California Proposition 65 Change Notification
Dear Valued Customer:
We are reaching out to you regarding updates to California Proposition 65 (“Prop 65”) that will take effect on August 30, 2018. This is important information for all retailers, but particularly retailers who sell into California and/or who sell online.
Prop 65 is a California regulation requiring businesses with 10 or more employees to provide a "clear and reasonable warning" before knowingly and intentionally exposing individuals in California to a chemical listed by the state as known to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity. The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment lists over 900 chemicals that they believe are carcinogens and/or reproductive toxicants (“Prop 65 List”). New requirements regarding the specific warning language that can be used by businesses to comply with the disclosure requirements will take effect on August 30, 2018.
To comply with these new requirements, our suppliers are updating their Proposition 65 warnings. This letter provides an overview of these updates.
What does this mean for you as an Almo customer?
This letter serves as Almo’s notice to you that certain products purchased from Almo that you or your downstream representatives sell to California consumers are covered by Prop 65 and require a Prop 65 warning as set forth more specifically below.
Please note that if you distribute Almo-supplied products to other distributors and/or retailers within the State of California, you must pass this information on to them so that they can fulfill their obligations under the law.
What Prop 65 warnings will appear on Almo-supplied products?
Products purchased from Almo that are subject to the requirements of Prop 65 (“Covered Products”) will either have the long-form Prop 65 warning or the short-form Prop 65 warning on all product packaging as set forth below. Those Covered Products sold by Almo which require a warning can be viewed at access.almo.com.
No Covered Product may be sold to a consumer in California unless one of the following Proposition 65 warnings is (1) placed on the product or its immediate container/packing and (2) provided to the consumer prior to any online sale of the product:
Long-Form Warning Example
WARNING: This product can expose you to chemicals including [name of one or more chemicals], which is [are]
known to the State of California to cause [cancer] and [birth defects or other reproductive harm].
For more information, go to www.p65Warnings.ca.gov/
Short-Form Warning Example
WARNING: Cancer and Reproductive Harm - www.p65Warnings.ca.gov
The latter warning is referred to as the “short-form warning.” The bracketed text in the long-form warning may differ for each product, depending on the chemical or chemicals in the product and whether they are listed under Proposition 65 as a carcinogen or reproductive toxicant or both.
Each Almo-supplied product that was produced after 8/30/18 and has been identified as a Covered Product will have a Proposition 65 Warning on either the product itself or its immediate container/packaging. It is the responsibility of the retail seller:
- to not remove or otherwise obscure the Prop 65 Warning on the product label or packaging
- to provide an electronic Proposition 65 Warning for all online sales of the product.
The Proposition 65 Warning must be displayed with such conspicuousness as compared with other words, statements, designs, or devices as to render the warning likely to be seen, read and understood by an ordinary individual under customary conditions of purchase or use.
How should online sales of Almo-supplied products be handled?
For online sales, the electronic Proposition 65 Warning must be provided by including either:
- the Proposition 65 Warning on the product display page
- a clearly marked hyperlink using the word “WARNING” on the product display page that links to a page displaying the Proposition 65 Warning
- a prominently displayed Proposition 65 Warning that is presented to the consumer prior to completing the purchase.
The short-form Proposition 65 Warning may be provided for online sales only if the short-form warning appears on the physical product or package as well.
What actions are required?
The law requires the retail seller to:
- Provide the Proposition 65 Warning for all Covered Products it sells or offers for sale at California retail outlets
- Print the Proposition 65 Warning in any catalog where the Covered Products are offered for sale to California consumers in a manner that clearly associates it with the item being purchased
- Provide the Proposition 65 Warning in electronic form prior to or as part of any online sale of Covered Products.
Following receipt of this notice, you, as the retail seller, are legally responsible for the placement and maintenance of warning materials on Covered Products you sell, including warnings for products sold over the internet. If you fail to provide a Proposition 65 Warning to a California consumer, Almo Corporation will have no responsibility or liability to you for such failure, and any penalties, costs or attorneys’ fees assessed in any civil action against you will be solely your responsibility.
Resources to assist with Prop 65 Compliance
- If you have any general questions regarding California Proposition 65, please go to www.p65Warnings.ca.gov or email [email protected]
- For additional information relating to Prop 65 and the updated safe harbor, please go to www.oehha.ca.gov/proposition-65
- Prop 65 Warning Labels and Prop 65 Warning Retail POP signs for Covered Products are available on the product pages of Almo ACCESS® at access.almo.com
- The Price Sheet/XML download on Almo ACCESS® now has a link on each product to the corresponding Prop 65 Warning label
- Almo has a full-time digital content team available to work with our online customers to provide this additional information for their product databases
- If you have Almo-supplied product questions, please email [email protected]
We thank you for being a valued customer and we look forward to working with you on these required changes.
Sincerely,
Almo