WASHINGTON--Lawmakers last week introduced legislation that would make organized retail crime a federal offense, an attempt to stop the issue that is estimated to costs retailers and consumers as much as $30 billion annually.

H.R. 6491, the Organized Retail Crime Act of 2008, was introduced July 16 by Rep. Brad Ellsworth, D-Ind., with Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, as the lead co-sponsor. The bill would define organized retail crime as "the acquiring of retail merchandise by illegal means for the purpose of reselling the items" and make such activity -- including transportation, sale or receipt of stolen retail goods -- a federal crime.

Also, the sale of stolen or counterfeit gift cards, or items with fake UPC or RFID chips, would be considered fraud.

Those found guilty of committing or facilitating organized retail crimes would be subject to appropriate existing fines, prison terms and forfeiture, and the legislation would require the U.S. Sentencing Commission to review its guidelines for cases involving such crimes.

"This is a serious crime issue with real health and safety implications," said Paul Jones, vice president for asset protection for the Retail Industry Leaders Association. "Without a secure supply chain and the anonymity of sellers, consumers could easily be exposed to harmful products that have been potentially tampered with."

The bill would also establish that operation of on-line marketplaces such as auction sites can be considered "facilitation" of organized retail crime unless the operator can show that specific steps had been taken to ensure that goods being sold were not obtained by theft or fraud. Site operators would be required to "expeditiously" investigate complaints that stolen items are being sold, maintain records of the names and physical addresses of high-volume sellers and require high-volume sellers to either post that information along with merchandise offerings or make it available upon request to any business with a reasonable suspicion about the merchandise. Operators of on-line marketplaces could also be sued by any business whose stolen goods were sold.

"A significant portion of this bill deals with on-line fencing of stolen goods," Joe LaRocca, vice president of loss prevention for the National Retail Federation, said. "On-line auctions and other markets on the Internet provide a Wild West environment where thieves can re-sell stolen property to customers on a national or even international level with virtually no questions asked. Requiring Internet marketplaces to live up to their responsibility to block the sale of obviously stolen merchandise is not unreasonable."