[thrownaway122]

> Why would they also be a monopoly?

Because otherwise there would be a proliferation of licensing companies. This would lead to competition on price (good!) but also on standards/easier certification (bad?). Customer confusion also becomes an issue here - do you really want to have to research which licensing bodies have acceptable standards as well as which providers have good prices and results before everytime you cut your hair?

I think that the ideal option is that the licensing is run by a not for profit that has the government on its board but which is run at arms length.