I read a very interesting article published by the American Manufacturer's Association about a year ago that detailed a particular problem a company had meeting federal requirements in order to install a new spray booth (I think that's what it was) inside a factory that was already running several such stations. Every official that was part of the process of "licensure" had a different understanding of the instant regulation. The goalpost kept being moved to and fro, and in the end it cost the company several times the amount of money to comply with the standard than the published rules stated. In that particular instance the regulations were arrived at by people who didn't even understand the industry that they were regulating.
Letting "experience and the market dictate who makes it..." doesn't appear to be what's happening in the U.S. - probably not anywhere else either. I do think you're right about the potential for future regulation to become a mess for all. In the meantime, I guess we can only try (individually) not to be a reason to justify the over-regulation. Forums like this one are a good start. The positive energy generated here - when it is positive - helps to forestall the cloud of doom.