SPI POLICY STATEMENT ON PRODUCT LIABILITY

The Society of the Plastics Industry, Inc. (SPI) believes that abuse of the legal system has become a serious national problem and imposes tremendous and unnecessary costs on manufacturers, workers and consumers. According to the Manufacturing Institute, tort costs reduce U.S. manufacturing competitiveness by at least 3.2 percent, costs 2 percent of U.S. gross domestic product and results in the United States, ranking first compared to its nine largest trading partners in terms of manufacturing tort costs as a percent of manufacturing output.

These undue costs harm the ability of U.S. plastics manufacturers to compete in an increasingly global environment, hindering economic growth and impeding the ability of legitimate claims to be tried. Therefore, SPI urges Congress to pass the following:

• A statute of repose that would set a federal time limit beyond which a manufacturer could not be sued.
• Limited product seller liability that would allow for product sellers to be liable only for injuries caused by their own negligence.
• Uniform federal standards of clear and convincing evidence that a defendant caused the harm with a conscious, flagrant indifference to the rights or safety of others before the awarding of punitive damages.
• Elimination of joint-and-several liability to provide that a defendant is responsible only for the percentage amount of the harm that the defendant caused.
• A provision allowing for a complete defense if it is proved that the claimant was under the influence of alcohol or any drug when the accident or event that caused the harm occurred.
• A statute of limitations providing that a lawsuit must be filed within two years after the date that the claimant discovered or should have discovered the harm and its cause.
• A requirement that a lawsuit should be heard where there is a direct connection to the alleged harm so that plaintiffs' attorneys cannot "shop around" for a jurisdiction friendly to their interests.
• A provision requiring that the claimant cover courts costs for suits deemed "frivolous" by the judge or jury.

Frivolous lawsuits harm U.S. manufacturers and the country through exorbitant costs on companies and taxpayers. Passage of meaningful product liability reform is necessary to protect workers, consumers and manufacturers and to provide for economic growth.

Approved by the SPI Board of Directors, January 16, 2004

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