There is quite a difference between what phosphorus does in laundry detergent and in automatic dishwasher detergent. Most laundry detergents in Canada have been phosphate-free for years. It was a lot easier to replace phosphorus in laundry detergent because it was mostly used to lift soil during the cleaning process. In automatic dishwasher detergent it's a multifunctioning aid. It breaks up the soils and provides consumers with clean dishes. It actually aids in the cleaning process, which it wasn't doing in laundry detergent. It's a lot more difficult to reformulate automatic dishwasher detergent because it aids in the cleaning and sanitation of dishes, where it didn't do that in laundry.
On June 9th, 2008. See this statement in context.