Scott A. Cohn

Practice Areas

Scott Cohn has practiced law for more than 20 years in the area of regulatory compliance, with an emphasis on product safety and compliance, product labeling and advertising and regulation of imported goods.

In the area of product safety and compliance, as regulated by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other federal and state agencies, Scott has experience with the following:

• Product Safety Evaluations, including Laboratory Testing and Failure Analyses
• Hazard/Defect Reporting (Section 15 and 37)
• Recalls, Investigations and Penalties (Representative recalls include candles, stools, children’s sleepwear, toys, plastic cups with small straws and numerous other consumer products.)
• Flammability of Apparel and Children’s Sleepwear, including exemptions for Tight-Fitting Sleepwear
• Children’s Products, including Toys and Games: Small Parts, Sharp Edges, Lead Content (including Proposition 65 in California), Toxicity and Contamination, etc.
• Drawstring Restrictions on Apparel
• Household Products: Candles, Lighters, Mattresses, Cookware, Small Electronics, etc.
• Furniture Products: Cribs, Chairs, Stools, Upholstered Products, etc.
• Medical Devices, Cosmetics, and OTC Remedies
• Internal Compliance Reviews and Manuals, and Development of Quality Assurance Procedures and Programs

Scott’s practice also involves product labeling and advertising, as regulated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and other federal and state agencies. In this area he has experience with the following:

• Internet and Catalog Disclosures and Mail Order Rules
• Advertising Substantiation
• Textile/Apparel, Footwear and Luggage Labeling, Including RN Number filings
• Leather labeling
• Care Labeling for Apparel
• Upholstery labeling/tagging as Required by Individual States
• “Made In USA” Labeling Rules for All Products
• Warranty Issues
• Privacy Issues for Consumers
• Jewelry Labeling and Advertising
• Organic Labeling for Food Products under US Department of Agriculture/AMS Rules
• Country of Origin Disclosures as Required by Customs and FTC

Additionally, with regard to the regulation of imported goods, as enforced by the Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and other federal and state agencies, Scott’s practice includes experience with the following:

• Tariff Classification, Duty Rates, and Quota Restrictions applicable to all product categories
• Structuring International Trade Transactions to Lawfully Minimize Duties
• NAFTA and Other Trade Preference Programs, such as IFTA, GSP, and AGOA
• Informed Compliance and Reasonable Care Evaluations
• Customs Compliance Audits and Internal Control Manuals
• Valuation of Imported Goods: Transfer Pricing, Middlemen, Etc.
• Country of Origin Marking
• Trademark and Copyright Protection and Enforcement
• Detentions, Seizures, Penalties, Civil/Criminal Investigations
• Country of Origin Verifications
• Labor Compliance Programs
• Restrictions on Artwork and Antiquities
• Recordkeeping and Record Retention
• FDA Penalty Enforcement Actions on Imports
• Endangered Species Issues as Enforced by Fish & Wildlife Service
• Importation of Fine Art and Antiquities
• Vendor supply agreements
• Buying agency agreements
• Import/Export Enforcement by Office of Foreign Assets Control, Bureau of Industry and Security, Department of Commerce, Department of State, Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, Environmental Protection Agency, etc

Client Work

Scott has represented and provided counsel to hundreds of domestic and foreign corporations (many Fortune 100) from a wide variety of industries. These companies include manufacturers, importers, agents and retailers involved in the manufacture and distribution of products that are subject to a complex array of federal, state and international regulatory requirements.

Scott has experience with a large number of product categories, most notably apparel, footwear, luggage, electronics, toys, video games, fine art and antiquities, cookware, food, sporting goods, furniture, packaging, machinery, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, cosmetics and personal care.

Most recently, on behalf of a national apparel retailer and importer, Scott petitioned for and obtained release of complex multimillion-dollar importations of apparel subject to country of origin enforcement and verification by US Customs and Border Protection.

For a national food and beverage retailer, he filed an emergency petition for revisions and clarifications to new organic labeling regulations, which resulted in the publication of amended regulations by the US Department of Agriculture/Agriculture Marketing Service.

Scott also negotiated a significant mitigation of substantial civil penalties imposed by the CPSC in connection with recalled merchandise for a national retailer of wearing apparel.

On behalf of a foreign supplier of food products, Scott petitioned for substantial mitigation of civil penalties imposed by US Customs and Border Protection and the FDA for an alleged failure to properly disclose certain food ingredients.

Scott has also recently advised and assisted several national and international retailers in connection with large consumer product recalls (including candles, children’s cups, cribs, art kits, children’s sleepwear, furniture and many other products) conducted in cooperation with the CPSC.

Bar and Court Admissions

New York Bar
US Court of International Trade

Education

University of Miami School of Law, JD, 1983
University of Miami School of Business Administration, BBA in accounting, 1980