Codex and muddy waters

[Guest guest]

This appears to me to be a good overview of where we currently stand in the US

on the Codex issue, and it provides links to several good groups who are active

in the area of freedom of access to supplements, vitamins, etc.

Also, for those who may have missed it, another excellent site is

www.HR4282.org, health activist Tim Bolen's site about Congressman Ron 's

House bill which is vital to securing freedom of access. There you can read the

bill, and sign up for updated newsletters.

While there has been much panic, hysteria and misinformation rampant to this

issue, I have found these groups to have the most reliable information. This

site, and some of the others linked in the article were given me by some of the

supplement companies I buy from.

Kathy

Dear Kathy

We know several of you are concerned and/or confused about Codex. We hope the

following helps you.

Brief Codex Snapshot

On the global front, the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) is creating

dozens of international food standards. There are 27 committees, each dealing

with a specific area. The Codex Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special

Dietary Uses (the Committee) covers vitamins and minerals and has created the

Codex Guidelines for Vitamin and Mineral Food Supplements (Guidelines) and was

recently adopted by the Committee.

Why It Concerns Us

Codex Alimentarius concerns us for many reasons, listed below are a few of the

reasons.

1) The United States, through representation to Codex by the Food and Drug

Administration (FDA) should not be involved in setting international food

standards. The FDA Modernization Act of 1997 expressly forbids the agency from

participating in the harmonization process for foods and dietary supplements.

The agency has chosen, however, to interpret this language to mean that it is

not obligated to participate but it may, at its own discretion, decide to do so.

This mean that unelected bureaucrats are representing the “will of the American

people” even after Congress told them not to. This is the basis of our Codex

position paper published several years ago.

2) While the Codex Alimentarius does not have any enforcement under its own

banner, it is through the World Trade Organization (WTO) that it gets its real

power. CAC is recognized by the WTO as an international reference point for the

resolution of disputes and that the WTO can use any Codex document as a

mandatory trade standard. While the WTO does not have the power to overturn US

law, it can “force” changes through imposing trade sanctions. Fines are daily

as long as the domestic law remains in place. Recently Lori Wallach from Public

Citizen testified before Congress and cited that in 42 out of 48 cases the WTO

has ruled against the US.

3) The CAC is representing what is best for industry, not for the people. The

CAC is powered by international industrial lobbying groups. The original

proposals for the food code came from Germany: they were made by a panel

sponsored by three giant drug companies: Hoechst, Bayer and BASF. Countries

that regulate vitamins and minerals as drugs are not covered by the Guidelines.

Interestingly, herbs do not fall under the same category as vitamins and

minerals – they are treated differently and have been removed from consideration

by Codex, at least for the moment.

4) There is concern that the Guidelines, acting as they are intended to do, as

worldwide standards for global trade, will create a momentum pressuring

supplement manufacturers to reformulate their products so that they conform.

This would be economically and politically coercive and could straightjacket the

industry, block out innovation and remove some of the most effective products,

many of which are shown to be effective at (the threatened) higher dosages. It

would be difficult for the smaller to medium companies to carry two product

lines, one for export and one for the domestic market, so the shelves in the

U.S. could be affected - whether or not the WTO was to use legal action. The

Guidelines are intended to serve as a template for containment (See Suzanne

’s article at the Law Loft and

http://www.coalitionforhealthfreedom.org/docs/Comments_on_CAFTA_v7.pdf.) Like

many changes that affect us the most, these decisions are made, not in Congress,

but in boardrooms and by

bureaucrats, offshore, quite beyond the reach of grassroots opinion, global

regulators to whom our legislators have surrendered their power.

The framework for this is being introduced gradually and right now. Later,

when the effects are felt, it may be too late to change things.

These concerns are why we organized and hosted a 2-day Codex workshop in April

2005. We brought together the leading health freedom organizations Codex

experts, and activists, both domestic and international. We discussed the Codex

issue and the potential threat to the US. We strategized how we could work

together and what would have the most impact.

The meeting was successful on two fronts. First and foremost, it deepened

relationships between organizations and showcased who we wanted to be working

with (those organizations and individuals who were knowledgeable and credible).

Secondly, a coalition did form from the workshop. AAHF Executive Director,

Brenna Hill is on the Board of Directors along with Rob Verkerk (Alliance for

Natural Health), Cuny (CA Citizens for Health Freedom), Ronnie Cummins

(Organic Consumers Association) among others and we’re pleased to announce that

Dr. has agreed to be on the Board as well. We have been working

quietly behind the scenes and will be going public with our strategies shortly.

In the meantime check out www.coalitionforhealthfreedom.org for more

information.

What Now?

In July 2005, the Committee adopted the Guidelines for Vitamin and Mineral

Food Supplements, despite their many failings. It is important to note that the

Guidelines are nothing more than a loose framework. The Committee is now

turning towards the science, as Tips from National Health Federation

writes “filling in the framework of those Guidelines with numbers and

identities.” Essentially the Committee intends to set maximum upper limits for

the potency of every food-supplement ingredient (the “numbers”) that will appear

on the not-yet-created positive list of allowable ingredients (the

“identities”). The Guidelines are done – they are finalized and approved. We

lost that battle and need to focus on the science. This is the really dangerous

part and should be one of the top priorities of the health freedom movement in

dealing with Codex.

Muddying the Waters

Without getting into each and every misconception out there (isn’t the

Internet great?), we wanted to focus on a few common threads that come up often.

There have been claims that a Codex Congressional Hearing/Briefing was to be

held last September and some people stated that they were invited to speak.

That was not true and we’re unsure of where the misinformation happened. What

we do know is that Rep. Ron scheduled the Sept. 18 briefing to discuss his

bill, HR 4282-Health Freedom Protection Act with speakers Emord and

Drs. Whitaker and Simone. Other people sent in their resumes to be considered

as a speaker but they were not invited and the briefing was not about Codex

(though when the time is right, we’ll work with other organizations and Congress

to schedule an event). We were surprised to see an email sent a few days before

the event declaring that Big Pharma was responsible for changing the agenda and

getting speakers pulled. Not true. There is also no truth to the email that

followed shortly “correcting” the first email by claiming it was other health

freedom organizations that changed the agenda due to

jealousy. Most of the organizations that we work with are here to make a

difference, to achieve results – not build egos, make money, or other nefarious

reasons and I think our track record shows that. I also find it a bit laugable

for someone to suggest that dedicated health freedom ally, Rep. Ron could

be so easily swayed -- either by pharmaceutical industry or health freedom

organizations.

You might have heard about a Citizen’s Petition to the FDA to abide by US laws

and remove its support for Codex Alimentarius. This is ineffective but

inoffensive, if it makes you feel better than by all means, sign it, but please

note that in our opinion, it will have little to no effect. There is a certain

attraction to “action” so we understand that it makes people feel that they are

doing something but please don’t get your hopes up about its success and don't

let this be your " one and only " action.

After the July 2005 meeting of the Codex Alimentarius Commission in Rome, a

number of websites picked up a report from a group claiming a “miracle” had

occurred, and that the WHO and the FAO had expressed “significant displeasure

with the anti-health approach to nutrition taken by Codex over the past 4

decades.” Health freedom activist, wrote an article for Dr. Rath

Foundation which is a detailed analysis of transcripts and describes how these

assertions are largely either mistaken or greatly exaggerated.

There has also been talk of the “Revised Vitamin and Mineral Guideline” which

was created by Jim for Citizens for Health. You might of seen news about

another group that has been talking with a few small African countries about

adopting these guidelines in place of the Codex guidelines. What has not been

discussed is the MECHANISM that would allow countries to utilize the Guideline

in place of the official Codex guidelines (at least that we’ve seen). We'd like

to see what Citizens for Health does with the guidelines and how they best see

these " alternatives " being used. In the meantime it’s nice to think that we can

edit guidelines, legislation, and policies and then talk people into

implementing them but that’s not how the world works.

When reading information online (or listening to a speaker), ask yourself the

following: Is this coming from a reliable source? Do they have a history of

success? Are other people or organizations that you respect involved with them?

Does what they are saying make sense to you? We strongly encourage you do your

own research before making your decision.

To help you in your search, here are a few of the organizations that we trust

with credible knowledge about Codex:

Alliance for Natural Health (www.alliance-natural-health.org)

American Holistic Health Association (www.ahha.org)

Coalition for Health Freedom (www.coalitionforhealthfreedom.org)

Dr. Rath Foundation (www4.dr-rath-foundation.org)

National Health Federation (http://www.thenhf.com)

Action

I wish we could share with you a better action plan but unfortunately we have

to keep quiet a bit longer. What we can share with you is that there are

organizations doing something – it’s just not always obvious or flashy.

Alliance for Natural Health is working on strategies to influence the science

being decided at Codex. The National Health Federation is the only health

freedom organization with official Codex observer status. And of course,

several organizations ARE working together on this tough topic, under The

Coalition for Health Freedom. The Coalition believes in taking pertinent

action, providing credible and accurate information, and developing effective

strategies.

The Health Freedom Foundation and American Association for Health Freedom

looks forward to providing you with more information about Codex initiatives.

In the meantime, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to The Health

Freedom Foundation to fund Codex activities.

Click here to make a donation online (or print form to mail)

Call 1.

Mail: HFF, PO Box 1002, Great Falls, VA 22066 (Re: Codex)

You can also purchase the We Become Silent DVD (prices include shipping &

handling: members $23.50/nonmembers: $27.50). This new documentary by

international award-winning filmmaker P of Well TV exposes the

threats posed by European and global regulation to medical freedom of choice.

Click here to purchase online (or print form to mail)

Call 1.

Mail form and check to HFF, Po Box 1002, Great Falls, VA 22066

We hope you find this information helpful, please feel free to share. We try

to do our best not to discourage individuals from supporting other organizations

but sometimes the danger is too high not to speak up. We always encourage you

to make your voice heard and its only fair that at critical times we share our

voice with you even on subjects that we wished we did not have to broach.

Here’s to a successful and healthy year and we look forward to working with

you.

Best,

Brenna Hill

Executive Director

Health Freedom Foundation/American Association for Health Freedom

PO Box 1002

Great Falls, VA 22066

1.

(fax)

www.healthfreedom.net

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