DLCA to Start Enforcing Ban on Certain Sunscreen Products in USVI Friday

The V.I. Dept. of Licensing and Consumer Affairs said Thursday that it will kick-off a "territorial island sweep" called “Operation Illegal Sunscreen” to "educate before we regulate businesses on Act No. 8185 signed into law by Governor Albert Bryan on July 20, 2019." Act No. 8185 bans the retail sale or offer for sale and the distribution and importation for retail purposes of topical sunscreen products containing oxybenzone, octocrylene and octinoxate, DLCA said. “Unfortunately, there is still a proliferation of this illegal product throughout the USVI that enters either via the retail market or by our visitors,” stated DLCA Commissioner Evangelista. “DLCA finds it necessary to educate first to as many persons as possible [through] as many mediums as possible about the prohibition of sunscreen containing the banned products.”  According to the release, any person or entity found to have violated this law may receive a $1,000 citation for the first offense and a $2,000 for each subs...