Today’s post in our pet food series focuses on federal oversight of pet food. At the federal level, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates pet food similar to that for other animal foods. The Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act (FD&CA) requires that all animal foods, like human foods, be safe to eat, produced ..read more

Pet food in the United States is regulated at both the state and federal level. At the federal level, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has exclusive oversight over pet food. At the state level, various state government agencies have established laws and regulations for pet food, often based in whole, or in part ..read more

These past two years have seen an influx of litigation involving commonly used tracking technologies and web analytics on websites that give rise to potential liability under various laws. Creative plaintiffs lawyers have not used consumer protection statutes, but pre-existing 20th century statutes concerning wiretapping, pen registers, trap and trace devices and video protection laws to bolster their claims for damages. Read our latest legal update, State of play in website and privacy litigation, to learn more ..read more

EPR laws used to be reserved for specialized industries with complex waste disposal issues, such as paint, tires, electronics, batteries and mattresses. But increasing concerns over product life cycle has brought EPR to much broader industry sectors and product areas, namely textiles and apparel and product packaging. While these requirements appear to be in their infancy given the complexities of implementation, the trends in the US and abroad make clear that EPR is going to pose a significant compliance burden going forward. What is Extended Producer Responsibility? Extended Producer Respons ..read more

On April 23, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission voted 3 – 2, adopting a rule banning nearly all noncompete provisions that block workers from switching jobs within an industry, a decision that could possibly impact tens of millions of US workers and the companies that employ them. Read our legal update, “FTC’s near-total ban on noncompete agreements challenged ..read more

At long last, the Securities and Exchange Commission has finalized its rules regarding disclosures for climate-related risk for public companies. The SEC significantly softened the rules since the last proposal, including phasing in requirements based on company size, dropping Scope 3 emissions disclosure requirements, and only requiring disclosure of “material” information. Please read a detailed analysis ..read more

The “chasing arrows” symbol has been ubiquitous since its introduction in the late 1980’s. Consumers interpret packaging bearing the symbol as recyclable, but according to CalRecycle, the state agency with authority over recycling and waste management, whether a material is accepted for recycling and actually recycled is often dependent on geographic location. In other words, just because something is capable of being recycled and is labeled with chasing arrows does not guarantee it will be accepted for recycling in a particular area. Two years ago, the California Legislature addressed potenti ..read more

The California Legislature was especially busy this past year in the consumer markets space, enacting several key pieces of legislation aimed at addressing concerns over the environment and consumer protection. These include: Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act​ (SB 253) Requires companies doing business in California with annual worldwide revenue over USD 1B to submit annual reports on greenhouse gas emissions. The California Air Resources Board is directed to develop implementing regulations by January 2, 2025, with reporting set to begin January 1, 2026. Climate-related risk disclos ..read more

The recent California legislative session saw the enactment of three pieces of climate legislation that are expected to have a significant impact on companies doing business in California, whether public or private. Senate Bill 253: The Climate Corporate Data Accountability Act SB 253 represents the first concrete climate emissions disclosure requirement in the US. The law applies to companies doing business in California with $1 billion or more in annual revenue worldwide—not just $1 billion in California. This includes public and private companies. “Doing business in California” is a phrase ..read more

On October 17, 2023, California Attorney General Rob Bonta issued an enforcement advisory letter to manufacturers, distributors, and sellers of food packaging and cookware regarding enforcement of California’s PFAS restrictions for these product categories. The advisory letter details the requirements and restrictions under AB 1200, many of which went into effect in January 2023, with some new requirements following in January 2024. As with many other remedial statutes in California, AB 1200 does not specify any specific penalty provisions or enforcement policies, or authorize any state agency ..read more