American products "disabled for Europe"

moodymick said:
Well, thanks for all the information there Paul. To sum it all up then, it's all a buggers muddle and probably not going to change very much in the near future. Carry on.
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Yes & as you can tell I am pretty irked by RM's current policy.
The CAA just interprets the law like trading standards so this could be challenged, by those with deep pockets like the Royal Mail.
 
I have to admit much as I would like to try Caties Bubbles or Soap Commander, I'm not too bothered if I can't because I can always try Wickhams, NSS or OSP instead. It's not being able to sample all those interesting looking aftershaves that annoys me.
 
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What an interesting thread!
As many of you ma be aware, my colleagues and I are currently pursuing a new business to source and sell shaving hardware and software.
We have a number of uk suppliers and are starting to look at imports, currently EU countries - we are in conversation with Greek and Spanish suppliers (no prizes for guessing who! Some brands are already mentioned above) we seem to be making progress but actually the shipping and import seems to be the least of our worries, there seems to be a general reluctance to deal with the U.K. - I don't know why, maybe it's just a language barrier but it does seem that the smaller suppliers simply have a big enough market without having to ship to the UK
We will keep trying to source these products but don't hold your breath!
As for trying to source razor blades from either Pakistan or Russia (gillette in St Petersburg) they won't even acknowledge email let alone reply! Aarrrgh!
 
That settles it: I'm going to have to get a British girlfriend with lots of spendin' dough and big suitcases to ferry me over more British shave stuff. If anyone here has a daughter, sister or aunt that is loaded and wants to experience international love then PM me her photo!!

P.S. Must be a looker with a big rack, not too smart & a penchant for smuggling. ;)
 
I think we've discussed this on another thread, but to reiterate: small, cottage industry, soap makers are not regulated by the US government. They may be by their State governments or may not. As cosmetics, they are not required by the federal government to provide a complete list of ingredients, (most do anyway). The state may have such requirements or may not. I think it is the lack of standardized regulations that makes the EU nervous.
On the other hand, commercially made products are tested and regulated so I don't see why they shouldn't be sold in the EU. Everything on the OP's list is small, independent, artisan made.
 
Not being able to buy artisan stuff don't annoy me that much but paying more(sometimes twice the price of the actual product) for shipping can be frustrating for non artisan stuff. For example: Pinaud products, American Aqua Velva and SkinBracer, Brylcreem(Prefer American version to British), Illinois strop and Burma Shave boar brush.
 
theunnamed said:
Is that really hard to get the soaps tested in EU ? Why dont they simply apply for a certification if the ingredients are ok ? What is the real thing here ?
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It's primarily the cost which is prohibitive for small artisan producers and this is compounded by the fact that it's not the ingredients which have to be certified individually, but each and every combination of them.

To me these regulations are unhelpful for artisan producers whether they are in the EU or not and I strongly suspect they were implemented at the behest of big business to act as a barrier to entry. It would be much better if a wide 'white list' of safe ingredients and mixtures of was maintained and testing was only required for products outside this
 
SeanC said:
It's primarily the cost which is prohibitive for small artisan producers and this is compounded by the fact that it's not the ingredients which have to be certified individually, but each and every combination of them.

To me these regulations are unhelpful for artisan producers whether they are in the EU or not and I strongly suspect they were implemented at the behest of big business to act as a barrier to entry. It would be much better if a wide 'white list' of safe ingredients and mixtures of was maintained and testing was only required for products outside this
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I don't think the regulation makers in the EU need any incentive from big business to apply regulations regarding cosmetic type products. When the UK first joined the Common Market (as it was) in 1975 - one of the first things I remember was someone pointing out that there was a directive on duck eggs that ran to over 26,000 words whereas the American Declaration of Independence contained less than 300.

The details may be a bit lacking in terms of accuracy, but the jist of it is right.
 
It always comes down to money. If there are government subsidies involved, you can be sure that's the cause. BTW, our Food & Drug Administration (FDA) wouldn't allow any products on the market that ate your face off, or changed your political outlook.
 
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