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The European Cosmetics Directive is mid-bogglingly complex, but you can read more about EU labeling requirements here:# http://www.colipa.eu/labelling.html# and here:# http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/l21191.htm

One important thing I believe is worth mentioning: that hip little recycling symbol (known as the Green Dot or Der Grüne Punkt) that you see featured on the links above is actually a protected symbol that must be licensed. I often see it on Indie American products that I am pretty sure aren't of a size to justify all those licensing fees, and unlicensed use is rampant in this country. Essentially, you pay a licensing fee and that fee goes to assist in building recycling efforts inside the EU. That particular recycling logo isn't essential to distribute products in the EU and woe be to those who use it un-licensed.

Scroll to the bottom and read more here: http://www.earthodyssey.com/symbols.html

The official Der Grüne Punkt website:

http://www.gruener-punkt.de/?L=1

2. Absolutely. The simple fact of the matter is that collecting a bad debt in a foreign country requires significantly greater exertion of resources and energy than collecting on a bad debt domestically. And I really do not have the time to plod around the planet for payment. Therefore, I ask for payment before shipment and accept only bank wires. Wires are more secure (no worries about stolen credit cards routing through Nigeria) and cost $10-20, rather than the 2-3% of the total. When you're talking about a single transaction running tens of thousands of dollars, those savings add up quickly.

3. International accounts are responsible for arranging their own shipment. Our Scandinavian distributor works through simple UPS Freight, while our Arabian distributor works through a freight forwarder and brings things in via air and our South Korean agent goes by sea. The options are endless, but I leave the ball in their court when it comes to that decision. We carefully pack and palletize the shipment and provide them with pickup details. They're then responsible for arranging (and paying for) their chosen method of shipment. Knowing a thing or two about shipping internationally helps tremendously, as we are often consulted about what method we think is safest/ most cost efficient/ quickest, but the decision is ultimately theirs.

4. I believe this varies, too, according to the nature of the travel and who requests your attendance. I can only speak form personal experience, but I have both paid my own expenses and had my expenses paid. If you're requesting that I come over for a promotional event for your hotel (who is launching our products at your property), I expect you to pick up the tab or at least share expenses. If I am jockey'ing for a big contract, I have to pony up the cash. I attempt to weigh the benefits of such travel (i.e. building my brand and keeping my sanity) vs. the expense of such a trip and go with my gut. As an example, we just finished a Middle Eastern hotel deal that involves opening 17 properties over the next few years throughout the Middle East, India and Africa. I had it written into my contract that the hotel we're working with must put me up for X days and pay all on-property meals, and my agent pays for air travel, so that will be 17 trips at virtually no cost to me, save for my red wine bill. However, the 5 international trips it took to land that deal and bring it to fruition were largely at my expense...such is life. Whatever you do, agree beforehand and get it in writing. That's just smart business...

5. This is part of the "marketing support" I touched on this in haywire's Point #3 above. There is where you can get some bargaining power in...when I reach what seems to be an impasse on pricing with a potential distributor, I generally offer to throw in additional samples, catalogues, aprons, POPs, etc. at no cost to them. Whatever you ultimately decide, it should be clearly spelled out in the contract and is up for debate until such time that contract is signed. Good luck!

Hi there. I regret to here that your agent in AbuDhabi is aggressive. In my experience, the Arabian culture can be a bit complex and tragically slow-moving in regards to business matters, but is generally friendly in nature. Forgive me, for I don't know the specifics of your particular company or the proposed partnership and I feel like I'd need those in order to provide an answer which would be fruitful for you. I'll give some general advice and then invite you to contact me directly at lela @ bellalucce.com (please remove the spaces) and I'll be happy to assist if possible.

I have been to AbuDhabi and find the culture not radically different than in other parts of the Arab world. They may be slow to trust Westerners, but I can personally forgive them that given our troubled political history. You say you've met one of the partners, yet you still feel apprehensive. My guess is that the partner came to you. If so, is this deal large enough to justify your traveling to them? If so, I'd seriously consider it. The quickest and most efficient way to appraise new partnerships is to see them "on their own turf", so to speak. If not, and you'd still like more clarity as to their intentions, I'd politely state as much. Explain why you need the information you seek and respectfully request that they provide it, so that you can work cooperatively towards a productive outcome for all. If they still weren't forthcoming, I'd question whether or not the potential business was worth the risk.

Again, it's difficult to adequately answer your query without more details, but I invite you to contact me if I can assist.

With regard to country-by-country formulation, we generally aren't faced with reformulation for new distributors. Thank heavens, because I am certain that would be a truly maddening endeavor. More often, we must repackage our original formulations to meet the criteria of each country's specific labeling requirements and that is headache enough. Some countries (The EU, especially) do ban specific ingredients, so it's wise to consider where you'd like to distribute when designing the products initially- saves time and money down the line. As an example, the EU does not allow ANY of these ingredients in cosmetics distributed in any member country: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/cosmetics/cosing/index.cfm?fuseaction=search.results&annex=II&search and these ingredients can only be used in specific instances: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/cosmetics/cosing/index.cfm?fuseaction=search.results&annex=III&search

Bella Luccè does, indeed sell a great many products in the Middle East. It's our second-largest market to date, though we have burgeoning distributorships in Scandinavia, South Korea and Europe. There wasn't any rhyme or reason to our "decision" to run amuck in the Arab world...it's just that our Middle East distributor was our first and is our largest and she's a take-the-ball-and-run-with-it kind of gal, so we got our foot in that region early, just by happenstance.

I'm going to plagiarize myself and copy some text here from my last teleseminar that I did back with Bank of America last October. I believe it's applicable to your query:

"I think it's crucial that you be leery of third-party information posted on the internet. I've heard horror stories of small companies who built their entire product base and distribution strategy on faulty regulatory information, which was a tremendous blow that left them at an unfair disadvantage. If you can afford it (but who can in the beginning?), hire an attorney who specializes in this industry- they are out there and are worth their weight in gold. If that's not in budget, look to government sources and reputable trade organizations who can help. For domestic beauty distribution, the Indie Beauty Network (http://smallbusinessonlinecommunity.bankofamerica.com/interstitial-page.jspa?businessUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.indiebeauty.com%2F&referrerUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fsmallbusinessonlinecommunity.bankofamerica.com) has great information, along with a regular call-in show where labeling and legal experts are featured. Membership fees are very manageable and my initial investment at IBN has paid me back in spades. Industry conferences can also be a great source of information...I previously mentioned the HMSG conference will take place in May 2009 and will feature industry experts speaking on this very subject. You can also go direct to the source at http://smallbusinessonlinecommunity.bankofamerica.com/interstitial-page.jspa?businessUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cfsan.fda.gov%2F~dms%2Fcos-lab1.html&referrerUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fsmallbusinessonlinecommunity.bankofamerica.com or pick up Marie Gale's book on the subject: http://smallbusinessonlinecommunity.bankofamerica.com/interstitial-page.jspa?businessUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mariegale.com%2Fcosmetic-labeling-book.html&referrerUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fsmallbusinessonlinecommunity.bankofamerica.com .

When you start to look internationally, I highly recommend several sources:

a) Rethink hiring the attorney mentioned in the above paragraph.
b) Call the embassies of the countries you're interested in exporting to- they can often be quite helpful.
c) Consider membership in trade organizations designed for larger companies. Yes, they have larger price tags, but they very often have databases designed to help their members understand import regulations by country. I am thinking specifically of the IRDB by the Personal Care Products Council. (* http://smallbusinessonlinecommunity.bankofamerica.com/interstitial-page.jspa?businessUrl=http%3A%2F%2Firdb.personalcarecouncil.org%2F&referrerUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fsmallbusinessonlinecommunity.bankofamerica.com* ). Yes, it's spendy but you may well need it if you're serious about export."

Some of that information is applicable to the beauty world, but much of it is not industry-specific. Those embassies, in particular, can be a valuable source of complimentary information- reach out to them.

Ads far as currencies are concerned, I ask for our wires to be made in US dollars, because I like to keep it simple like that.

Sometimes I travel to the region and score new finds for raw materials. That's my absolute favorite part of this job. Realistically, though, I work with a network of US-based companies that bring many of these materials in. They often visit our facility to present new materials that have been recently introduced and provide us samples for testing. Also, my distributors have been fabulously helpful in helping me identify and understand local beauty culture and the resources within their region.