GM and medicinal laws: how long will Europeans be free?

[Guest guest]

Just when we think democracy in Europe has been more or less extinguished by the

centralised government of the European Union in Brussels, we see some flickers

of light in the seeming darkness. One such flicker occurred on March 2nd when

the environment ministers of all but 4 of Europe's 27 Member States voted to

support the rights of Austria and Hungary to maintain their ban on the planting

of Monsanto and Bayer's GM maize crops. They did this in full contravention of

the desires of the European Commission and the World Trade Organization—the

policeman of the Codex Alimentarius Commission which develops global guidelines

that by and large are built around the interests of the world's largest food

producers.

The environment ministers did the decent thing because they have seen the data

and know just how risky GM can be. They chose to ignore the spin coming from the

biotech companies that incessantly try to tell us—with little or no supporting

evidence—that GM is required to meet world food needs in the coming years. The

ministers responded to democracy by expressing the view of the majority of the

European public as well as the small band of international, independent

scientists who have managed to continue studying the adverse effects of

genetically modified (GM) foods on laboratory animals, farm animals and humans..

On 5th April, Dr Verkerk from the ANH gave a keynote address at Natural

Products Europe on the subject of GM crops and foods and the influence of Codex

in trying to globalise GM. The presentation specifically addressed the European

natural products sector, but it has much wider applicability. Rob Verkerk

stressed the fact that the President of the European Commission, José

Barrosso and a small band of Prime Minister's of EU Member States, hand in hand

with the biotech corporations like Monsanto and Bayer, were really putting the

pressurise not only their environment ministers but also the public. Rob

Verkerk's talk can be heard by anyone with internet access — see the links

below. It is broken down into 5 roughly 10 minute, youtube-friendly segments.

It is critical now that the people of Europe appreciate just how much pro-GM

spin they will face in the coming weeks and months. Because of this, it is more

important than ever that they stay up to speed on the known and unpredictable

risks associated with GM crops which were planted on 125 million hectares

worldwide in 2008.

There's even more work to be done in the USA, the country which has given itself

over to GM to a larger extent than any other. Argentina, Brazil, Canada, China

and India are also significant players, although their usage is still dwarfed by

the USA which is presently responsible for cultivating around half of the

world's GM crops.

Being made a criminal for publishing known facts

But apart form the rays of light, we also see further restrictions of our

freedoms. Last week, the European Court of Justice passed judgment on a case

referred to it by a Danish regional court which had prosecuted a journalist,

Frede Damgaard, after he had simply recorded known facts about a rose hip

product on his website. The regional court made Mr Damgaard a criminal because

he breached European medicinal law which prevents anyone making a claim for a

product's capacity to prevent or treat disease—unless of course it's been

licenced as a drug.

But the wayward Danish court's decision has now been turned into a European

precedent. Despite the sensible, much more balanced approach adopted by the

Advocate General in the case, who argued strongly for the need to maintain

freedom of the press, the judges responsible for the final ruling decided to

ignore much of this advice. The Court has ruled that a journalist—or in fact any

third party—that writes (or even speaks) about the ability of a natural health

product to prevent or treat disease is in breach of the law, assuming the

product isn't a licenced drug. That person—like Frede Damgaard—could be made a

criminal. And with this ruling, how many journalists will continue to act freely

when reporting on natural products used by millions….?

Online petition on vitamins and minerals: a reminder

A reminder to European citizens: if you haven't already signed our online

petition to show your concern over the European Commission's planned imposition

of EU-wide restrictions on maximum levels of vitamins and minerals—based on

inappropriate science—please sign up at the following link:

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/anh-vitaminrestrictions.

For more about recent events, click on the links below….

Natural Products Europe '09: Risks of GM crops in Europe

Dr Verkerk's keynote presentation at Natural Products Europe (5th April

2009) - now on youtube Read More

European Court ruling infringes freedom of speech

ANH investigates two key developments that show freedom of speech is massively

threatened Read More

Higher dose vitamin D reduces fractures by 20% in over 65s

Meta-analysis of RCTs shows that fracture prevention with vitamin D is dose

dependent Read More

Wi-fi networks a cancer risk, say UK teachers

UK Teachers Association calls for wireless technology to be suspended in schools

due to cancer risks Read More

© Alliance for Natural Health, The Atrium, Curtis Road, Dorking, Surrey RH4 1XA,

United Kingdom www.anhcampaign.org

Alliance for Natural Health, The Atrium, Curtis Road, Dorking, Surrey RH4 1XA,

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