Treestand Manufacturing Association

I asked Mr. Benfield, the oldest manufacturer still in business, about his opinion of our company joining the TMA and his opinion was that it had zero value other than extracting $1000 from our bank account. Why? I asked, to which he responded that he had been producing a quality product long before the creation of the Treestand Manufacturing Association and joining wouldn't improve the already excellent products. He elaborated that at its early inception TMA invited Deerhunter to join, and he decided against it because of the "crap" produced by several members of the association, particularly by the company owned by then president of TMA. Apparently independent testing is no guarantee of safety, and looking at the treestand recalls maybe this is more of a social group with common interests? I suppose for now we will continue to produce the same quality tree stands without joining but may always consider it in the future.