ISPA Position on
Tagging Laws

Issue: 
Establishing, maintaining and enforcing state mattress tagging laws.

Importance:
The mattress industry is committed to providing the consumer with a safe and healthful product.   The consumer also deserves full and fair disclosure of the content of the product they purchase.  National uniform requirements will best protect the consumer and be most efficient for the industry.

ISPA Position: 
Although ISPA does not support burdensome regulation of the mattress industry, a degree of regulation is needed to protect consumers from unsanitary mattresses and deceptive trade practices.

Background: 
States began instituting “tagging laws” requiring that mattresses identify their contents in the early 1900’s.   These laws protect consumers from unknowingly purchasing bedding that contains unsafe or unsanitary secondhand materials.    Despite the success and importance of these laws, some states have repealed their statutes, allowed them to sunset or simply stopped enforcing them.  At present, only – states have tagging laws on the Even in states that do have active tagging laws, a lack of enforcement resources allow unsanitary and unsafe practices to continue to plague unsuspecting consumers. 

ISPA Action: 
ISPA is concerned about the increase in sales of illegal unsanitary renovated mattresses.   ISPA is actively pursuing mattress disposal alternatives that will help reduce this problem by removing old mattresses from commerce so that they cannot be renovated and deceptively sold as new products.  ISPA encourages all states to enact, renew and enforce reasonable tagging laws that will benefit consumer health and safety and while protecting the good name of the mattress industry. 

ISPA offers a regularly updated manual of mattress tagging laws and registration requirements free for members and available for purchase by nonmembers here.

In addition, ISPA is exploring the feasibility of establishing a national mattress tagging and sanitation requirement.