I’ve been hearing a lot of buzz lately about the FDA Globalization Act of 2008. It’s been going on for several months now, and I think it’s time to let you know about it too. I’m not one to get involved in politics – just ask my husband. I trust him to be informed, then vote however he decides. So this is a big deal that I’m getting involved now.

The FDA Globalization Act would charge businesses that make beauty products to up to $12,000 in annual fees, and require an exorbitant amount of paperwork. Quite simply, it would put me and thousands of others out of business. Without the independent beauty companies, you would be forced to buy from the larger corporations who can afford to comply with this law.

Donna Maria Coles Johnson, founder of the Indie Beauty Network, has had an integral part in trying to stop this legislation, along with Anne-Marie Faiola, owner of Brambleberry Soap Making Supplies. Anne-Marie has written several excellent articles on her blog, including information from a trip that she and Donna Maria, along with several others, took to Washington D.C. earlier this month to talk to some of the politicians behind this legislation.

If you value the products that you receive from Great Cakes Soapworks, please take some time to do the following:

1. Sign the petition on Donna Maria’s blog.

2. Copy this sample letter and send it to your Congresspeople. It’s easier than ever to send your Senators and Representatives an email. Check out the following resources if you need help:
Find your Senator’s contact information.

Dear Representative [or Senator] Name:

I am writing to you because I am familiar with your commitment to small businesses in our state. As a consumer, I share your commitment and choose to buy from small and family businesses, especially locally, whenever I can.

The draft discussion of the FDA Globalization Act of 2008 is now being marked up in the House Energy & Commerce Committee and I am strongly opposed to it. The stated purposes of the draft law are to provide the FDA with funding and to protect consumers. But cosmetics have a stellar safety record and there is no need to pass laws that would hurt small businesses in particular while offering no safety benefits to consumers in general.

If passed, the new law would impose fees ranging from $2,000 to $12,000 per year on beauty and cosmetics businesses and require them to comply with burdensome paperwork and manufacturing requirements that no business can afford without passing excessive administrative costs along to consumers. Please refer to a Petition that a trade group I am familiar with has prepared to help spread the word (http://snipurl.com/stop-fda-ga08). At the link I’ve provided, you can watch a short video, read the Petition and then read the comments of literally thousands of people – both business owners and consumers – across the nation, many in our state, who oppose this draft legislation.

I write to ask you to vote against the FDA Globalization Act of 2008 when the time comes. At a time when American businesses are dealing with increased shipping and materials costs, forcing them to increase consumer prices, it is unfair and unnecessary to enact new laws that would push prices even higher. If a law such as this is passed, I will likely have little choice but to change my spending habits, and the sales taxes I currently pay when I purchase goods may decrease considerably; with so many consumers in our state forced to make similar spending decisions, it is inevitable that this would have a cumulatively negative impact on tax revenues for our state.

Again, please vote against the FDA Globalization Act of 2008. I ask you to keep me apprised of your position on this economically important issue.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

[signed]

Thanks to Tanya Ross for putting together this letter.