Pressure Points
Are your new labels
ready for January 2020?
10 Spray August 2019
NICHOLAS GEORGES
HCPA Senior Director
Scientific & International Affairs
ngeorges@thehcpa.org
Consumers are demanding increased transparency from all
facets of life, and household and commercial products
are no exception.
Since 2010, the Household & Commercial Products Association
(HCPA), our member companies and allied trade associations
have supported a voluntary ingredient communication
initiative to ensure that consumers can make smart choices about
the products they use. Our members are leaders in product transparency,
which is why HCPA was the only trade association to
support the landmark passage of the California Cleaning Product
Right to Know Act, signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2017.
If you are not already aware, the first compliance deadline
for the California Cleaning Product Right to Know Act is Jan.
1, 2020. All intentionally-added ingredients must be disclosed
online by that date. The new set of requirements for on-package
labeling will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2021.
In addition to the new California law, the New York State
Dept. of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) has put forth
ingredient communication guidance that differs in many ways
from California. HCPA and the American Cleaning Institute
(ACI) have challenged the New York standards in court. The
compliance deadline for that program has been pushed back from
July 1, 2019 to Jan. 1, 2020, with the outcome of the case still to
be determined through the legal process.
Unfortunately, between California and New York, there is the
very real possibility there could be an extremely costly and burdensome
patchwork of regulatory requirements. It is critical that you
know the requirements for each because complying with one will
not guarantee compliance with the other.
• The California Cleaning Product Right to Know
Act—For products sold into California, online disclosure is
required by Jan. 1, 2020, except for Proposition 65 chemicals,
which do not need to be listed until Jan. 1, 2023. California
also requires ingredient communication on product labels,
though the compliance date for labels is Jan. 1, 2021 (again,
with Proposition 65 chemicals being listed by Jan. 1, 2023).
Air care products, automotive products, general cleaning products
or polish or floor maintenance products used primarily
for janitorial, domestic or institutional cleaning purposes are
included. It is critical to carefully review each product category
definition within the law. For example, the definition of general
cleaning products includes products which disinfect, so
certain U.S. Federal Insecticide, Fungicide & Rodenticide Act
(FIFRA)-registered products are required to comply, although
for online disclosure only.
• NYSDEC Household Cleansing Product Information
Disclosure Program—For New York, the current compliance
date for online disclosure for most companies is Jan. 1,
2020 (unless the manufacturer is independently-owned-and
-operated, employing 100 or fewer people) with fragrance
ingredients and nonfunctional byproducts or contaminants
being listed by July 1, 2020. Cleansing products covered by the
program include, but are not limited to, “soaps and detergents
containing a surfactant as a wetting or dirt emulsifying
agent and used primarily for domestic or commercial cleaning
purposes, including but not limited to the cleansing of
fabrics, dishes, food utensils and household and commercial
premises.” Appendix A of the disclosure program form lists
global product classification (GPC) system brick codes that are
covered by the program, so it is important to review them in
case our product(s) is/are covered.
Confused yet? There are also differences in how you treat
fragrances and the lists of chemicals of interest. There are also
varying thresholds for when to disclose nonfunctional constituents
(manufacturing byproducts).
To help companies cut through the clutter, HCPA created
the Consumer Product Ingredients Dictionary. The Dictionary is
a unified source for ingredient names that are required by the
state of California and accepted by Walmart, Target and the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Safer Choice program.
These groups and many others consider the HCPA Dictionary
the preferred way to standardize the names of ingredients both on
the label and online. Fortunately, the nomenclature requirements
(how to name the chemicals) is the same for both California and
New York, and the HCPA Dictionary is listed in the text of the
California law at the top of the naming convention hierarchy.
If you’re not yet familiar with the deadlines for California and
New York, I urge you not to delay any further. I cannot stress
the effort that is needed to fully comply. If you are looking for
resources to make your compliance more efficient, I respectfully
suggest you visit https://www.productingredients.com and contact
me at ngeorges@thehcpa.org with any questions. With States and
retailers increasingly creating a hodgepodge of requirements for
ingredient communication, a turnkey tool for understanding can
have a significant effect on your bottom line. Spray
Unfortunately, between California
and New York, there is the very
real possibility there could be an
extremely costly and burdensome
patchwork of regulatory requirements...