The House Energy and Commerce Committee will host a hearing regarding cosmetics regulations at 10:00am ET on Wednesday, December 4, 2019. For over a decade, this blog has recounted the journey of multiple pieces of proposed legislation designed to amend cosmetics laws in the United States. This post is the latest in that series.
For those who may be new to this journey, these legislative efforts are not new. They go all the way back to the proposed FDA Globalization Act of 2008, which never became law. If you're interested, you can binge on the posts going back to 2008 in the Law and Advocacy category of this blog.
The purpose of this post is to inform you of this week's hearing.
Hearing Overview
The hearing, entitled “Building Consumer Confidence by Empowering FDA to Improve Cosmetic Safety,” will be hosted by the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Health Subcommittee, and will include the testimony of several witnesses: Leigh O’Donnell, Executive Director of the Handcrafted Soap and Cosmetics Guild, and also representatives from the FDA, the Environmental Working Group, National Women’s Health Network, and Beautycounter.
As many of you know, different version of new cosmetics legislation have been introduced numerous times since 2008.
You can download and read the most current version under consideration at this link.
This hearing will assess and review the current state of legislative activity, and tuning in will help everyone affected by providing useful insights into the current state of draft legislation which includes, among other things: Good Manufacturing Practices, ingredient/manufacturer registration, adverse event reporting, preemption, FDA funding and other items of interest.
Be Informed
For more details in advance of the hearing, visit the committee’s website. For background on the House Committee’s approach to this hearing, you can read this background memo circulated by the Committee’s Chairman, Representative Frank Pallone (NJ-06).
Join us Live in our Private Community!
If you are a member of the Indie Business Network, we invite you to join us live for a Watch Party to watch, discuss, and comments privately on the hearing as it takes place. As always, you may speak freely in our entrepreneurial community, and your comments will not be made public.
If you are not participating in our private group, you can join by following the instructions here.
Let Your Voice Be Heard!
While we do not know what, if any, outcome will result from this hearing, it is never a bad time to let your representatives know where you stand as small business owners who are affected by every law and regulation, no matter how small.
As American Makers, you are the experts on the products you make and the industry in which you thrive. You possess first-hand information that our lawmakers do not in terms of why your business interests must be considered as these legislative efforts continue.
Your real-life stories help to paint the important picture for our lawmakers about how fees, reporting requirements and paperwork will affect your business and your ability to make and sell products.
Please consider taking a moment to inform your member(s) of Congress that your life and business are impacted by their actions. Let them know that your concerns as an American Maker and small business owner should be considered and respected, and that no proposal that would unfairly burden you should ever become law.
If you want help finding your representative and resources for how to contact them, you can use this tool provided by the Coalition of Handcrafted Entrepreneurs.
Further Reading and Learning
This blog will be updated with useful information and necessary clarifications, either via this post or a supplement to this post.
You can also read an update at the Coalition of Handcrafted Entrepreneurs at this link. For historical perspective, visit the Law and Advocacy section of this blog.
Questions, Comments and Sharing
Please share your questions, comments, and feedback in the comments below. To help us ensure that as many stakeholders as possible are aware of this update, please share this post on share on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
