Teach Soap

If you have not already signed the petition, I urge you to do so. Donna Maria is heading to Washington next week (I think the 4th) to meet with the staffer assigned to the legislation next week to advocate against this legislation.

To sign the petition, go to the petition page (http://tinyurl.com/6dy66s) and scroll all the way to the BOTTOM of the page. You sign by posting a comment.

Be sure to include Name, City and State in your comment. Including your business name and/or website URL is optional.

It is important that everyone in our industry (manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, and crafters, both professionals and hobbyists), along with anyone who purchases or uses our handmade products to sign the petition.

Last night, Donna Maria sent out an urgent email to IBN members. The Campaign For Safe Cosmetics (CFSC for short) has issued a petition (http://tinyurl.com/6d6g7a) in full and unequivocal support of the FDA Globalization Act of 2008.

Quoting Donna Maria: "Not only do they support the draft law, but they think IT'S NOT STRONG ENOUGH!! That's right, they want to go even further with more regulation."

Donna Maria believes that CFSC may start linking to websites with drug products that are marketed as cosmetics, without drug approval. These drug products include lotion, cream, balm, bath salt, soap, etc with any sort of therapeutic claims. Admittedly, if CFSC does this, it's a very smart move on their part because it is ammunition for their viewpoint.

Again quoting DM: "The Campaign For Safe Cosmetics is essentially arguing that your products should be regulated like drugs and that pre-market approval, just like for drugs, should be required in order for you to sell your products."

Make no mistake. If this happens, compliance will be even more expensive than is currently proposed in the Globalization Act. We're talking thousands of dollars to get pre-market approval for a single product.

Finally, another quote from DM specifically for those who signed on with CFSC:

"If you have signed the Campaign For Safe Cosmetics (http://www.safecosmetics.org/companies/signers.cfm), know that you are signed on to a group that supports this legislation and in fact, may have had a role in drafting it. You may wish to reevaluate this. Consider how your membership may support their cause. Consider also that if you have submitted your formulas to them in order to be ranked by their ranking system, it's possible that those very formulas will now be used to support a law that could require cosmetics to be treated like drugs."

I find the last sentence very disturbing, and it saddens me to know that some crafters, intentionally or not, are a part of the problem (not because of membership in CFSC, but from the making of these products with therapeutic claims).

I urge everyone to take a good look at your products, their name, and any and all information about the product and/or ingredients provided on the label, website, brochure or other promotional materials, and advertising materials, and make changes to remove any sort of wording that can be taken as a therapeutic claim, actual or implied.

Carol

Thanks for the update. I will send it to our lists...

_________________
Always be kind to your enemies. It messes with their heads.

My blog:

http://blog.knoxfarms.com/

Leave me lots of comments!

I'm posting some info from an urgent message I received tonight:

Today, the Campaign For Safe Cosmetics issued a Petition in full and
unequivocal support of the FDA Globalization Act of 2008.

You can see the Petition here:
http://action.safecosmetics.org/petitio ... .asp?id=35

You can clearly read that their Petition is diametrically opposed to
the one we took in our letter last week, which you can link to here:
http://www.indiebeauty.com/media/index.asp, and I have no doubt that
it is a direct response to our Petition at the blog:
http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/indie_ ... ation_act_
of_2008/index.html<http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/indie_business/fda_globalization_act_of_2008/index.html>

*** Not only do they support the draft law, but they think IT'S NOT
STRONG ENOUGH!! That's right, they want to go even further with more
regulation.

It's time to tighten the strings on our boxing gloves. We are headed
into the ring in a major way now.

Along with some other IBN members, I am meeting with the staffer
assigned to the legislation next week to advocate against this
legislation. This will be our first opportunity to articulate our
concern for consumers.

If anyone is selling products that in good faith they know are drugs
under the FDA's current law, now is a good time re-evaluate the
offering. I have no doubt that they will start linking to websites
with drug products that are marketed as cosmetics, without drug
approval. I don't want anyone to fall victim to this tactic, which
would be very smart of them to do.

Members, make no mistake about it. The Campaign For Safe Cosmetics is
essentially arguing that your products should be regulated like drugs
and that pre-market approval, just like for drugs, should be required
in order for you to sell your products.

Point no. 1 of their Petition is this: 1. Require pre-market safety
testing of all cosmetic products.

If you have not signed our Petition, do so now:
http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/indie_ ... ation_act_
of_2008/index.html<http://www.indiebusinessblog.com/indie_business/fda_globalization_act_of_2008/index.html>
If you have signed the Campaign For Safe Cosmetics
(http://www.safecosmetics.org/companies/r.cfm), know that you are
signed on to a group that supports this legislation and in fact, may
have had a role in drafting it. You may wish to reevaluate this.
Consider how your membership may support their cause. Consider also
that if you have submitted your formulas to them in order to be
ranked by their ranking system, it's possible that those very
formulas will now be used to support a law that could require
cosmetics to be treated like drugs.

PS. You might need to copy and paste the link. I can't get it to work on just one line.

_________________
Irena
Closed minds are like faulty parachutes; they refuse to open.