Washington, D.C.—The Natural Products Association (NPA) is asking 2020 political candidates to take positions on issues that impact Americans’ health, according to a press release.

NPA sent a questionnaire to all candidates running for the House and the Senate asking them to take positions on issues including federal preemption, HAS and FSA reimbursement, setting a safe level of consumption for CBD, SNAP and WIC coverage, Adverse Event Reporting, New Dietary Ingredients, international trade and tariffs, and other issues.

“Voters should know where candidates stand on issues that impact their health during this critical time,” said Daniel Fabricant, Ph.D., President and CEO of NPA in the press release. “This year NPA is endorsing candidates that demonstrate they are willing to fight to expand access to nutritional supplements as more Americans look for ways to support their health.”

The issues chosen for inclusion on the questionnaire were selected based on NPA’s priorities leading up to the pandemic, including:
  • Setting a safe level of CBD.
  • Focusing on what FDA can do right now in the interest of consumer safety, rather than on adding additional regulations.
  • Revising FDA’s draft guidance for NDIs.
  • Expanding WIC, SNAP, and HSAs to include nutritional supplements.
  • Preventing legislation that would prohibit the sale of healthy, safe, and legal products to minors, and require supplements like protein powder to be placed under lock and key, such as the legislation introduced in New York and Illinois.
  • Excluding supplements and ingredients from tariffs.
  • Ensuring that labels contain clear, accurate, and meaningful labels—for cosmetics, as well as for food and supplements.
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NPA is also preparing to address the “inevitable misguided, unnecessary, and other proposals which would limit access and raise prices for natural products,” the press release says. The release notes that supplement critics Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) are likely to look for ways to limit access to supplements, including using the National Defense Authorization Act to limit access to supplements for U.S. troops.

“We’ve done a lot this year as an industry to stay open as essential businesses, and we expect that Americans are going to look for ways to stay healthy as the U.S. economy opens back up in the coming months,” added Dr. Fabricant. “We look forward to working with Congress and the Administration on ways to protect and expand access to nutritional supplements.”