225-2492 Crime Subcommittee Holds Hearing and Markup Thursday on Consumer Product Tampering Legislation What: Legislative hearing and markup on H.R. 2621, the "Consumer Product Protection Act of 2001" Who: Subcommittee on Crime - Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), Chairman When: 2:00 p.m. Thursday, July 26, 2001 Where: 2237 Rayburn House Office Building Tracey Weaver was preparing her family a New Year's Eve dinner complete with dessert to be made from a box of cheesecake mix she had bought at the local market. When the box was opened, her husband found a coupon for a "Free Trip To Africa". It was really no coupon at all but a demand for all African- Americans to return to Africa and included racial slurs that understandably upset Mrs. Weaver's family. Under current law, tampering with a product's packaging is legal as long as the perpetrator does not cause the labeling to be false or misleading or adulterate the product. This legislation, H.R. 2621, would make tampering with a product's packaging a crime punishable by up to three years in jail. Problems... * Current consumer protection laws cover tampering which endangers the health or safety of consumers or renders the labeling of a product false or misleading. * Tampering which does not taint or contaminate the contents or the labeling of a product is not covered under federal criminal law. However, such tampering harms both the consumer and the manufacturer. * Package tampering has become more and more pervasive; Kraft Foods estimates that they have received nearly 100 complaints in the last five years but that many more cases are not reported to them. This Legislation will... * Make knowingly stamping, printing, placing or inserting writing in or on a consumer product prior to its sale a crime with penalties up three years imprisonment and/or a fine of up to $25,000 per offense. Witnesses: Rep. Melissa Hart (R-PA), sponsor of H.R. 2621; William Macleod, Partner, Collier Shannon Scott, PLLC, on behalf of the Grocery Manufacturers of America; David Zlotnick, Professor, Roger Williams University; and Tracey Weaver, Victim, Leavenworth, Washington. ###30### Terry A. Shawn Press Secretary Committee on the Judiciary 202.225.2498