kaseencook
Well-Known Member
Here is an online petition to reform and reduce the outrageous NICNAS registration fees for handmade soapers.
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/reform-nicnas-registration.html
The fee is $380 a year, and essentially all you do is fill in a form and submit with your money. There is no testing of soap, certification, or any other perceived bonus to registering (other than that you won't get a huge fine!), and no rationale behind why the fee is so high.
Given that the economy needs a boost from more small business, this fee is a huge deterrent to those who wish to begin a small business, especially for those on unemployment who would have a hard time saving this kind of money along with the capitol required to start a business. Since this fee and registration does not provide any protection to the public or manufacturer, we would like to petition to have the fee 1. reduced and 2. reformed and targeted at/tailored to handmade soapers (not big industry!). If the government's intension is to protect the public and promote small business, then this fee needs to be greatly reduced or the entire registration eliminated for handmade soap, as it provides no protection as it is anyway.
The fee is rationalized on the NICNAS's website, because the making of soap is a chemical reaction between oil and lye, and therefore a "new" chemical is produced, i.e. soap.
http://www.nicnas.gov.au/Industry/Registration/Fact_Sheets/Soap_Makers_Fact_Sheet_PDF.pdf
http://www.nicnas.gov.au/Industry/Registration/Online_Brochure/Benefits.asp
The organization, fees, and rationale is geared towards the chemical manufacturing industries that make millions of dollars, not towards the Handmade soaper. The $380 fee is for industries that deal with up to $500,000 worth of chemicals (and that's just chemicals, not sales or profits).... which is certainly a HUGE range, and scoops huge industries with handmade soapers as it they were the same - but they are not!
I do not think that the people who required handmade soapers to register really understood the handmade soap profession, the small turnover, and the relatively small amount of chemicals that are processed compared to the businesses that make soap on an industrial scale.
Additionally, soap is not a new chemical, but one that has been around for hundreds of years. Although it is possible for soap to be dangerous due to excess lye, this is not even considered in the rationale for the registration, they are only concerned with the chemical reaction and production of soap as a "chemical" that needs to be "controlled". I do not think that the production of "soap" as a "chemical" by people working on a very small scale has been a huge threat to public health - lye in the soap could threaten health, but this is not the chemical being manufactured or of concern to the NICNAS.. I could still make dangerous lye heavy soap.
I could go on and on, but if you would like to see some changes, please sign up! Thank you very much!
http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/reform-nicnas-registration.html
The fee is $380 a year, and essentially all you do is fill in a form and submit with your money. There is no testing of soap, certification, or any other perceived bonus to registering (other than that you won't get a huge fine!), and no rationale behind why the fee is so high.
Given that the economy needs a boost from more small business, this fee is a huge deterrent to those who wish to begin a small business, especially for those on unemployment who would have a hard time saving this kind of money along with the capitol required to start a business. Since this fee and registration does not provide any protection to the public or manufacturer, we would like to petition to have the fee 1. reduced and 2. reformed and targeted at/tailored to handmade soapers (not big industry!). If the government's intension is to protect the public and promote small business, then this fee needs to be greatly reduced or the entire registration eliminated for handmade soap, as it provides no protection as it is anyway.
The fee is rationalized on the NICNAS's website, because the making of soap is a chemical reaction between oil and lye, and therefore a "new" chemical is produced, i.e. soap.
http://www.nicnas.gov.au/Industry/Registration/Fact_Sheets/Soap_Makers_Fact_Sheet_PDF.pdf
http://www.nicnas.gov.au/Industry/Registration/Online_Brochure/Benefits.asp
The organization, fees, and rationale is geared towards the chemical manufacturing industries that make millions of dollars, not towards the Handmade soaper. The $380 fee is for industries that deal with up to $500,000 worth of chemicals (and that's just chemicals, not sales or profits).... which is certainly a HUGE range, and scoops huge industries with handmade soapers as it they were the same - but they are not!
I do not think that the people who required handmade soapers to register really understood the handmade soap profession, the small turnover, and the relatively small amount of chemicals that are processed compared to the businesses that make soap on an industrial scale.
Additionally, soap is not a new chemical, but one that has been around for hundreds of years. Although it is possible for soap to be dangerous due to excess lye, this is not even considered in the rationale for the registration, they are only concerned with the chemical reaction and production of soap as a "chemical" that needs to be "controlled". I do not think that the production of "soap" as a "chemical" by people working on a very small scale has been a huge threat to public health - lye in the soap could threaten health, but this is not the chemical being manufactured or of concern to the NICNAS.. I could still make dangerous lye heavy soap.
I could go on and on, but if you would like to see some changes, please sign up! Thank you very much!
