Companies doing business in California must now complete a comprehensive “survey” if selling particular products to consumers within the state. However, this is not your typical consumer satisfaction survey, but rather a submission of detailed information for each product meeting the requirements discussed below. The detailed submission must include include information on product formulas and unit sales, and a product label must also be submitted.
Specifically, every company whose name appears on the label of a consumer or commercial product that was sold or supplied for use in California during calendar year 2013 and whose product falls into a category listed on the 2013 Survey Category List (link available here) must comply with CARB regulations by submitting a survey. Examples of covered product categories include adhesives and sealants, household and institutional products (e.g., cleaners, food-related sprays, garden and lawn care products, office supply products, pool/spa products, shoe and leather care products), personal care products (including topically-applied over-the-counter drugs and pet care products), pesticide products, and vehicle and marine vessel aftermarket products, just to name a few. Really, chances are pretty good that if you sell a chemically-formulated consumer good, it likely appears on the list.
But don’t think you’re off the hook because you didn’t start selling your product until 2014 or 2015; calendar year 2014 and 2015 sales must also be reported in coming months (beginning July 2015 for 2014 data and beginning July 2016 for 2015 data).
For those of you who may have completed previous CARB surveys, please note that this survey is more inclusive than previous CARB surveys (and certainly more so than the last consumer survey you took) and may require a significant amount of time to complete. After reviewing the Category List, you can visit the pre-survey website located here to help determine if compliance is necessary. Registration is required before you can submit the survey (you can register here) and can take up to five calendar days to process. CARB provides a comprehensive set of instructions for registration at this link, and tutorials for survey completion are available at this link.
On January 1, 2015, CARB began accepting survey results, and on March 2, 2015, completed surveys are due.
Good luck and happy surveying!