In Europe we cannot legally sell our soaps , b& b products etc without first having our recipes assessed & approved by a registered cosmetic chemist. Each different type of product needs to have it's own safety assessment so I need one for HP/CP soaps, another for bath bombs, another for creams/lotions etc. Each assessment can cost over £150 thats around $300, however that assessment is then yours for life & doesn't need to be renewed. Plus if you want to add something to the assessment in the future that costs extra each time. My first assessment is on it's way tho whether I actually start to sell yet is another thing. We also have to have our labels printed according to the Trading Standards guidelines for our area & have to list all potential allergens according to lists drawn up by E.U commitees. This is why we aren't legally allowed to use U.S fragrances in our soaps etc unless we pay for them to be safety assessed, as they generally are not already E.U approved. To add to this there is now in the pipeline a whole new set of directives for candle makers, including a smoke test, however one has to buy the information booklets before one can find out just what is expected & from what I can make out every individual fragrance, size, style of candle will have to be provided for testing...in triplicate. It's going to cost thousands & will almost certainly wipe out the small business very quickly indeed. Although I understand the need to produce safe products I personally think this is bureacracy gone mad!! Sally.