By Turner of Coleman                                  H.B. No. 2494
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
    1-1                                AN ACT
    1-2  relating to the disparagement of agricultural and aquacultural food
    1-3  products and creating a cause of action.
    1-4        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-5        SECTION 1.  The Texas Civil Practices and Remedies Code is
    1-6  amended by adding a new Chapter 85 to read as follows:
    1-7          CHAPTER 85. DISPARAGEMENT OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS
    1-8        Sec. 85.01.  Legislative Findings.               The
    1-9  legislature hereby finds, determines, and declares that the
   1-10  production of agricultural and aquacultural food products
   1-11  constitutes an important and significant portion of the state
   1-12  economy and that it is beneficial to the citizens of this state to
   1-13  protect the vitality of the agricultural and aquacultural economy
   1-14  by providing a cause of action for producers of perishable
   1-15  agricultural and aquacultural food products to recover damages for
   1-16  the disparagement of any perishable agricultural or aquacultural
   1-17  food product.
   1-18        Sec. 85.02.  Definitions.        In this chapter:
   1-19        (1)  "Disparagement" means dissemination to the public in any
   1-20  manner of any information that the disseminator knows or should
   1-21  have known to be false and which states or implies that a
   1-22  perishable agricultural or aquacultural food product is not safe
   1-23  for consumption by the public.  Such information is presumed to be
    2-1  false when not based upon reasonable and reliable scientific
    2-2  inquiry, facts, or data.
    2-3        (2)  "Perishable agricultural or aquacultural food product"
    2-4  means any food product of agriculture or aquaculture which is sold
    2-5  or distributed in a form that will perish or decay beyond
    2-6  marketability within a period of time.
    2-7        Sec. 85.03.  Cause of Action; Recovery of Damages (a)  Any
    2-8  producer of perishable agricultural or aquacultural food products
    2-9  who suffers damage as a result of another person's disparagement of
   2-10  any such perishable agricultural or aquacultural food product has a
   2-11  cause of action for damages and any other appropriate relief in a
   2-12  court of competent jurisdiction.
   2-13        (b)  The disparagement of a perishable agricultural or
   2-14  aquacultural food product with intent to harm the producer or that
   2-15  product shall result in the disseminator of the disparaging
   2-16  information being liable to the producer for treble damages.
   2-17        Sec. 85.04.  Limitations of Action.              Any civil
   2-18  action for damages for disparagement of perishable agricultural or
   2-19  aquacultural food products shall be commenced within three years
   2-20  after the cause of action accrues.
   2-21        SECTION 2.  The importance of this legislation and the
   2-22  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   2-23  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   2-24  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   2-25  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.