Any certifying body that can only exist because of (a non-legal requirement for) member dues or requires new members and their application/certifying fees to keep the certifying body in business is, by definition, just that.
A business.
And if a certifying body is a business then it has no business being in business.
And it most certainly has no business telling people who can and cannot work based on the purchase of some faux credential.
P.S. A certifying body that demands (not requests) I pay member dues for the book review column I write and thereby, by their torturous logic I am “practicing unlicensed journalism” needs to be told to go fuck themselves.