ADVOCACY: ‘ESSENTIAL BUSINESS’ LETTER TO GOVERNMENT – Letter to Federal, State Officials to Protect Manufacture of Fragrance, Critical Inputs for Cleaning & Sanitizing Products

Fragrance Creators Association issued the following letter to federal, state, and local elected officials March 19, 2020:

Dear Mr. President, Governors, and Congressional Fragrance Caucus Members:

This letter is intended to raise your awareness that fragrance chemicals are critical inputs into cleaning and sanitizing products—essential products for reducing the spread of COVID-19. As you continue to roll out important COVID-19 mitigation requirements and restrictions, we ask that fragrance manufacturing facilities be exempted from any mandated closures or restrictions that would negatively impact operations. This request is consistent with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s classification of the Chemical Sector as a Critical Infrastructure Sector, as fragrance is a specialty chemical.

Fragrance Creators Association (Fragrance Creators) is the principal trade association representing the U.S. fragrance industry, which adds $22.4 billion to the U.S. economy. Fragrance Creators[1] members span the supply chain, from fragrance ingredient suppliers, to fragrance compounders/manufacturers, and consumer goods companies that incorporate the fragrance in their finished products.

Fragrance is an essential ingredient for sanitizing and cleaning products:

1. Fragrance masks odors in cleaning products that would otherwise carry unpleasant smells that can render products unusable;
2. Fragrance encourages the use of cleaning and sanitizing products—a critical public health need. When dealing with invisible pathogens, people know surfaces, hands, and homes are clean based on the way things smell; and
3. Fragranced products are used to clean and disinfect homes, healthcare facilities, stores, schools, food processing plants, and a myriad of industrial and commercial settings every day.

To support our members’ ongoing efforts to protect public health, and consistent with the consumer goods industry, we specifically request the following:

That federal and state governments act expeditiously to coordinate a unified, clear, and public framework that clearly explains that fragrance and consumer goods manufacturers are exempted from the gathering bans and curfews that are starting to take effect. Moreover, that the employees working at these facilities should be clearly exempted and encouraged to continue to work while healthy; and

If necessary, that a federal exemption from gathering bans and curfews be granted for facilities that produce essential consumer goods critical to mitigating the spread of COVID-19. If authority for this action is not clear under existing federal law, then we respectfully request that the Trump Administration work with Congress to achieve the exemption legislatively as soon as possible.

All Fragrance Creators members have adapted their production schedules to ensure fragrances for safe and effective cleaning and sanitizing products are available, while simultaneously putting strict and enforced measures in place to protect their employees and their families. COVID-19 mitigation practice examples include telework, prescribed social distancing, continual sanitizing and cleaning, no travel, no in-person meetings, no outside visitors, temperature checks, protective equipment like masks and gloves, and minimizing physical contact. In short, all non-essential employees are already working from home, while essential production with stringent mitigation measures remains ongoing to meet urgent consumer demands.

Over the past weeks, the fragrance supply chain has come together to share information, materials, and resources; doing everything it can to meet increasing needs for protecting public health. Our members continue to collaborate, sharing best practices as they incorporate latest guidance, including those from the Centers for Disease Control, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Food and Drug Administration.[2] For us, this is the essence of responsible corporate citizenship.

We appreciate the critical steps that have been undertaken in order to contain the COVID-19 outbreak. We stand together with federal, state, and local governments in the desire to meet this challenge and ensure that Americans continue to have access to essential health products, including disinfectants that can help kill and protect against the spread of COVID-19.

We look forward to collaborating with you as our nation responds to this pandemic.

Sincerely,

Farah K. Ahmed
President & CEO
Fragrance Creators Association

Download and print a copy of this letter here-

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[1] The organization represents the 211,040 jobs dependent on scented products. Our member companies create and manufacture fragrances and scents for home care, personal care, home design, fine fragrance, and industrial and institutional products. Fragrance Creators also represents companies that market finished products containing fragrance as well as those that supply fragrance ingredients, including natural extracts and other raw materials that are used in perfumery and fragrance mixtures. Fragrance Creators produces Fragrance Notes, the quarterly publication of record for the fragrance industry, available in print and online at fragrancenotes.org. Learn more about Fragrance Creators at fragrancecreators.org.

[2] CDC Interim Guidance for Businesses and Employers: Plan, Prepare and Respond to Coronavirus Disease 2019; EPA Process for Making Claims Against Emerging Viral Pathogens Not On EPA-Registered Disinfectant Labels; FDA Policy for Temporary Compounding of Certain Alcohol-Based Hand Sanitizer Products During the Public Health Emergency.