#100: Dan Fabricant - Why You Need to Show Up in Washington DC (NPA 2023 Fly-In Day)

Jun 26, 2023

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https://blog.priceplow.com/podcast/dan-fabricant-npa-2023-washington-dc

For Episode 100 of the PricePlow Podcast, Ben and Mike flew to Washington D.C. for the Natural Products Association’s annual DC Fly-In Day on June 7, 2023. Fly-in days, also known as “lobby days”, bring individuals together to advocate with legislators and other officials on behalf of their shared interests.

So this was the day where members of the NPA could meet with their elected representatives on Capitol Hill to discuss matters of importance in terms of public policy geared towards the dietary supplement industry.

Episode 100: Dan Fabricant of the NPA in Washington, DC

It was only fitting, then, to schedule Episode 100 with Dan Fabricant, CEO of the Natural Products Association (NPA). This is the country’s largest and oldest nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting the natural products industry — it was founded in 1936 and has over 700 members.

In this podcast, we discuss why we should be involved in politics when it has become so off-putting the past decade or so, discuss what the FDA and industry both need to be doing better, and dig into this year’s hot topics, which includes the battle against the FDA for NMN.

The trip was spectacular — we’ll include some videos at the bottom of this article. We were able to meet with congressmen and senators from New Jersey (Ben’s district) and Oklahoma (Mike’s home).

Have a say — or someone else will do so for you

The most major point to get across is this: If you’re not talking to your legislators, then someone else is. There’s only so much oxygen in DC, and every industry needs to fight for theirs.

Now let’s get into it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVhtNGUqfKI

As a reminder, Dan was previously on the PricePlow Podcast in Episode #067, describing how the NPA fought Dick Durbin’s 2022 Mandatory Product Listing Bill (described as “MPL” below). Ben had also joined in the fight in Trenton, NJ to prevent them from forcing stores to sell supplements from behind-the-counter (see coverage here and here on Instagram). These are both referenced below:

Detailed Show Notes with Dan Fabricant of NPA

(0:00) – Hot Start: We need to support our tribe
(1:30) – Introduction and the Disenfranchisement with Politics
(3:15) – We have to show up
(4:30) – What is the NPA?
(7:30) – Non-Profit 101 – How is NPA Run?
(9:15) – Not Just Federal: Challenges in States
(10:10) – Will uninformed legislators ever understand creatine?!
(12:30) – Performance Supplements Lead the Way in this Industry
(14:00) – Should the dietary supplement community discuss supplements for children
(16:00) – The four pillars of the dietary supplement industry’s regulatory framework
(23:00) – Dan’s Background at the FDA
(24:00) – Dan vs. USPLabs
(28:45) – What can be a dietary supplement?
(32:30) – Botanicals and Constituents of Botanicals
(35:15) – Foods and supplements cannot intoxicate
(38:00) – New Dietary Ingredient Notifications (NDIN)
(39:30) – Congress…