Supreme Court Upholds VT Labeling Law

The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld Vermont’s first-in-the-nation

mercury labeling law by denying an attempt by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) to have the 1998 law declared unconstitutional. Vermont’s Mercury Reduction Act requires manufacturers to label mercury-containing products that are sold in the state and to convey in the label that it is illegal to dispose of such products in the trash. In November 1999, U.S. District Court Judge Garvin Murtha, acting on an appeal by NEMA, issued a preliminary injunction releasing manufacturers from the labeling requirement. A subsequent appeal to the Second Circuit Court in New York by Vermont’s Attorney General (with friend-of-the-court support filed by California, New York, and six other states), denied NEMA’s appeal, setting the stage for NEMA’s final appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. For more information, visit

www.mercurypolicy.org.