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104 August 2014 | beautystorebusiness.com Beauty & The Law Other states besides those in the Great Lakes area are also considering microbead bans. California's State Assembly passed a bill that would outlaw offering or selling personal-care products with plastic micro- beads by 2019. Violators could be fined up to $2,500 per day. The state attorney general, district attorneys, city prosecu- tors and city attorneys in larger cities can all sue to enforce this law and keep any penalties they collect, creating a means to self-fund enforcement. The California bill doesn't apply to small businesses with fewer than 10 employees, exempting many small artisanal producers. New Jersey is considering a bill introduced in May to ban manufacturing cosmetics with microbeads as of Jan. 1, 2015 and would ban selling or offering cosmetics with microbeads by the earlier of two years after enactment of the law or Jan. 1, 2018, whichever is sooner. Penalties are between $1,000 and $10,000 per day. Avon, Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, L'Oréal and other companies have agreed to phase out microbeads. Most companies are not committing to a specific timetable because more research is required to develop substitutes that are safe for humans and the environment. EFFECTS OF A PATCHWORK OF STATE LAWS When consumers perceive that the federal government is not adequately protecting them or the environment, they naturally turn to their state legislators for remedies. Often, states can be more innovative and act much faster than the federal gov- ernment and that's usually in everyone's interests. However, in the field of product regulation when two or three states ban a product or an ingredient, that ban effec- tively bans products nationwide because it is often impractical for manufacturers to keep products out of a few states. And—as the proposed triclosan bills make clear—states usually pass slightly differ- ent versions of the basic concepts, with different effective dates. The result is a checkerboard of different regulations in different states with industry having to comply with the most restrictive elements in each state's restrictions or have a prod- uct that can't be distributed nationwide. When and how to permit states to impose their own regulations on national products is often a focus of legislative reform efforts, with industry advocating strong federal laws that prohibit incon- sistent state action. As Beauty Store Business' executive editor Marc Birenbaum has noted in his May Editor's Note, the FDA and cosmetics industry trade associations had been working together on reform- ing United States cosmetics laws. FDA employees and industry representatives agreed to a framework for reforming cosmetics laws that included limiting states' abilities to regulate cosmetics. The FDA pulled out of the discussions in March, asserting that the industry's proposed legislation "actually prevents federal and State governments from protecting Americans from unsafe cosmetics." The Professional Beauty Association and the Independent Cosmetic Manufacturers and Distributors countered that the FDA letter mischaracterized the industry's position. Soaps and other personal-care products with triclosan and microbeads will likely continue to be a focus of significant regu- latory effort. Fake mustaches will have it a bit easier. ■ This copyrighted article is intended to help make you aware of some of the issues that you may face, but it is not exhaustive and does not constitute legal advice. You should consult your lawyer for legal advice about the particular circumstances of your beauty business. Jean Warshaw is a lawyer in private practice in New York City. She provides advice on business and environmental law. She can be reached at 212.722.2240. Cosmoprof Las Vegas 2014, Booth #24285 www.beautystrokes.com · email: info@beautystrokes.com · phone: 718-821-5939 %HDXW\6WURNHV ® LVDIXOOVHUYLFHEUXVKVXSSOLHUIURPVWUHHWZDUHWRSUHVWLJH $EUXVKIRUHYHU\DSSOLFDWLRQIURPIXOOOLQHVWUDYHOVHWVJLIWLWHPVYHJDQOLQHVVKDYLQJEUXVKHV 7ULOLQJXDOUHWDLOIULHQGO\SDFNDJLQJ (IÀFLHQWVSDFHVDYLQJGLVSOD\V (FRQRPLFDOO\FRQVFLRXVSULFLQJVFKHGXOH %HDXW\6WURNHV ® B e a u t y & T h e L a w 8 1 4 . i n d d 1 0 4 6 / 2 6 / 1 4 4 : 5 3 P M 6/26/14 4:53 PM