Sept. 20, 2024 — The Vision Council (TVC) held its all-member meeting at Vision Expo West in Las Vegas on Friday, Sept. 20, providing both members and nonmembers updates about TVC’s research program, governmental and regulatory affairs, and the organization’s community-building efforts.

Here, some key updates from the meeting:

inSights Research

• TVC highlighted findings from its recent report regarding “Made in the USA” labeling, including that 3 in 4 U.S. respondents consider eyeglasses manufactured in an American factory with imported raw materials as Made in the USA, which indicates that Americans are more flexible than current federal guidelines.
• TVC announced it has resumed collecting optical industry data for Canada and shared findings from its Consumer inSights Canada Q1 and Q2 2024. Among other insights, TVC shared that Canadians go an average of 21 months between eye exams compared to 16 months for Americans.
• Compared to 2023, TVC reported an average year in regard to revenue, patient acquisition, and patient retention, as revealed in its most recent Provider inSights.

Government and Regulatory Affairs

• As the secretariat for the accredited standards committee, Z80, which is responsible for developing national standards that apply to prescription and nonprescription eyeglasses, contact lenses, ophthalmic instruments, and medical devices, TVC works to keep members updated with the latest government and regulatory changes on state and federal levels.
• Regarding China 301 duties, which affect merchandise imports from China, TVC shared that the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative recently concluded a four-year review of the duties and decided to keep them in pace and raise them on some items, including steel and aluminum. TVC warned this might have trickle-down effects on optical industry members who use raw materials in finished products.
• TVC expects the China duties to be used as a political tool regardless of who becomes the next U.S. president. TVC highlighted its efforts toward mitigation, including working to open an exclusion process that can be used to stake a claim as to why certain products should be excluded from the duties. Currently, an exclusion process for equipment-only products presents an opportunity for relief from the duties, though finished eyewear products will continue to face the 7.5% duty going forward.
• TVC has advocacy efforts in place, including future Capitol Hill events to raise awareness about the unfair impact of the China 301 duties on eyewear, as similar medical devices like hearing aids, crutches, and dentures have been excluded from these duties since the duties have been in place. The organization shared it has some Congressional backing on this point.
• After the U.S. election, TVC plans to present the Federal Trade Commission with its recent report regarding consumer sentiment toward Made in the USA labeling to show how regulations are not backed up by TVC’s current data. According to TVC, the FTC’s regulations are based on buyer data from the 1970s.
• TVC launched PolicyWatch, a website offering real-time updates on optical telehealth-related legislation.

Community Engagement

• TVC emphasized its mission to create “a neutral platform to bring the entire optical community together” and highlighted its upcoming events for community building: the Executive Summit, taking place Jan. 22-25, 2025, in Santa Barbara, CA, and the Lab Leadership Forum, taking place April 24-25, 2025, in Dallas. Registration for the Executive Summit opens in November, and registration details for the Lab Leadership Forum will be announced soon.
• The newly established philanthropic arm of TVC, The Vision Council Foundation, is the umbrella of TVC initiatives, including the Opening Your Eyes Scholarship Fund, Emerging Optical Leaders program, and various consumer education efforts, such as National Sunglasses Day.
• TVC highlighted how the Vision Expo events benefit the optical industry, as proceeds go “directly into supporting our mission, which is growth.”