Legislation in New York

Donna Maria of Indie Beauty Network, Lela Barker of Bella Lucce and Lisa Rodgers of Personal Care Truth recently alerted me to Assembly Bill A05059 The Safe Cosmetics Act of 2011 in New York.  I haven’t broken down all the details yet, but this looks like the work of Campaign for Safe Cosmetics.  The language in this law is very close to what we have seen in Colorado, Massachusetts, California and Congress.

The scary thing is that I found lots of pending legislation in New York that in one way or another may impact our industry.

Here is everything I found in New York:

A.B.5059: The Safe Cosmetics Act 2011 creates an “authoritive body” to identify chemicals that can cause cancer or reproductive toxicity.  Requires that any manufacturer of a cosmetic provide a complete list of the cosmetic products they sell in the state of New York that contains any ingredient that is a chemical idenified as cancer causing or toxic to reproductive system to the Department of Health by January 1, 2012.

S.B.525: this bill establishes that no itinerant vendor, except for a manufacturer, an authorized manufacturer’s representative, or an authorized distributor, shall offer for sale baby food, non-prescription drugs, cosmetics, or batteries.

S.B.4354: amends the general  business law, in relation to requiring sunscreen products to be labeled with a best if used before date and storage recommendations.

A01456: which amends the general business law by providing special action for nail specialists aggrieved by their employer in case of a health and safety violation or retaliatory action.  This bill is in Assembly Judiciary Committee.

S.B.4057: An act to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to polystyrene loosefill packaging material.

S.B.1526: An act to amend the environmental conservation law, in relation to regulation of toxic chemicals in children’s products.

A.B.1473: prohibits the manufacture, distribution or sale of nail  polish  and  nail  hardener containing  dibutyl  phthalates  (DBP),  toluene, and formaldehyde and prohibits the use of such nail polish and nail hardener by  appearance enhancement businesses.  None of us make nail polish but this will be interesting to watch and learn from.

A.B.1661:  Restricts the sale in New York of any mercury-added toy, game, cosmetic or clothing.  This one will be interesting to watch because the FDA already restricts mercury in cosmetics.  Would this New York bill trump the FDA regulations?

A.B.4036: Prohibits the manufacture, distribution and sale of toys and  child  care  products, containing bisphenol-A or phthalates, which are intended for use by or upon a child under the age of fourteen years. This means that a baby lotion containing sweet orange essential oil would be prohibited in the state of New York.   “Common contaminants include biocides and phthalates, and traces of heavy metals have been found in cold-pressed citrus oils.” Robert Tisserand

A.B.4435: Requires sunscreen  products  to be labeled with a best if used before date and storage recommendations.

New York Nanny State

I know that was a big chuck of news and each one of these will take careful reading and research, but don’t let the sheer number of laws frighten you.  I found that many of these were re-introduced after going nowhere in the last session.  Based on their calendar it appears that the New York Assembly is out of session for 2011 but committees are currently at work.  I don’t see any scheduled for these topics.

All these state bills have made me feel very strongly that preemption is necessary for the cosmetic industry.  We simply cannot run around the country fighting one bill after another and run our businesses.  The patchwork quilt of different laws in every state would be business killers.  Donna Maria did an excellent job explaining the issue on Indie Business Blog in Legal Soup: Are We Headed For a Patchwork Quilt of Cosmetics Laws?

We are busy asking questions, making contacts and researching how to protect the cosmetic industry from a patchwork of laws to follow from state to state and nationally.  Stay tuned to Essential U blog and the State Cosmetic Laws Facebook page for up to date information on legislation and what we can do next.

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More about the author:  Kayla Fioravanti is the Vice President, Chief Formulator, ARC Registered & Certified Aromatherapist for Essential Wholesale and its lab division Essential Labs. Read more from this author

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