The Council for Responsible Nutrition - a trade company dedicated to upholding and maintaining the integrity of the dietary supplement industry - has decided to revamp its membership dues structure for all voting member, effective January of 2009. The move to change the fee structure was made in an effort to make the CRN more appealing to smaller companies in the industry.
The association was founded to help its member companies responsibly market their products. The CRN also regulates supplements to ensure their safety and effectiveness.
The CRN currently counts several Network Marketing companies as members, including Shaklee, Mannatech, Herbalife, and Pharmanex. Other larger companies include Novartis, Bayer, Dow Chemical Company and GlaxoSmithKlyne. Needless to say, membership is a privilege and adds a good deal of legitimacy to any company and its products.
Marjorie Fine, CRN Chair and Exec VP and General Counsel and Shaklee explained the move, saying, “Our goal in revising our dues structure is to make membership in CRN more accessible across all sectors of the responsible industry. Whether a company is large, medium or small, membership in CRN comes with benefits, including access to: an aggressive, science-based agenda; regulatory and government relations expertise; and proactive public relations programs—all designed to improve the climate for responsible companies. We wanted to create a more equitable dues structure across the board that would still allow us to maintain the high level of membership benefits and service and also enhance the association’s ability to attract more companies to take advantage of our strategic initiatives.”
Dues for voting members are based on sales of the products in the US - which is similar to the way the Direct Selling Association works (DSA). The new dues structure will maintain lower dues for small companies who’s sales are less than $5 million a year as well as mid-size companies with annual sales less than $150 million. In exchange, larger companies have agreed to a slight increase in dues which will be based on a sliding scale based on the size of the company.
Popularity: 2% [?]
