A new version of the Safe Cosmetic Act has been released. You can read the full version of it here. http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-h2359/text Many of our customers have asked me why I haven’t come out with a position on the bill yet. The reason is two-fold: (1) I had additional questions that needed to be answered and (2) My sweet baby boy is adorable and still not sleeping (see baby monitor below). In the past, I have been able to travel to Washington, DC myself to meet with Legislators, talk about the bill and its verbiage and learn the intention between many of the points in the bill. With a newborn at home who depends on me for food, I have not been as active with this iteration of the bill as I have been previously. Thankfully, others have.
Leigh O’Donnell from the Handcrafted Soapmakers Guild deserves our gratitude; she has been to Washington DC on this issue six times this year alone. She went to Washington, DC this week with a list of prepared questions from a group of vendors and small businesses about the bill. Many of my additional questions have been answered. While the bill is not perfectly crafted and there are gray areas still existing, it is a better version of the bill than previous iterations. For example, small businesses are exempted from fees in this version of the bill.
I am thankful for the work of the Handcrafted Soapmakers Guild and their paid advocates in getting our voices heard. While the bill, as written, is not perfect, small business does have a seat at the table with the Handcrafted Soap Guild. This bill continues to be a work in progress and this process does afford us the opportunities for change. The HSMG was invited to Washington, DC this week (as was I but was unable to attend) to meet with Legislators to talk about the bill and continue an open dialogue on how the bill can be improved and clarified.
This bill does need to be worked on; intentions in several areas are unclear, and, as written, are open to negative interpretations. But, it is better than what we have seen in the past and because of the HSMG’s careful education and the Legislators’ stated desire to work with small business, I am cautiously optimistic moving forward. Though Bramble Berry’s official position is that additional legislation is not needed for our industry, we believe that legislation is coming; if not this year, then the next. Thus, it is important to keep our lines of communication open to legislators and continue to work proactively so small business continues to be represented.
My hope is to go to Washington, DC in the fall to work on this bill on your behalf. In the meantime, Bramble Berry continues to donate to the Legislative Advocacy Fund of the Handcrafted Soapmakers Guild to help support their professional advocacy work in Washington, DC. I will keep you posted as the bill continues to change and the positions in it, clarified.
Hi Anne-Marie,
Thank you so much for providing this forum on the possible consequences of the The Safe Cosmetics Act of 2011! This conversation is very elucidating and insightful.
At Joyful Soaps, we now list all ingredients, except sodium hydroxide. Instead of listing sodium hydroxide, we list on the back soap packaging of our soaps that our soaps are saponified. We have found the sodium hydroxide can scare people unnecessarily. We are a very small soap business in Washington State. We also test ph levels in our soaps before we sell them.
So, what else would we have to do as a small business according to the provisions of this bill? What exactly does “extensive testing” mean and what does it entail? This bill seems very poorly written and not at all thought out well. I am glad that, as a small business, we are exempt from fees. What fees are we exempt from?
It would seem this bill might very well not even become law, given the enormous problems our country is facing and the lack of work happening in the U.S. Congress. How concerned should our Joyful Soaps business be at this point, and, if so, why exactly?
Thank you so much Anne-Marie!
Michael
I’m fairly certain this bill won’t pass – too much else to worry about right now in Congress. That said, yes, the wording of the bill is ambiguous and leaves far too much to chance. I am thrilled about the small biz exemption from fees however. Fees would be registration fees with the FDA. Those fees have not been outlined but previous bills had fees around $2000 and a sliding scale so they were quite high. “Extensive testing” is up for debate as to what it entails – it could be to test only for harmful contaminants, it could be for vendors (like me) to test for contaminants, it could be for my suppliers (the big chemical companies) to test for contaminants. It’s not clear yet. And until things like that are clarified, I cannot, in good conscience support the bill, even with a small business exemption. But, what I can do, is support the process of working through these issues in a calm, reasonable manner which the Soap Guild has been doing by meeting in Washington DC and working with the sponsors. Thanks for chiming in!
I am a Chemist and CPhT in a Cancer Center pharmacy. Your hair would curl if you saw the personnal care items marketed as “cancer care” products patients bring to us that have caused severe skin reactions due to the composition of the product. There are bad actors out there that peddle unsafe goods to desperate people. These practices, along with industry pressure from the large companies that don’t want competition from small-business, is what drives legislation like this.
I am especially interested in this legislation as I have recently decided that I would like to grow my hobby into a small-business. I feel that my background in Chemistry, Biology, and Pharmacy would be helpfull in developing some great bath & body products! (Especially compared to some of the junk my patients have brought in.) Some of the language in this bill is leading me to question if this is a path I want to go down.
First things first, awesome job taking action and doing something great for your patients by improving on what they are getting! That is really great of you.
I don’t think that this legislation is going to pass this year – and if it ever has a chance of passing, it must be more small business friendly than it currently is. It doesn’t stand a chance of passing if it’s a jobs killer. So, I would continue ahead with your small business, building it in a way that you are proud of and complies with existing laws. If you do that, you will be in an extremely good position to comply with any possible legislation coming down the way.
Thanks for the words of encouragement. I’m anxiously awaiting my first Bramble Berry shipment! Craft store products were great for learning, but I’m ready to move on to better scents and colorants so that I can make quality products for sale!
It’s a sad thing that we need to prepare for and expect some sort of cosmetic legislation in the future. But, facing the reality now and making sure that small cosmetic manufacturers are represented and listed to during the entire process is the only way to make it work for us.
As a knowledgeable and well-spoken business person familiar with the industry, you will be a great representative for all of in Washington.
Thanks for your dedication and willingness to work on this – even with a baby!
Thanks Marie. I totally agree, we need to make sure that small cosmetic manufacturers are taken into account with the wording of this bill (even if it’s not the one that passes, I’m betting future versions of the bill will draw heavily from this one).
I wish our government was this concerned about what goes into our food!
I do agree that something will probably pass, but this seems like such a lost leader and a way to squeeze the little guys out. All the while, the large cosmetics companies will continue to charge a premium for mineral oil laden (among other things) sub-par goods. This just seems to be about protecting big business to me.
Sorry for the soap box :). I so appreciate you, the other soap & cosmetic supplier advocates and the Soap Guild for going to bat for us! This surely is a T.E.A.M. (Together Everyone Achieves More) effort. Having a voice through all of you is paramount because it doesn’t seem like Washington even knew we were here- aspiring and established local (to national) businesses paying taxes and helping to pump a little hope back into our economy. Once Washington sees the value in us, the more likely they will listen. You all have the ability and knowledge to properly educate our legislators. Thank you for helping to keep my dream alive.
I totally know what you mean; it is so easy to get discouraged. After all, we’re the ‘good guys’ so why is it that we feel like we’re not? I am so happy there is a small business exemption and if we can just get the rest of the wording cleaned up (esp around contaminants, labeling, safety data reporting etc), I would still be bummed there was a bill (again, I don’t think the industry needs regulation) BUT I would feel better about this version of the bill.
Great job, Anne-Marie, especially for the mom of a newborn, LOL. We are working hard to make sure the bill is something we can live and succeed with. Fortunately, legislators are listening and we have influence, rather than being outlawed without any say whatsoever.
There is much work to do, and we must stay the course until something comes to fruition. The wheels of Washington do not move quickly!
Lots of work still to do and a long road (hopefully!) to still go. I say ‘hopefully’ because I don’t want to see the bill pass the way it is written with all those areas open to interpretation. But, the small business exemption really gives me hope – they backers of the bill *are* listening to the concerns of small business. That portion was NOT in previous bills (whereas much much of the other stuff was) so I am hopeful.
I’m always a glass half full kinda gal. =)
Thank you Anne-Marie. Everyone’s “little bit” will go a long way!
I just want to say that I’m very grateful to you, Anne-Marie, as well as Leigh O’Donnell, and all the others that are representing us in D.C. I really appreciate the attempt to make us all understand the legislation, and its effect on us. And of course, my biggest concern is the “trace” ingredients. I would have no idea how to test (let alone afford it), and I would have to give up on my dream all together. I don’t have a chemistry lab, I have a kitchen. Thank you again, everyone (not just Bramble Berry) that has helped represent our small businesses.
You and me both! How would we test? That was the #1 question I asked Leigh to bring to Washington, DC when she visited with the Legislators last week. That area is written without clear intent (do they only want the ‘big guys’ to test and if so, why isn’t it clear?). But this bill continues to be a work in progress and I am absolutely convinced that Legislators are listening based on the small business fee exemption. So, with the advocates of the HMSG guiding the process, I am extremely hopeful that the bill will continue to be clarified with small business in mind.
Thank you Anne-Marie for your service to this cause. I appreciate the time this takes from your family.
I just wanted to say that you for one know what it takes from day one (15 years old) to the million dollar mark. You have the vision of a beginning new business.
I believe you intent to watch out for soapers and beauty and cosmetic crafters, as your business depends upon it.
Thank you Pam. You are right; if badly written legislation passes (the previous two bills were worse!), Bramble Berry would be done. 14 years of hard work, my entire livelihood would be gone. So yes, I am highly motivated to see whatever passes be small business friendly. Because, even though I don’t want additional legislation and I don’t think it is necessary, I think something will eventually pass so let’s definitely keep that seat at the table through the Handcrafted Soapmaker’s Guild.
Yes, small businesses will not be required to pay registration fees, but will stil be required to do costly extensive testing and that will put most of us out of business.
Read details on this bill http://essentialu.typepad.com/my_weblog/2011/07/sign-the-petition-oppose-hr-2359-safe-cosmetics-act-of-2011.html
This is my absolute worry too. The testing requirements and contaminants of one mouse hair per 100 bars, or the shell of a beetle. Many labs would benefit for the loads of work, if only small business could afford it! Not a laughing matter though but our ingredient sheets will have to be three pages long of size 6 font type, like L’Oreal and companies!
I agree; that area 100% needs to be re-written and clarified ASAP. If the intent is not to burden small business, then this area is gray and unclear.
Thank you Anne-Marie, you have explained it better (to me) than anyone else has! I do appreciate Leigh’s efforts on behalf of our industry even though I also think this industry over-all doesn’t need more legislation!
I agree – the industry doesn’t need more legislation because the system is working. But I think it’s coming so it’s great that we have Leigh working so hard on our behalf.
Thank you Anne-Marie. I have to crack up every time I see his little face on here. There he is, supposed to be sleeping and he’s bright-eyed like a little bird looking right into the monitor! Too cute cute cute!
Exactly! He has this wide-awake period at like 2 a.m. to about 6ish. It would be funny if it wasn’t happening to us. Ha ha