One element of the 2016 revisions that was of interest to many companies was the “short form warnings.” These allow companies to shorten their warnings on both products and catalogs and web sites to just a few words: “WARNING: Cancer,” or “WARNING: Reproductive Harm,” or “WARNING: Cancer and Reproductive Harm,” followed by the url www.P65Warnings.ca.gov. But the regulations raised some uncertainties, and OEHHA has tried to address at least some of these.
SHORT FORM WARNINGS
The “short form warning” regulations have received many changes, but most of them are not very significant. There is one, however, that resolves a potential major disagreement about the new regulations. Here is the newly revised subpart (a) (4) of section 25602:
- Unless otherwise specified in Section 25607.1 et seq, a warning meets the requirements of this subarticle if it complies with the content requirements in Section 25603 and is provided using one or more of the following methods:
(4) An on-product short-form warning on the label that complies with the content requirements in Section 25603(b). The entire warning must be in a type size no smaller than the largest type size used for other consumer information on the product. In no case shall the warning appear in a type size smaller than 6-point type.
This is important. Before the change, the regulations specifically stated that the “short form warning” (e.g., “WARNING: Cancer - www.P65Warnings.ca.gov”) had to be on the product. OEHHA had told inquirers that it could be on the label, but that wasn’t what the previous version of the regulation said. Now, OEHHA has changed the regulation to conform to the advice it was giving, and the short form warning, like the long form warning, can be on the product, on a label, or on the packaging.
In Cal Biz Lit’s next post, we’ll talk about the changes in safe harbor warnings for furniture and motor vehicles.
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