You may have received an e-mail notice this week from the CPSC about the FOIA office’s new “Electronic Manufacturer Notification Collaboration Portal.” The main purpose of the Portal is to reduce costs by using e-mail instead of snail mail for Section 6(b) and other FOIA-related notifications. Generally, automation of this process shouldn’t result in any… Continue Reading
Ninth Circuit Blocks Sweet Drink Warning Labels Pending Free Speech Lawsuit The Ninth Circuit dealt a blow to the war on sugar last month, calling the warning labels a San Francisco ordinance would require on sweet drinks “deceptive” and blocking the mandate on free speech grounds. As we have discussed before, cities and counties across… Continue Reading
The big takeaways from The Autonomous Vehicle Safety Regulation World Congress centered on the importance of a federal scheme for AV regulation and the reality of the states’ interest in traditional issues such as traffic enforcement, product liability, and insurance coverage. In keeping with those messages, the World Congress kicked off with NHTSA Deputy Administrator… Continue Reading
Earlier this month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that it would allow infant food manufacturers to use a qualified health claim on their labeling to characterize the relationship between consumption of ground peanuts by infants beginning between 4 and 10 months of age and a reduced risk of developing peanut allergy by age… Continue Reading
President Trump has nominated Dana Baiocco to be Commissioner of the Consumer Product Safety Commission. The appointment is for a term of seven years beginning on October 27, 2017. Ms. Baiocco is currently a litigator at Jones Day. According to her firm’s bio, she has litigated cases involving “mass torts, consumer and industrial products and… Continue Reading
The U.S. Department of Justice and Consumer Product Safety Commission recently announced that they had entered into consent decrees with three New York-based toy companies and five individuals for importing and selling products that violate the Federal Hazardous Substances Act and the Consumer Product Safety Act. The consent decrees enter permanent injunctions against the companies… Continue Reading
Fuzzy talking toys are no longer the annoying, yet benign Christmas gifts they used to be. Many of today’s toys, like refrigerators, cars, and televisions, are “smart,” and may come gift-wrapped with all of the emerging cybersecurity risks the internet has to offer. And as various government agencies grapple with the regulation and enforcement of… Continue Reading
On June 19, 2017, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision clarifying the circumstances in which a lawsuit “arises out of” or “relates to” a corporation’s contacts with a particular jurisdiction, such that it can be sued there. In Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. v. Superior Court, writing for an 8-1 majority, Justice Alito held that California… Continue Reading
FTC Moves Ahead Enforcing Endorsement Cases A few months ago, acting Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Olhausen stated that the FTC should shift focus to cases of actual harm, leaving many to wonder whether FTC would still actively enforce endorsement cases. However, in April, the FTC sent out ninety letters to brand influencers and marketers reminding… Continue Reading
On June 7, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission provided administrative law followers a fascinating case study. For the first time in two decades, the CPSC’s five Commissioners heard an appeal put on by CPSC staff in administrative litigation. In its appeal, the staff seeks to overturn an administrative law judge’s opinion finding that Zen… Continue Reading
2017 continues to be the year of the Food Safety Modernization Act, as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, having completed its roll-out of the major rules implementing this land-mark food safety legislation, moves in earnest with inspections to check on compliance. To help manufacturers prepare for this and other issues confronting the food industry,… Continue Reading
The Food Safety Modernization Act, which was signed into law by President Obama on January 4, 2011, promised sweeping reform of food safety practices from farm to fork, and shifted FDA’s regulatory posture from reacting to food contamination to proactively preventing it. While the Trump administration has vowed to eliminate two regulations for every new… Continue Reading
CPSC Reaches Civil Penalty Agreement with Viking Range and Middleby Corporation; Firms to Pay $4.65 Million to Resolve Late Reporting Allegations Over Defective Gas Ranges The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has announced a civil penalty settlement with Viking Range, LLC of Greenwood, Mississippi and its parent company, The Middleby Corporation of Elgin, Illinois.… Continue Reading
Presidential advisor Steve Bannon famously told the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) that the Trump Administration seeks to “deconstruct” the regulatory state. The President has issued several Executive Orders (EOs) on regulations designed to implement this policy, including the “two for one” EO, an EO on enforcing the regulatory agenda, and an EO on reorganizing… Continue Reading
This past Wednesday, in her first public remarks as Acting Chair of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Ann Marie Buerkle announced her top three priorities. As our readers know from our previous post, on February 9, then Commissioner Buerkle became Acting Chair of the CPSC after Commissioner Elliot Kaye stepped down as Chairman.… Continue Reading
On July 26, 2016, FDA issued an updated warning on beauty products, warning consumers to avoid certain “skin creams, beauty and antiseptic soaps, and lotions,” particularly those boasting “anti-aging” or “skin lightening” benefits, as potentially containing mercury. While the dangers of mercury exposure are well-known, mercury’s ubiquity in certain beauty products is not. Products that… Continue Reading
Many universities and local governments have installed synthetic turf made with “crumb rubber” – ground up tires – on playing fields and playgrounds in recent years to obtain the advantages of all-season use and lower maintenance costs. In recent months, however, the media and a growing group of critics contend that the crumb rubber used… Continue Reading
On December 3, 2015 in a unanimous decision, the California Supreme Court ruled that California state law claims for harms arising out of allegedly false “organic” labeling were not preempted by the federal Organic Foods Production Act of 1990. With that decision, the Court reversed the lower court’s dismissal of Plaintiffs’ claims on the pleadings. … Continue Reading
On Tuesday, September 8, 2015, the House passed the E-Warranty Act of 2015, which, if enacted, would require the FTC to revise the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act to allow manufacturers to satisfy the Act’s requirements by digitally posting consumer product warranties on their websites. The E-Warranty Act would permit manufacturers to provide warranty information online only, if… Continue Reading
The FDA is cracking down on distributors of pure powdered caffeine. On Tuesday, the agency released a statement announcing that it fully intends to “aggressively monitor the marketplace for pure powdered caffeine products and take action as appropriate.” This is no empty threat. Warning letters were issued to five distributors of the product on August… Continue Reading
On December 8 and 9, 2014, the Food and Drug Law Institute (FDLI) held its annual Enforcement, Litigation & Compliance Conference in Washington, D.C. Speakers from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Department of Justice (DOJ), and other federal agencies, as well as representatives from industry and the private bar, discussed recent activity and… Continue Reading
As the storm of concussion-related litigation continues to churn, the Federal Trade Commission is once again wading into its turbulent waters. In August, the FTC sent warning letters to five undisclosed “major” retailers, expressing concerns that athletic mouthguards are being advertised deceptively on the retailers’ web sites as helping to prevent concussions. These FTC letters… Continue Reading
The American Conference Institute held its Second Annual Consumer Products Regulatory & Litigation conference on June 11-12, 2014, in Chicago, Illinois. Here is a list of the key takeaways from this year’s event: On recent Commission activity: While Commissioners at the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) may admit to having “erasers on their pencils” when… Continue Reading
A month in advance of its October 31, 2013 statutory deadline, California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) on September 26, 2013 released its preliminary lists of Candidate Chemicals under the state’s newly enacted Green Chemistry Initiative. The Green Chemistry regulations, which officially took effect today, require certain “Priority Products” to go through a rigorous… Continue Reading
