Fluorochemical protectors have been in the process of change in the last few years. The U.S. EPA determined that the sale of C8 fluorochemicals was a danger to the environment, primarily as a result of the manufacturing process and not as a result of the application process. At that time they mandated manufacturers to discontinue C8 technology by 2015 to C6 or below fluorochemicals. A wave of our fluorochemical protectors are in the process of this transition. The C6 or below technology has been fully approved by the United States meeting all of the environmental standards that it sought to achieve. In short, the process toward safer fluorochemical technology is on the verge of being finalized in all of our products.
The issue at hand is that Australia is accepting only C4 technology (Scotchgard is C4) at this time. I have been in contact with our fluorochemical suppliers and they have been unwilling to take all of the steps necessary to get the approval of the Australian government at this time. This has led us to suspend immediately all fluorochemical imports (including leather, upholstery, and hard surface protectors) into Australia from this point forward. The only protector that will be available from us is Encapuguard Green, which is designed for carpet only. This formula does not have fluorochemical technology, which manifests itself in oil resistance and repellency. However, Encapuguard Green does have excellent soil and stain resistance properties. In our opinion, stain resistance characteristics are the most important for wool fiber than any of the other attributes. The comparison between the performance of Scotchgard to Encapuguard Green is in comparible making it a better value for all Australian customers when price is taken into consideration.
Hopefully, this suspension will be temporary and we will put pressure on our suppliers to negotiate with the Australian authorities.
