The Quality Certification Alliance (QCA) has announced that its accredited supplier members voted in April to begin reducing the organization’s operations, effective immediately. QCA is no longer taking any new member applications, but will continue to support current members through Aug. 1, 2020.

Since 2008, after a partnership agreement among 14 suppliers, QCA has worked to develop product safety standards and independently validated corporate social responsibility in the promotional products industry’s supply chain.

QCA became a nonprofit in 2009 and developed its Supplier Accreditation Program for product safety, product quality, social responsibility, supply chain security and environmental stewardship based on state and national laws, international supply chain standards and promo industry best practices. The Distributor Certification Program also helped distributors better serve corporate clients.

In a statement, executive director Denise Fenton said the decision to downgrade operations was driven by several factors: Many suppliers have built and continue to maintain their own safety and compliance programs using sustainable processes and practices, while industry consolidation has reduced the number of QCA supplier members overall.

“QCA drove the appetite for product safety and responsible sourcing with the idea that compliance wasn’t just good business; it’s good for business,” said David Clifton, chief marketing officer for QCA Accredited Supplier alphabroder (asi/34063), the industry’s largest supplier, and president of QCA’s board of directors. “This appetite fostered innovation that made companies stronger. In a way, QCA is declaring victory on a job well done and leaving the industry in a much safer and more compliant state than when the organization joined it – and that was always the mission.”