I agreed with many of the things President Barack Obama said in yesterday’s State Of The Union address. We do need health insurance reform. We do need to tackle the issue of childhood obesity. We do need to invest in the skills and education of American people. We do need to increase our exports to…
On September 23, Senator Al Franken (D-Minn) introduced the Household Product Labeling Act. You can read the full text here (only 4 pages — yay!), and you can read the Senator’s press release here. The Act requires that the product label for all household cleaning products include all of the ingredients in that household cleaning product. “Household…
I am pleased to announce that, on December 3 and 4, I’m leading another delegation to the US Food & Drug Administration (FDA). The purpose of my visits is to share small business perspectives on pending cosmetics legislation, and also on current rules, regulations and current events affecting the cosmetics industry. This is my second…
[An article about this bill was originally published in April 2009 at my old FDA Globalization Act blog. Due to a technical glitch, the article did not transfer here. This is what I recall of that post. Update: 8/11/2010: This post is here for informational purposes only, as the bill seems to have died in…
Yesterday, Kayla Fioravanti of Essential Wholesale (one of my sponsors) posted a useful summary of how household products, and cleaning products in general, are regulated in the United States. Her post points out one of the significant challenges to small and independent business owners when it comes to digesting and comply with regulations. Namely, that…
On October 29, the FDA sent a warning letter to Procter & Gamble concering their sale of combination over the counter (OTC) drug/dietary supplement products. Without making your eyes glaze over, the problem with this is that drugs must be approved by the FDA before they can be sold. Dietary supplements do not. The FDA’s…
In this post, I told you about the FDA/FTC warning letter to Dr. Andrew Weil. In this post, I want to tell you about the voluntary suspension of a food labeling program by the above companies. The suspension is the ultimate result of a letter from the FDA to the companies (see here) which called into…
Last week, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (PDF). The Guides were issued pursuant to the FTCs authority, as granted by Congress in Section 5 of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 45, to protect consumers from deceptive trade practices with regard to endorsements and testimonials…
When I was a cosmetics manufacturer years ago, I joined the Personal Care Products Council (formerly known as the Cosmetic, Toiletries & Fragrances Association). At the time, I lived in Washington, DC and I enjoyed going to their offices from time to time to use their library. I also learned a lot from them about…
I read an interesting post today at the the CPSIA Comments & Observations blog. Maintained by Richard Woldenberg, chairman of Learning Resources, a manufacturer of learning toys and hands-on classroom educational materials, the CPSIA Comments & Observations blog tracks activity with regard to the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s (CPSC) implementation of the Consumer Product Safety…
Yesterday Randall Rothenberg, head of the Interactive Advertising Bureau, published an open letter to Jon Leibowitz, Chairman of the Federal Trade Commission highlight what he calls “a grave concern” with regard to the new Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (PDF). In particular, Rothenberg says that the Guides are unconstitutional because…
UPDATE 2/12/2010: As of today, Indie Business Advocate.com has been closed. All small business advocacy and public policy posts can be found in the Advocacy Category at this blog. Thank you. For as long as I have served small and independent business owners, I have observed how challenging it is to have an impact on…
Last week, I shared plans to return to Washington, DC on a fact-finding mission with regard to the FDA Globalization Act of 2009 (FDAG 2009). If you have not done so, please read that post for background and context. This post provides a high level overview of what I learned on that trip. (If you…
[This post was originally published on my Twitwall on March 12, 2009. I think it is important for context to share it with you at this blog as well. You can see the comments on the original post beneath the post itself.] A 32-page report (PDF) entitled “No More Toxic Tub” has been released by…
In his December 12 weekly address, President Obama continued to point out the failures of financial institutions and their leaders, and once again lamented that so many small businesses have closed their doors over the past several months. He also expressed his intention to push banks to give small businesses access to lending “they desperately…
[This letter is being sent via fax to Chairman Leibowitz today.] The Honorable Jon Leibowitz Chairman Federal Trade Commission Dear Chairman Leibowitz: I am the founder and CEO of Indie Business Media, and the Indie Beauty Network, a trade organization representing 800+ small health, beauty and lifestyle companies. As an advocate for small and independent…
On October 15, 2009, the FDA and the FTC sent a joint warning letter to Weil Lifestyle, LLC (owned by Dr. Andew Weil, a physician (not sure if he’s licensed at this time in any state) and health/wellness advisor), about a product marketed at his website called Immune Support Formula. The next day, the Today…
For as long as I have served small and independent business owners, I have observed how challenging it is to have an impact on public policy that is commensurate with the positive impact we have on our communities and the American economy. I hope to change all of that with the announcement today of Indie…
On Monday, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising (PDF). The Guides were issued pursuant to the FTCs authority, as granted by Congress in Section 5 of the FTC Act, 15 U.S.C. 45, to protect consumers from deceptive trade practices with regard to endorsements and testimonials…
Donna Maria announces attorney Michael Kushner at guest on Indie Business Radio to discuss planned class action law suit regarding impelmentation and enforcement of the new Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act against very small businesses.
Donna Maria announces the launch of the FDA Globalization Act of 2009 website at http://www.fdag.org.