I've asked two different honda dealers about this problem and got two different solutions. First dealer (the one car was purchased from) says they can take car for a day and take panel off from above licence plate and repaint it because the rubber sticking out prevented car from being painted properly, and is now causing the paint to flake off. As for the rubber seal, they said that belonged to the tail light. Second dealer said that was a production error and I'd have to take it to a body shop to have it repaired, as trunk is assembled so that those parts can not be reached from regular repair. I don't know what to do at this point, but would prefer to have a car properly assembled when purchasing it NEW.