(a) For the purpose of administering and enforcing this article, an authorized representative of the department, upon obtaining consent or after obtaining an inspection warrant pursuant to Title 13 (commencing with Section 1822.50) of Part 3 of the Code of Civil Procedure, may, upon presenting appropriate credentials and at a reasonable time, do any of the following:

(1) Enter a factory, warehouse, or establishment in which a package or packaging component is manufactured, packed, held, or sold; enter a vehicle that is being used to transport, hold, or sell the package or packaging component; or enter a place where a package or packaging component is suspected of being held or sold in violation of this article.

(2) Inspect a factory, warehouse, establishment, vehicle, or place described in paragraph (1), and all pertinent equipment, raw material, finished and unfinished materials, containers, and labeling in the factory, warehouse, establishment, vehicle, or place. In the case of a factory, warehouse, or establishment in which a package or packaging component is manufactured, packed, held, or sold, inspection shall include any record, file, paper, process, control, and facility that has a bearing on whether the package, packaging component, or product in a package is being manufactured, packed, held, transported, sold, offered for sale, or offered for promotional purposes in violation of this article.

(3) Have access to all records of a carrier in commerce relating to the movement in commerce of a package or packaging component, or the holding of that package or packaging component during or after the movement, and the quantity, shipper, and consignee of the package or packaging component. A carrier shall not be subject to the other provisions of this article by reason of its receipt, carriage, holding, or delivery of a product in a package or packaging component in the usual course of business as a carrier.

(b) An authorized representative of the department shall be deemed to have received implied consent to enter a retail establishment, for purposes of this section if the authorized representative enters the location of that retail establishment where the public is generally granted access.

(Added by Stats. 2008, Ch. 575, Sec. 18. Effective January 1, 2009.)