Notice of New Site Address

If you will, visit my new site that continues with the same type of information and listings as on this site.
(Click here)
http://thetalker.org/archives/97/94-razors-edge-index/

Thursday, September 02, 2004

# 21 While Americans Slept

Dear Reader,
Two years ago Dr. Wright warned us about Codex Alimentarius -- an international "food standardization" program -- and how one part of it in particular, called the European Union Directive on Dietary Supplements, could effectively wipe out the availability of natural products in this country. That warning is fast becoming a reality -- and time is running out to put a stop to the impending loss of health freedom we are all facing.
If the EU adopts this directive, the U.S. essentially will have to as well, since we are members of the World Trade Organization. Not that this country always abides by its pacts and treaties with other countries. But when it conveniently handles an item already on the Feds' agenda, honoring an international treaty suddenly becomes much more important.
The FDA is more likely to view the EU directive as an answer to their prayers than something to question and resist. In fact, for them, it's a convenient backdoor way to change this country's laws regarding the availability of vitamins and supplements without having to take any of the heat.
The EU Directive is especially convenient for the FDA since this challenge to natural health products is coming at a time when hostilities between the makers of natural supplements and the U.S. government are at an all-time high. We've told you all about the various bans on natural products such as red yeast rice and ephedra. And that's just the tip of the iceberg: There is also a systematic move towards shutting down the makers of natural supplements as well.
Consider the case of Lane Labs, an innovative company that formulated some natural products currently being studied by the National Cancer Institute. Of course, natural products that might be effective against cancer present a serious threat to the multi-trillion dollar pharmaceutical industry, so they're seeking nothing less than annihilation of competitors like Lane Labs. And the U.S. government seems all-too-eager to help.
In their first judgment against Lane Labs four years ago, the government levied a million-dollar fine against the company for making false marketing claims. Mind you, there were no customer complaints, and none of these products were deemed harmful or ineffective. The company continued to sell the products and fight the suit, so the government changed their tactics. In a crushing blow delivered six weeks ago, a judge ordered that all of the products in question be destroyed and that Lane Labs refund the money they collected from all purchased products since September of 1999.
The battle lines keep changing -- and more and more natural products are being lost as each of these battles are waged.
It's up to people like you and me -- who know the value of having access to vitamins, minerals, and dietary supplements -- to fight for our right to keep ourselves healthy naturally.
Start by contacting your state and local representatives and letting them know that you are aware of this threat and exactly where you stand on the issue.
While Americans Slept
by A. Ofria
When it comes to international affairs, we Americans tend to sit back and let our leaders do the talking. It is not that we don't care, but the issues are confusing and it is easier to trust that our government knows best. So most of us were silent when multinational corporations began taking over global markets and talk of “globalization and harmonization” replaced calls for “global harmony.” We assumed that our government was protecting us.
Now we must question whether our leaders' actions were in our best interest. Was it for our good that they signed Mutual Recognition Agreements as part of GATT and NAFTA, giving up our right to refuse to “harmonize” with intrusive international standards? Will their decisions cost us access to vitamins, even though the Dietary Supplement Health & Education Act of 1994 was supposed to secure our right forever? How did they let supplements become a global issue and why did un-elected U.S.bureaucrats signal to the world that Americans were willing to “harmonize” U.S. supplement laws to conform to restrictive international standards?
Our problem began years ago when the U.N. authorized the World Health Organization and the Food and Agriculture Organization to develop a universal food code, “Codex Alimentarius.” The Codex Commission came under the influence of the pharmaceutical cartel and instead of focusing on food safety, it used its power to promote worldwide restrictions on vitamins. Meanwhile our U.S. Codex Delegation not only stood by, but made matters worse. In Bonn in 1996, for instance, Dr. Yetley of our FDA illegally seconded a motion to shift deliberations on herbs out of Codex, where at least they were considered foods (consistent with US law), to a secret panel at WHO that treats herbs as drugs, leaving them open to “prescription only” status.
Now multinational interests are pressuring our federal agencies to impose “Upper Limits” on vitamins. If our government succumbs and sets these arbitrary safety standards, we will lose our right to opt out of Codex because we will have in effect agreed that this is a safety issue.
Codex cannot control us directly. Statute 19USC 3512 safeguards our domestic laws from outside interference by stopping anyone from forcing us to conform to standards that conflict with existing U.S. law unless Congress consents. Unfortunately, Codex can circumvent this law because if we refuseto harmonize, the World Trade Organization’s Dispute Settlement Body can impose crippling trade sanctions on numerous industries unrelated to supplements. This immense pressure would force Congress to change our laws. In fact, Congress has already “harmonized” under threat of WTO sanctions and this Achilles Heel is why Rep. Ron Paul introduced the American Sovereignty Restoration Act (HR 1146) to pull us out of the UN.
When we see powerful players forcing our leaders to act in ways that threaten the rights that Americans have historically died to preserve, we must remind them of their duty to safeguard our way of life. If we do not raise our voices above the clamor of multinational commercial interests, we may be silenced forever.
View Codex File
"Unless we put medical freedom into the Constitution, the time will come when medicine will organize into an underground dictatorship... To restrict the art of healing to one class of men and deny equal privileges to others will constitute the Bastille of medical science. All such laws are un-American and despotic and have no place in a republic... The Constitution of this republic should make special privilege for medical freedom as well as religious freedom."--Dr Benjamin Rush, signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Note: The information on this website is presented for educational purposes only. You may not agree with all you read, but this can be a starting place in your quest for information that will change your life.

No comments: