And You Think Our Government Overregulates Business

Instapundit pointed to this remarkable description of what happened when some Greek entrepreneurs wanted to start an online business selling olive-based products:

Antonopoulos and his partners spent hours collecting papers from tax offices, the Athens Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the municipal service where the company is based, the health inspector’s office, the fire department and banks. At the health department, they were told that all the shareholders of the company would have to provide chest X-rays, and, in the most surreal demand of all, stool samples.

And the article goes on to compare the efficiency and business orientation of the U.S. FDA to the Greek bureaucracy:

Antonopoulos describes the massive difference between the treatment he and his partners received from the Greek authorities and the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA), whose approval Oliveshop.com needed in order to export its products to the USA.

“I contacted the FDA and they sent us an e-mail with directions immediately. I filled in an online form and was done in five minutes. We received the approval 24 hours after making our application.”

 It makes me appreciate the advantages that ScopeRoller enjoys, since I operate in a country that is at least not actively hostile to entrepreneurship.