Specialty Sleep Assn. joins advocacy group, meets with officials

Heath E. Combs -- Furniture Today, January 11, 2013

WASHINGTON — The Specialty Sleep Assn. has joined the American Sustainable Business Council, a business policy advocacy group based here.

Founded in 2009, the American Sustainable Business Council promotes socially responsible business policies.

The ASBC and its partner organizations represent more than 150,000 businesses nationwide and its members include chambers of commerce, trade associations, and groups representing small businesses and investors, among others.

"The SSA is committed to transparency and truth in claims about green marketing with consumer disclosure contents labels for mattresses and bedding," Dale Read, president of the SSA, said in a press release. "We believe that ASBC will help us achieve our goals to educate consumers about safer, healthier and greener sleep product choices for their homes."

Additionally, officials from the SSA, the Global Organic Textile Standard and bedding manufacturer Naturepedic met with U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Organic Program representatives in late December to discuss improvement in marketing of the term "organic" for textiles and bedding products.

"When SSA started its exploration several years ago into environmental marketing claims in the bedding sector, we realized we had a long way to go particularly with claims related to natural and organic products," Read said.

"There's been a lot of progress in two years that has helped us explain to our manufacturer and retailer members how to properly market their products and stay in compliance with federal guidelines. A big part of our success in bringing clarity to consumers comes from the dialogues we've had with federal agencies like NOP."

The SSA aims to keep bedding manufacturers from unnecessary scrutiny by both the USDA and the Federal Trade Commission with proper labeling.