Karen Bitz03.01.12
Anyone who has been following the Republican Presidential primary can attest to a common thread that has run through the debates:if given a second term, President Obama will do [thus and so].
Whether any of the predictions/warnings cited during the debates turn out to be true, observers in the nonwoven industry don't need a crystal ball to divine what the Obama Administration will do with regard to key domestic policies during a second term.
Unlike four years ago when candidate Obama ran largely on a platform of vagaries ("hope," "change") this time around President Obama is running on a platform of stated accomplishment and advancing an agenda of specific actions to come if given four more years in office.
The Food and Drug Administration, for example, has already teed up new medical device labeling, tracking, and post-approval monitoring efforts while the Environmental Protection Agency has—among others—indicated interest in a host of new air emission standards that would impact nearly a dozen different industry sectors, scores of utilities, medical care units and a huge universe of manufacturing and other facilities that rely on industrial boilers.
Meanwhile, the Department of Justice is ramping up its anti-trust compliance efforts and the Consumer Product Safety Commission is implementing enforcement mechanisms for children's products that are contained in the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008.CPSC is also implementing standards and other regulatory actions that impact -- among others -- baby slings, upholstered furniture, mattresses and bedding.
In short, if the Obama Administration gets a second term of office, certain members of the nonwovens industry will likely find themselves blindsided and playing catch up unless steps are taken—the sooner the better—to better ensure an effective means of identifying common opportunities, threats, and challenges as they emerge. There will be plenty of all three on the horizon, should the President be re-elected this November.
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The president of Arlington, VA-based Mayberry &Associates, Peter Mayberry is a government relations specialist with specific expertise in FDA, EPA, CPSC, FTC and the U.S. congress as well as broad-based knowledge of the nonwovens industry. He can be reached at pgmayberry@gmail.com.