News

ISSA Advocacy Recap—ISSA Opposes Proposed Prop 65 Limitations on Short-Form Warning

April 16, 2021 ISSA Advocacy Recap—ISSA Opposes Proposed Prop 65 Limitations on Short-Form Warning

Welcome to the ISSA Advocacy Recap, our regular roundup of the latest public policy issues impacting the cleaning industry. This week’s recap touches on ISSA opposing a California Prop 65 proposed rule and updating its state-by-state COVID-19 liability map, U.S. Customs issuing a withhold release order on certain cotton products, and more.

ISSA Opposes California Prop 65 Proposed Limitations on Short-Form Warning
In formal comments filed with the State of California, ISSA strongly opposed a proposed rule that would significantly limit the “short-form” warning that has become popular in the cleaning industry since it became law a few years ago. ISSA’s opposition was premised on the substantial and unreasonable adverse economic impact the proposed rule is expected to have on the hundreds of ISSA members who adopted the short-form warning after it became effective in 2018. These companies invested substantial resources in changing their labels to incorporate the short-form warning in good faith reliance on the rulemaking that adopted the short-form warning. The rule proposed by California, however, would require virtually all companies that use the short-form warning to once again change their labels at significant expense.

ISSA Updates State COVID-19 Liability Map to Reflect Flurry of State Actions
ISSA updated  its Summary of State-by-State COVID-19 Liability Protections resource to reflect recent activities by states on this important issue, including an updated map indicating which U.S. states have passed legislation or executive orders related to COVID-19 liability protections or have introduced or expect such legislation. “We’ve seen a significant amount of legislative movement on limited COVID-19 liability protections at the state level in 2021,” said ISSA Director of Government Affairs John Nothdurft. “ISSA will continue to monitor this interest and advocate for reasonable liability protections on behalf of the cleaning industry.”

U.S. Customs Issues Withhold Release Order on Certain Cotton Products
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) issued a withhold release order (WRO) on cotton products produced in China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The CBP’s WRO includes downstream products produced outside the Xinjiang region such as wet mops, dust mops, apparel, textiles, and other goods made wholly or partly with cotton from the area. The order is based on information that reasonably indicates the use of detainee or prison labor and situations of forced labor in the production of the products.

GBAC Responds to Updated CDC Guidelines for Cleaning & Disinfecting against COVID-19
The Global Biorisk Advisory Council™ (GBAC), a Division of ISSA, released clarification around revised guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) related to cleaning and disinfecting for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The CDC’s latest guidance noted “cleaning with products containing soap or detergent reduces germs on surfaces by removing contaminants and may also weaken or damage some of the virus particles, which decreases risk of infection from surfaces.” ISSA and GBAC wish to emphasize the critical importance of cleaning and disinfecting surfaces to reduce exposure to COVID-19 and other pathogens.

Clean Advocacy Summit Attendees Meet with Nearly 50 Congressional Offices
During #NationalCleaningWeek, ISSA hosted the industry’s first virtual “fly-in”–the Clean Advocacy Summit. More than 100 ISSA advocates participated in the event, representing the entire supply chain of the cleaning industry, including manufacturers, distributors, dealers, business service contractors, and residential cleaners. Advocates from more than 20 states met with nearly 50 congressional offices over the course of the two-and-a-half-day event to advocate for public policies impacting the cleaning industry. ISSA leveraged these meetings to advocate for support of a Healthy & Safe Workplace Tax Credit and tariff relief on critical COVID-19-related products.

Other links of interest

Upcoming U.S. Government Webinars

News

ISSA Login Forgot Password Create Free Account