CRN Updates Dues Structure

WASHINGTON—The Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) revamped its membership dues structure for voting members, effective January 2009, in an effort to make membership more accessible to mid-size and even smaller companies in the industry.

According to CRN Chair Marjorie Fine, executive vice president and general counsel, Shaklee Corp.: “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.”

CRN dues for voting members are based on a percentage of annual U.S. sales of dietary supplement products and/or ingredients, with a current cap of $150,000 in annual dues, to be raised to $165,000 in 2009. The new dues structure will maintain low dues for the smallest companies (those with less than $5 million in annual sales), and lower annual dues for small and mid-size companies (those with up to $150 million in annual sales), while the largest companies agreed to take an increase in dues. The current multiplier for computing CRN’s dues, which is 0.126 percent of sales, will be replaced with a sliding scale of 0.095 percent to 0.120 percent, depending on the size of the company.

CRN is making this announcement now to encourage companies planning their 2009 budgets to take into consideration the new dues structure. As an added bonus, CRN will continue to offer its special promotion for voting members of 50 percent off first year’s dues.