AN ACT RELATING TO FOOD AND DRUGS -- RHODE ISLAND FOOD, DRUGS, AND COSMETICS ACT (Requires that all cosmetics manufactured, sold, delivered, held or offered for sale contain a label that completely and accurately list all of their component ingredients.)

H7192

2026 -- H 7192
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LC003755
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STATE OF RHODE ISLAND
IN GENERAL ASSEMBLY
JANUARY SESSION, A.D. 2026
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A N A C T
RELATING TO FOOD AND DRUGS -- RHODE ISLAND FOOD, DRUGS, AND
COSMETICS ACT

Introduced By:
Representatives J. Lombardi, Hull, Ajello, Potter, Cruz, and Stewart

Date Introduced:
January 21, 2026

Referred To:
House Health & Human Services
It is enacted by the General Assembly as follows:
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SECTION 1. Section 21-31-3 of the General Laws in Chapter 21-31 entitled "Rhode Island
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Food, Drugs, and Cosmetics Act" is hereby amended to read as follows:
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21-31-3. Prohibited acts.
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The following acts and the causing of those acts within the state of Rhode Island are
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prohibited:
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(1) The manufacture, sale, or delivery, or holding or offering for sale of any food, drug,
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device, or cosmetic that is adulterated or misbranded.
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(2) The adulteration or misbranding of any food, drug, device, or cosmetic.
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(3) The receipt in commerce of any food, drug, device, or cosmetic that is adulterated or
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misbranded, and the delivery or proferred delivery of it for pay or otherwise.
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(4) The sale, delivery for sale, holding for sale, or offering for sale of any article in violation
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of § 21-31-12 or 21-31-16.
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(5) The dissemination of any false advertisement.
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(6) The refusal to permit entry or inspection, or to permit the taking of a sample, as
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authorized by § 21-31-21.
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(7) The giving of a guaranty of undertaking which guaranty or undertaking is false, except
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by a person who relied on a guaranty or undertaking to the same effect signed by, and containing
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the name and address of, the person residing in the state of Rhode Island from whom he or she

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received in good faith the food, drug, device, or cosmetic.
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(8) The removal or disposal of a detained or embargoed article in violation of § 21-31-6.
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(9) The alteration, mutilation, destruction, obliteration, or removal of the whole or any part
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of the labeling of, or the doing of any other act with respect to, a food, drug, device, or cosmetic, if
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that act is done while the article is held for sale and results in the article’s being adulterated or
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misbranded.
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(10) Forging, counterfeiting, simulating, or falsely representing, or without proper
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authority using, any mark, stamp, tag, label, or other identification device authorized or required
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by regulations promulgated under the provisions of this chapter.
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(11) The using, on the labeling of any drug or in any advertisement relating to the drug, of
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any representation or suggestion that any application with respect to the drug is effective under §
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21-31-16, or that the drug complies with the provisions of that section.
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(12)(i) The possession of any habit-forming, toxic, harmful, or new drug subject to § 21-
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31-15(a)(11)(i) unless the possession of that drug has been obtained by a valid prescription of a
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practitioner licensed by law to administer those drugs; provided, that the provisions of this
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subdivision shall not be applicable to the delivery of those drugs to persons included in any of the
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classes named below, or to the agents or employees of these persons, for use in the usual course of
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their official duties, as the case may be, or to the possession of those drugs by these persons or their
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agents or employees for that use: (A) pharmacists; (B) practitioners; (C) persons who procure the
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drugs for disposition by or under the supervision of pharmacists or practitioners employed by them
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or for the purpose of lawful research, teaching, or testing, and not for resale; (D) hospitals or other
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institutions which procure the drugs for lawful administration by practitioners; (E) officers or
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employees of federal, state, or local governments; (F) manufacturers and wholesalers lawfully
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engaged in selling those drugs to authorized persons; and (G) common carriers and warehouse
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operators while engaged in lawfully transporting or storing the drugs for authorized persons.
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(ii) The possession of a drug under paragraph (i) of this subdivision not properly labeled to
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indicate that possession is by a valid prescription of a practitioner licensed by law to administer the
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drug by any person not exempted under this chapter shall be prima facie evidence that the
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possession is unlawful; provided, that the provisions of this paragraph shall not be applicable where
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a portion of the whole amount of a drug lawfully obtained under the provisions of this chapter not
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in excess of an amount sufficient to meet the medical requirements of the patient in any twenty-
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four (24) consecutive hours, as indicated in the directions for use by the practitioner prescribing or
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dispensing the drug, is possessed in a container to suit the convenience of the patient.
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(13) The sale of all unprocessed and/or uncooked fish, shellfish, and scallops by retail

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markets and other retailers without a label indicating whether the fish, shellfish, or scallops have
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ever been frozen.
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(14) The making, issuing, or uttering of any false or forged prescription.
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(15) The processing or selling or holding for sale of any “distressed merchandise” in this
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state without a permit from the director of health.
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(16) The holding, selling, or offering for sale of any food (or drug) which has been
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condemned or voluntarily disposed of by action of the director of health.
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(17) Use of the term “native” unless used as defined in § 21-31-2. The retail consumer has
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a right to know and the retailer shall provide upon request the origin of nonnative uncooked and/or
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unprocessed shellfish and/or scallops.
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(18) The manufacturing, sale, or delivery, or holding or offering for sale of any cosmetic
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if its label does not contain a complete and accurate listing of each and every component ingredient
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contained in that cosmetic.
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SECTION 2. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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EXPLANATION
BY THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL
OF
A N A C T
RELATING TO FOOD AND DRUGS -- RHODE ISLAND FOOD, DRUGS, AND
COSMETICS ACT
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This act would require that all cosmetics manufactured, sold, delivered, held or offered for
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sale contain a label that completely and accurately lists all of their component ingredients.
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This act would take effect upon passage.
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