We are now in the final month before the newly-amended Clear and Reasonable Warning regulations in California's Proposition 65 (Prop 65) take effect on August 30, 2018. Businesses have had since August 30, 2016 to prepare and comply with the newly-amended regulations, and we have been posting regular reminders (1-year reminder and 6-month reminder), which contain more detail about the history of Prop 65, the new requirements in the regulations, and the potential increase in enforcement litigation resulting from alleged noncompliance with the safe harbor warning requirements.
In short, the amended Clear and Reasonable Warnings regulations in Article 6 include new requirements for:
- Specific content language of warnings;
- How those warnings are transmitted to consumers, including product labeling, warnings on signs and shelf tags (where the warning is not affixed to each product);
- Products made available via the Internet; and
- Notification requirements from manufacturers who ship products in bulk to retailers.
Many businesses have successfully shifted their operations in order to comply with the amendments and to mitigate potential risk of citizen enforcement litigation that undoubtedly will ensue after the regulations become effective. If your business serves the California market and you have not given any thought to Prop 65, now is the time to do so.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
