On April 13th the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA) submitted comments in strong support of California Assembly Bill 693 (AB 693), a bill that would amend the State’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986 (commonly known as “Proposition 65”).
This bill would provide a 14-day grace period after receipt of a 60-day notice of alleged violation of the law for companies to place warnings on food product labels. AB 693 would also require private plaintiffs to provide their justifying information to the alleged violator, and would prohibit out-of-court settlements of Proposition 65 claims.
“This bill furthers the fundamental public information purpose of Prop 65”, said AHPA President Michael McGuffin. “A 14-day grace period would let manufacturers inform Californians more quickly and easily of exposures to chemicals covered by this state law.”
AHPA’s comments also made several suggestions to strengthen and clarify the 14-day grace period provision. AHPA further commented that it does not support the prohibition on out-of-court settlements, joining comments on this matter submitted by the California Chamber of Commerce.
AHPA will speak in support of AB 693 in a hearing of the Committee on Environmental Safety and Toxic Chemicals on April 21.
AHPA also engaged with the state assembly on California Assembly Bill 1341 (AB 1341). This bill would restrict access to all supplements “sold for or used with the intent to achieve weight loss”, bar sale to those under the age of 18, and require the display of graphic warning language. AHPA opposes this legislation, and further opposes any effort to create state-specific, product-specific standards that unduly burden consumers and industry.
Larisa Cespedes (Miller, Cespedes & Assoc.) testified on AHPA’s behalf in opposition to AB 1341 in an April 14 hearing of the Assembly’s Health Committee, noting that bill supporters had provided no substantive evidence of hazard from weight management supplements, and that the bill would drive consumers away from legally compliant supplement retailers. While some committee members expressed reservations about AB 1341’s broad scope, it passed the committee by a vote of 11-1 and has been referred to the Judiciary Committee for further review. AHPA will continue to work with aligned representatives of industry to address concerns about this legislation.
