In another victory for Natural Products Association (NPA) members and the industry, conferees on the Wall Street Reform bill (S. 3217) decided not to include in the final legislation sweeping new powers for the Federal Trade Commission.

Such additional authority very likely would have led to advertising rules on the industry that would have undercut the protections of the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA).

“This has been one of the top legislative priorities for the NPA for the last six months,” said John Gay, NPA’s executive director and CEO. “I am proud of the way our members responded to our calls to write their senators and representatives, and to urge their customers to do the same. I am also proud of the hard work put in by our staff and lobby team. Good grassroots and good lobbying are a powerful combination.”

In the last two months, more than 28,000 messages were sent to Capitol Hill through the association’s website (www.NPAinfo.org).

Since identifying this issue as a potential threat to the industry in December, NPA joined together with what eventually became a coalition of more than 50 national trade associations. Through the coalition, NPA lobbied members of Congress, and ran ads in Capitol Hill publications.

“Some of our members might have gotten tired of hearing from us on this issue, but sometimes in Washington persistence pays off,” said Mr. Gay. “Like any legislative victory involving a broad coalition, this battle was won thanks to a number of factors,” he added, “but NPA members can and should claim a large share of the credit. Their response was tremendous.”

Mr. Gay urged the industry not to grow complacent. “This is a great victory, but the war isn’t over. Those forces on Capitol Hill that want to overregulate us are still out there, planning their next move. We need to remain vigilant.”

Mike Greene, vice president, Government Relations, Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) said the provision, if passed, would have negatively impacted the dietary supplement industry—and many other industries—“because it would have given FTC free-reign to rewrite its own advertising regulations.”

“This would have come at the expense of consumers who would not have been able to obtain complete information about consumer products,” he said. “The success of ensuring this detrimental provision was not included in the bill further demonstrates the importance of maintaining credibility on Capitol Hill—in addition to our reputation on the Hill, we were also part of a broader coalition of many industries dedicated to making sure this provision was not part of the final bill.”

He added: “Further, if FTC can provide evidence to Congress as to why it requires additional authority over industry advertising, this issue should be heard through the FTC Reauthorization Act in the Energy and Commerce Committee—not tacked on to the financial regulatory reform legislation.”