Will Troutman (US)

Subscribe to all posts by Will Troutman (US)

Federal and state authorities warn against price gouging

By Will Troutman (US) on March 27, 2020 Posted in Coronavirus, General

In the wake of the coronavirus, some sellers of essential goods and services have tried to greatly increase the cost of their products to take advantage of increased demand. But sellers beware: Public officials all over the country have expressed a willingness to prosecute price gougers and companies that may facilitate sales of goods with inflated … Continue reading

New coronavirus business restrictions and limitations

By Will Troutman (US) and Jeff Margulies (US) on March 26, 2020 Posted in Coronavirus, General

Stay at Home and Shelter in Place orders continue to proliferate, and we are also seeing an uptick in curfews being set. Notable updates in: Idaho Mississippi Missouri Nebraska Tennessee Texas Our updated tracking site is now here.… Continue reading

Coronavirus business restrictions update and links to orders

By Will Troutman (US) and Jeff Margulies (US) on March 24, 2020 Posted in Coronavirus, General

For those of you have been following our running list of state and local business restrictions here on the blog, we are happy to report that we have been upgraded to a dedicated website. And with our upgrade comes an added feature–links to the state and local orders we are discussing. Please continue to follow us … Continue reading

UPDATE: business restrictions and limitations

By Will Troutman (US) on March 23, 2020 Posted in General

To say the least, it was a tumultuous weekend. We have updated our coronavirus business restrictions and limitations table, including our first “Hunker Down” order. We anticipate rapid and frequent changes over the next several days, and we will do our best to keep up-to-date. We also would love for you to join us this … Continue reading

“Stay at Home” and “Shelter in Place” restrictions grow; updated business restrictions table

By Will Troutman (US) and Jeff Margulies (US) on March 21, 2020 Posted in Coronavirus, General

We continue to update our list of state and local business restrictions and limitations as quickly as we can given the rapidly changing landscape. As of Friday night, “Stay at Home” and “Shelter in Place” orders continue to proliferate, as Connecticut and Illinois have joined California and New York. In general, under these orders, the … Continue reading

UPDATED: Coronavirus restrictions and limitations

By Will Troutman (US), Eva Yang (US) and Katie Fragoso (US) on March 19, 2020 Posted in Coronavirus, General

We have just finished a big update of our ongoing coronavirus tracker, which includes California’s stunning “Stay-at-Home” order just issued this evening. We will continue to monitor state and local restrictions nationwide, incorporating them each day. Stay safe and healthy! Consider a Friday “Quarantini” and a virtual Happy Hour!… Continue reading

Coronavirus business restrictions and limitations

By Will Troutman (US), Eva Yang (US) and Katie Fragoso (US) on March 17, 2020 Posted in Coronavirus, General

Please visit our new State and Local Restrictions webpage for updated information: https://www.nortonrosefulbright.com/en/knowledge/publications/52aa88af/covid-19-and-us-response-a-state-by-state-overview. In light of the growing number of state and local restrictions and limitations, we thought it would be helpful to publish an informal list of mandates as we become aware of them. We will do our best to update the list as … Continue reading

What to expect from CPSC (at least for a little while)

By Will Troutman (US) and Jeff Margulies (US) on February 20, 2020 Posted in Consumer Product Safety Commission

Today at the International Consumer Product Health & Safety Organization annual meeting, U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Acting Chairman Bob Adler delivered the keynote address. Adler provided some insight into his priorities for the Commission for the foreseeable future, recognizing that he is currently the Acting Chairman and a Democrat—with the presidential election coming in … Continue reading

Class actions against CBD companies proliferate under federal and state law

By Mark Faccenda (US), Jeff Margulies (US), Will Troutman (US) and Katie Fragoso (US) on February 12, 2020 Posted in Food & Drug Administration, Recent consumer products case law, Recent legislation and regulations

On the heels of FDA sending out a tranche of warning letters to sellers of cannabidiol (CBD) products, enterprising plaintiffs lawyers have filed a spate of consumer class actions over these types of products. The complaints put forth a number of different theories tied to the current illegality of these products due to FDA regulation. … Continue reading

The mysterious world of Prop 65 reloaded, part 5: the notice

By Will Troutman (US) and Lauren Shoor (US) on February 10, 2020 Posted in California Proposition 65

Editor’s Note: Since our original post, there have been two significant changes: In 2017, the California Legislature amended the certificate of merit requirements. The amendments require the Attorney General to notify a private enforcer and the alleged violator if the AG finds no merit to an action. The amendments also make the basis for the … Continue reading

California selects nail products containing MMA for Priority Product list

By Will Troutman (US) on February 7, 2020 Posted in Green chemistry, Recent legislation and regulations

California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) has proposed listing nail products containing methyl methacrylate (MMA) as its latest Priority Product under its Safer Consumer Products regulation. DTSC has gone after nail products before–nail products with toluene are already a proposed Priority Product awaiting adoption by the California Legislature. If the newest proposal is … Continue reading

California modifies Prop 65 warning regulations

By Jeff Margulies (US), Will Troutman (US) and Lauren Shoor (US) on January 26, 2020 Posted in California Proposition 65

The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has adopted amendments to its 2016 Proposition 65 warning regulations. These amendments address issues that arose regarding how manufacturers and distributors communicate with retailers and other downstream businesses about the need to provide warnings. The amendments also revise the definition of the “actual knowledge” that creates a duty … Continue reading

New York follows Illinois with new lead-content warning requirement for children’s jewelry

By Will Troutman (US), Jeff Margulies (US) and Katie Fragoso (US) on January 13, 2020 Posted in General, Recent legislation and regulations

In the final week of 2019, New York governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law Assembly Bill A6041 (S4046) to regulate children’s jewelry that contains specified levels of lead. The new law, which will take effect January 1, 2021 (without a “manufactured by” or sell-through date), prohibits the offer for sale or sale in the state of children’s … Continue reading

FDA clarifies position on CBD, cracks down on 15 online stores

By Mark Faccenda (US), Will Troutman (US) and Katie Fragoso (US) on December 11, 2019 Posted in Consumer class actions, Food & Drug Administration

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a revised consumer alert on Cannabidiol (CBD), warning that the agency is aware that some companies are marketing CBD products in ways that violate the federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FD&C Act), and that may put the health and safety of consumers at risk. The FDA also … Continue reading

Furniture tip-over remains in flux

By Will Troutman (US) and Eva Yang (US) on December 2, 2019 Posted in Consumer Product Safety Commission, General, Recent legislation and regulations

A brief internet search shows that unambiguously, industry, regulators, and NGOs all agree that furniture tip-over is a priority in the consumer markets sector. However, there is little agreement on the best approach. Over the last year alone, we have seen the U.S. Consumer Product Commission announce that the Commission deems “clothing storage units” that do not meet ASTM F2057-17 … Continue reading

The mysterious world of Prop 65 reloaded, part 3: the warning

By Jeff Margulies (US) and Will Troutman (US) on October 10, 2019 Posted in California Proposition 65

Editor’s Note: On August 30, 2018, OEHHA’s amendments to the Proposition 65 clear and reasonable warning regulations became effective. The amendments bring two major changes: the first ever allocation of responsibility for warnings, which places the primary responsibility on upstream entities rather than retailers; and significant changes to the “safe harbor” warning regulation, including warning content and methods of … Continue reading

The mysterious world of Prop 65 reloaded, part 2: the list

By Will Troutman (US), Lauren Shoor (US) and Eva Yang (US) on September 19, 2019 Posted in California Proposition 65

Editor’s Note: The way that chemicals get added to the list has not changed; however, the list of Prop 65 chemicals has. Here are some recently added chemicals that may be found in consumer products: Aloe Vera (non-decolorized whole leaf extract) Goldenseal root powder Malathion beta-Myrcene Nickel (soluble compounds) Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluorooctane sulfonate … Continue reading

Adler elected Acting Chair of CPSC in surprise

By Will Troutman (US) on September 16, 2019 Posted in Consumer Product Safety Commission

In what can only be described as a shocking turn of events, CPSC Commissioner Robert Adler (Dem.) has been elected Vice-Chair of the Commission. This means he will become the Acting Chairman of the Commission when current Acting Chairman Ann Marie Buerkle steps down at the end of September. Since Buerkle announced she was withdrawing her … Continue reading

The mysterious world of Prop 65–reloaded!

By Will Troutman (US) and Lauren Shoor (US) on September 10, 2019 Posted in California Proposition 65

Nearly five years ago, we started publishing our first serial, The mysterious world of Prop 65. Although we knew we struck gold with the brilliant series title, we could not have contemplated that these would become our most visited, read, and referred to posts. Since 2014, a lot has changed in the Proposition 65 landscape, … Continue reading

TARIFFS! Exclusion process for Section 301 tariffs is now available for List 3 products

By Will Troutman (US) on July 23, 2019 Posted in General

Unsurprisingly, tariff issues are becoming more and more prevalent for consumer products manufacturers, distributors, and retailers. In a positive turn, List 3 products are now eligible for exclusions from the significant Section 301 (China) tariffs. Check out this summary and analysis of the process from our international trade colleagues. … Continue reading

Webinar: What do you mean I’m shipping hazmat?

By Will Troutman (US) on May 15, 2019 Posted in General

I’m delighted to announce that Norton Rose Fulbright will be hosting a webinar on May 30 at noon CDT with an absolute HazMat pro, Jim Shimko of Labelmaster. Each day, U.S. businesses transport over one million HazMat shipments, and every one of them is subject to federal standards. Chances are, your company is shipping HazMat … Continue reading

Beyond cosmetics: ARB enforcement of California’s Consumer Products regulation

By Will Troutman (US) on April 10, 2019 Posted in General

We’ve previously published analyses on the California Air Resource Board’s (ARB) case settlements related to cosmetic products, but there are a whole host of other consumer products also subject to ARB enforcement. We thought it would be helpful to provide some insight into these as well.… Continue reading

CPSC targets furniture tip over hazard with substantial product hazard designation

By Will Troutman (US) on March 6, 2019 Posted in Consumer Product Safety Commission

At last week’s ICPHSO Annual Meeting, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission’s Acting Chairman Ann Marie Buerkle broke news to attendees, announcing that CPSC would deem “clothing storage units” that do not meet ASTM F2057-17 as posing a “substantial product hazard.” In concert with Buerkle’s announcement, CPSC’s Deputy Executive Director issued a letter to “Manufacturers, Importers, and … Continue reading

California selects nail products containing toluene for Priority Product list

By Will Troutman (US) on February 23, 2019 Posted in Green chemistry, Recent legislation and regulations

California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) has proposed listing nail products containing toluene as its latest priority product under its Safer Consumer Products program. If adopted, responsible parties will need to remove impacted products from sale in California or undertake an alternatives analysis in order to continue selling in California.… Continue reading