TRADE ASSOCIATION MEMBERSHIPS
Ecolab, like most businesses, belongs to trade associations that support initiatives important to Ecolab’s business and our customers’ industries. We engage with our key trade associations to achieve the following:
- We work with trade associations to better understand the policy and regulatory environment that will impact our business operations,
- We advocate through the association to ensure that our views on matters of importance to Ecolab and our customers are adequately communicated and represented to law and policy makers, and
- Our associates access educational, training and professional networking opportunities.
Ecolab joins trade associations that it feels will benefit our business and shareholders, but trade associations have diverse memberships and diverse member views. The positions taken by trade associations or their members may not always align with Ecolab’s business objectives, and Ecolab may adopt policies and positions that are different from the views of trade associations of which Ecolab is a member or their members. Ecolab raises its concerns, as needed and as appropriate, on issues that it believes are important to Ecolab and its stakeholders.
Some of the trade associations to which Ecolab belongs engage in lobbying activities to support these initiatives. These trade associations may use a portion of the membership dues paid by Ecolab for such lobbying activities. Ecolab itself also engages in certain lobbying activities, but does not engage in grassroots lobbying communications and is not involved with tax-exempt organizations that write or endorse model legislation. For this purpose, “grassroots lobbying communications” means communications directed to the general public that (a) refer to specific legislation or regulation, (b) reflect a view on the legislation or regulation and (c) encourage the recipient of the communication to take action with respect to the legislation or regulation. When Ecolab lobbies on individual issues of interest, various laws and regulations may apply, including the U.S. Lobbying Disclosure Act and the E.U. Transparency Register and its Code of Conduct, and Ecolab takes appropriate actions to comply with these laws.
A committee of management consisting of the Senior VP of Government Relations, the Assistant Secretary or Secretary, the Chief Operating Officer, the Senior VP of Regulatory Affairs, and the Executive VP for Global Markets reviews proposed and existing significant trade association memberships at least semi-annually to assess their effectiveness and to determine if continued membership is appropriate. The committee escalates membership decisions to the CEO in situations in which the committee believes membership in a trade association could be materially misaligned with Ecolab’s stated values. The Governance Committee of the Board of Directors reviews Ecolab’s significant trade association memberships, as well as Ecolab’s policies and practices relating to trade association memberships, on an annual basis.
TRADE ASSOCIATION DISCLOSURES:
January – December 2023 Cycle