Committee approves bill to require manufacturers to pay pseudoephedrine registry fees

The LCI committee on the bill stage approved House Bill H.4382, a measure amending the South Carolina Code to require manufacturers of nonprescription products containing ephedrine, pseudoephedrine or phenylpropanolamine to pay monthly fees to the administrator of the state data-collection system.

Mister Gagnon, a committee member explaining the bill, said the amendment moves the compliance start date from Oct. 1, 2025, to 2026 and makes the data-collection administrator ‘‘responsible for setting the fee levels.’’ He told the panel that ‘‘roughly 12 companies sell pseudoephedrine here in South Carolina’’ and that the change brings additional manufacturers into the registry system so the state ‘‘keeps track of who's getting the pseudoephedrine.’’

Committee members asked for clarification about enforcement and cost impacts. Mister Guffey asked why the state needs to track the product; Gagnon answered that pseudoephedrine has ‘‘been used in the past to make meth’’ and the registry limits how much an individual can buy. Another member asked whether manufacturers might pass fees to consumers; Gagnon said the fee is likely embedded in product pricing and is not expected to be ‘‘an extraordinary amount of money’’ but is intended ‘‘to keep that registry working.’’

The committee moved to report the bill favorably. The chair called for a show of hands; the ayes prevailed and H.4382 was reported to the House floor as amended.

What happens next: The bill now proceeds to the House floor for further consideration.