The coronavirus outbreak is a global pandemic that has caused unprecedented demand for personal protective equipment (PPE) from the healthcare sector. PPE manufacturers have quickly ramped up production and are doing everything possible to add more capacity but still cannot satisfy the surge demand for this public health emergency. The International Safety Equipment Association (ISEA) and PPE producers have always advocated for a properly stocked Strategic National Stockpile. Public policy interventions are required for emergency preparedness. ISEA and its members welcome opportunities to assist with agency emergency planning, but the industry does not develop those plans. Our role is to supply the equipment the government deems necessary when requested.
Prohibit Price Gouging and Auctioneering
Every company in the PPE industry makes its own pricing decisions, and in accordance with U.S. antitrust laws, ISEA members don’t coordinate their pricing. Having said that, the industry fully believes taking advantage of any global health crisis to profiteer through excessive pricing and auctioneering is abhorrent and immoral.Â
ISEA members adhere to the Association’s ethics policy and do not engage in any form of price gouging. Not only are ISEA-member manufacturers refraining from price gouging and auctioneering, they are communicating a clear no-tolerance policy to authorized resellers.
ISEA and its members support government efforts to control both hoarding and price gouging. The industry actively supports federal and state initiatives to identify and curtail such behavior.Â
Keep Borders Open
The U.S. government has ordered domestic PPE distributors, brokers and other intermediaries to cease all export of respirators produced in the U.S. ISEA and its members are ready to cooperate with government intervention but fear this action would decrease domestic supplies, not increase them.
Closing borders alienates other nations, particularly our neighbors, and worsens the humanitarian crisis created by this disease. Closing our borders could result in similar actions from other countries, reducing the availability of PPE within the U.S.
ISEA stands ready to work with the US government to ensure the greatest possible supply of PPE to US healthcare workers.Â