Manufacturers

Bids to require mandatory labeling of foods containing genetically modified organisms (GMO) were voted down in Colorado and Oregon on Tuesday. Colorado voters rejected Proposition 105, with nearly 70% of voters saying no; while Oregon voters rejected Measure 92, with only 50.9% against the initiative, and 49.1% in…

On October 20, 2014, FDA reached a settlement with the Center for Food Safety (“CFS”) in litigation pending in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. This litigation is related to FDA’s rule for food additives that are “generally recognized as safe” (“GRAS”). In 1997, FDA…

On October 14, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) published a report entitled “Consumer Product Safety Commission: Challenges and Options for Responding to New and Emerging Risks.” The report analyzes the timeliness of the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s (CPSC) response to “new and emerging” safety risks from new or…

We do not typically take positions on product specific issues pending before the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (“CPSC”), but the CPSC’s new safety standard for magnet sets demonstrates both why the agency exists and how it can use its regulatory authority to protect consumers. In enacting the…

This space has thoroughly explored the various forms of civil liability food companies face for the mislabeling and/or deceptive marketing of their products. Last week, a set of landmark convictions in a criminal food-safety prosecution potentially signal increased criminal liability for food companies when matters of public health…

A recent federal decision has made clear that court-ordered recalls can have real teeth, not just for manufacturers but also their officers—especially when the court has reason to suspect a company’s execs are deliberately dragging their feet.

On August 26, 2014, the FDA issued draft guidance to address “controlled correspondence,” which is the correspondence that generic drug manufacturers submit to the FDA to request information and to clarify issues related to generic drug development, and the FDA’s procedure for responding to such correspondence. The FDA…

Although the final rule currently under consideration by the CPSC sets a performance standard for magnet sets, the practical effect of the new safety standard will be a ban on the future sale or distribution of powerful rare earth magnet sets like Buckyballs and Zen Magnets. During the…

Throughout the year, this space has periodically re-visited the topic of regulating the manufacture and labeling of foods with genetically modified ingredients (GMOs) at the state and federal level. This week, a lawsuit out of Kauai, Hawaii shed light on the fate of these regulations at the county…

Judge Claude M. Hilton of the Eastern District of Virginia recently issued a Memorandum Opinion following up on his June 27, 2014 order (on which we previously wrote here and here) dismissing the complaint filed against the power tool industry by SawStop, LLC.

Last week, the California Supreme Court granted review of Ramos v. Brenntag Specialties, Inc. to resolve a split in the Second Appellate District regarding the application of California’s component parts doctrine. The component parts doctrine stands for the proposition that a company that manufactures component parts cannot be…

On June 27, 2014, Judge Claude M. Hilton of the Eastern District of Virginia dismissed the complaint filed against the power tool industry by SawStop, LLC. We previously wrote about this lawsuit and the need for companies and trade associations to develop sound legal policies and procedures to…

We previously wrote about the recent 4th Circuit decision that ordered the unsealing of a district court opinion siding with a manufacturer who challenged a product safety report the CPSC planned to post on its Saferproducts.gov public database. The district court had previously redacted its opinion heavily and…

In April, we wrote about the Vermont legislature’s approval of a bill that would require manufacturers to change the retail labels of certain foods to indicate that they are GMO. On May 8, 2014, Vermont enacted the final version of this bill, now Act 120, which requires manufacturers…

Last month, we wrote about the toxic chemicals legislation bouncing between the Vermont House and Senate (click here for our prior post). On May 9, 2014, the Vermont Legislature gave final approval to the bill, S.239, which gives the Vermont Department of Health the authority to require manufacturers…

The CPSC recently released a new monthly progress report form for companies conducting recalls with the agency. The revised form is in some respects better written than its predecessor and retains many of the old information reporting categories, disposes of or modifies other information fields from the old…

On May 9, 2014, the CPSC and the maker of Buckyballs and Buckycubes settled the July 2012 administrative case brought by the CPSC alleging that these “rare earth magnets” pose a substantial product hazard. The settlement agreement includes a voluntary recall of Buckyballs and Buckycubes and a trust…

On May 5, 2014, the Vermont Senate gave final approval to a bill that would ramp up regulatory scrutiny of the chemicals found in children’s products. The bill, S.239, gives the Vermont Department of Health the authority to require manufacturers to report, label, and remove chemicals it considers…

In response to a written request from 32 trade associations and issues raised by 58 public comments, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) decided at its public meeting this morning that it will seek further public input prior to finalizing a proposed amendment to its certificates of compliance…

We have previously blogged about the sometimes difficult decision that companies face when classifying their products as “children’s” or “general-use” products and the uncertainty of predicting whether the Consumer Product Safety Commission (“CPSC”) will agree with their classification. Although companies who sell personalized products have different business models,…

A growing number of states are passing Green Chemistry laws, e.g.; California, Connecticut, Maine, Minnesota, and Washington State. These laws present a challenge to manufacturers who distribute and sell products into the 50 states.

Since the inception of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), voluntary recall agreements between the agency and companies conducting a recall (commonly referred to as “corrective action plans”) have not been legally binding on the company conducting the recall. At the November 13, 2013 meeting of the…

California’s District Courts have, of late, become the go-to jurisdictions for plaintiffs bringing ‘natural’ labeling lawsuits against national food manufacturers. This is due, in large part, to California’s consumer-friendly Unfair Competition Law, False Advertising Law, and Consumer’s Legal Remedies Act. California District Courts may be sending a different…

California is one of the largest consumer markets in the United States. When it comes to environmental regulations, California can be the tail that wags the dog. It is not difficult for manufacturers, importers and retailers to inadvertently run afoul of California’s comprehensive environmental regulations. Those regulations just…

I used to jokingly tell people that when I moved from design engineering into the law I went from the most productive field in the world to the most counter-productive field. This joke plays on the common misconception that lawyers are risk-averse naysayers who stifle innovation and focus…

It would no doubt be helpful to present a jury with information of how plaintiff was driving too fast in choppy water before being thrown from a boat or how the plaintiff allowed lint to collect in the exhaust duct before a fire in the dryer caused property…

On August 5, 2013 the FDA issued its final rule on the voluntary labeling of food gluten-free. This is good news for both consumers and manufacturers.

Contract clauses impacting risk assumption and risk transfer which are integral to the capturing of recall costs are often relegated to the “boiler plate” section of many Supply Agreements or are preprinted on the reverse side of POs that are often not sent by PDF or fax.

Starting in 2012, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) teamed up with football helmet manufacturers, the National Football League (NFL), and others to eliminate the use of outdated football helmets and teach safer game play among youth football players. The “Youth Football Brain Safety” initiative has helped…

A unanimous U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (“CPSC”) announced that Ross Stores Inc. (“Ross”), a national discount retailer, agreed to pay a $3.9 million civil penalty to settle allegations that it failed to report its continued sale of banned children’s upper outerwear containing drawstrings. In addition to paying…