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This legislation would amend New York State's General Business Law by adding a new section requiring sunscreen products to be conspicuously labeled with an expiration date and recommended storage information.
The Business Council opposes this legislative initiative for the following reasons:
- The majority of manufacturers produce and distribute products on a regional, if not national basis. Due to the interstate nature of this process, state-specific labeling laws, such as A.1988, are a significant impediment to interstate commerce.
- In order to comply with this legislation, any manufacturer of sunscreen products would be forced to design and implement separate procedures in order to conduct business in New York State.
- In general, state-specific labeling laws are of questionable necessity and are an expensive
endeavor, with the resulting higher costs generally passed on to the consumer in the form of
higher prices.
Current Federal Food and Drug Administration regulations require all over the counter drugs,
including sunscreen products, to carry expiration dates on both their inner and outer labels
unless the inner label is clearly visible through the packaging (21 C.F.R. 201.17).
Products which have proven to be stable for at least three years and do not have dosage limitations, such as many sunscreen products on the market, are exempt from such provisions (21 C.F.R. 211.137). Therefore, this legislation attempts to address an issue that has already been effectively addressed at the Federal level.
The Business Council of New York State, whose membership includes manufacturers of sunscreen
products, has reviewed the above mentioned legislation and opposes its enactment.