[Health&Healing] Only Way to Stop CODEX Harmonization Is To Stop CAFTA- Now!

[Guest guest]

What is happening to American Sovereignty? This surely is not it.

Let's stop it while we still have a voice in the process, before it

is too late...

Other comments?

Misty L. Trepke

http://www..com

 

The Only Way To Stop CODEX Harmonization Is To Stop CAFTA--Now!!

 

WHAT IS CODEX?

http://www.coalitionforhealthfreedom.org/whatiscodex.html

http://www.alliance-natural-health.org/index.cfm?action=news & ID=171

 

 

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There is little doubt that CODEX will be ratified (read NO DOUBT)

 

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We can't assume they won't ratify the standard, and if they do, and

CAFTA goes thru, we'll be set up like bowling pins via Article 3 of

the

SPS Agreement which is in CAFTA and FTAA and which states: " To

harmonize

sanitary and phytosanitary measures on as wide a basis as possible,

Members SHALL base their food safety measures on international

standards,

guidelines or recommendations. "

John Hammel

IAHF

 

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(THIS INCLUDES CANADA---READ CANADIAN INFO AT BOTTOM OF THE PAGE)

 

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http://www.thelawloft.com/Freedom/050125_us_law.htm

Who Says Whatever Happens at Codex

Does Not Affect US Law and

Why Do They Say It?

 

A journalist looks back to help you look forward

 

by Suzanne Harris, J.D.

2005 The Law Loft

 

 

 

 

I was struck recently by an article appearing in the NNFA Today

magazine, Volume 18, No.11 entitled " International Products

Regulation Q & A:

What Affect do They Really Have on the U.S.? " While some parts of the

article were good, a number of the questions and answers struck a

discordant note including the following:

 

" However, according to a U.S. Department of Agriculture official, the

United States has never changed its laws or regulations to conform to

any standards or guidelines adopted at Codex. He noted further that

the

United States does not, as a matter of practice, officially accept,

accept in part, accept free distribution, or accept standards or

guidelines

adopted by the Codex Commission. Therefore, it doesn't appear that

any

changes to U.S. law or regulations would likely occur as a result of

any adoption by the Commission of the vitamin and food supplement

guidelines. " [emphasis added]

 

It was the therefore that really bothered me. If NNFA asked that

unnamed bureaucrat about acceptance of guidelines, then it really

asked the

wrong question. The U.S. generally doesn't accept Codex guidelines

nor

do other countries. The Codex Secretariat hasn't received a notice of

acceptance in the last 10 years. The better question is whether Codex

standards and guidelines act as a template or containment within

which

countries must then write their laws and regulations or face enormous

political and legal pressure. To this latter question the answer is

clearly

yes — write laws within the acceptable field set forth by the

applicable Codex standard or guideline or be prepared to accept the

consequences, including the risk of cross-sector trade sanctions if

you don't.

 

Why are Codex guidelines and standards a containment, a template,

within which nations must then operate or face a host of nasty

consequences?

Partly because since the creation of the World Trade Organization and

its internal operating agreements, every member nation knows that its

laws and regulations can become the object of a WTO ruling and the

object

of political pressure to harmonize. Back in 1997, I watched as the

realization dawned on Codex delegates that they had entered into a

new era

of food law harmoninzation.Too late to cry now was the essence of the

message delivered to them by the counsel from WTO.

 

A few months later, I was dining in Washington with another group of

food regulators fresh with the kind of know-it-all arrogance that

strikes

people who have been around the block at Codex once or twice, and I

said: " You know, it's really fascinating to watch how regulations

that

affect us here at home start out at international meetings. "

 

" No, they don't, " intoned a voice from the other end of the table.

" They start with decisions by industry. I was at a trade meeting

where a

new form of packaging was unveiled. Not too long thereafter, the same

idea was presented at Codex. That's the way things are done now. And

you

would do it that way too. Why run around from country to country

seeking the regulations you want when you can do it all in one shot

at

Codex? " The speaker, whom I have paraphrased, was a bureaucrat from

the

Department of Agriculture.

 

 

Was he right? Is Codex the place where the templates for new world-

wide

regulations are written after business interests have agreed to them?

 

Through all the years of meetings I have attended since, the answer

has

come through loud and clear. Yes, he was right, but the pathways can

be

complex. It works like this: big business and bureaucrats get

together

and agree on how to write new international regulations in private

meetings. When they agree, their agreements then surface as working

projects, draft guidelines, or proposals at Codex. In some cases the

pathway

is very, very clear. In others it is not. In the dietary supplements

case, a series of meetings were held by business and bureaucrats who

agreed on some issues, went forward on those at Codex, and then

agreed on

others now contained in the draft guideline on vitamin and mineral

supplements now at Step 8.

 

The real key to how things work at Codex is contained in the phrase

in

Article 1 of the Statutes of the Codex Alimentarius Commission where

it

says: the purpose is - " (b) promoting the coordination of all food

standards work undertaken by international governmental and non

governmental organizations; " What is so significant about this phrase

are the

words promoting the coordination of ... international governmental

and non

governmental ... What that means in the real world is taking the

work

of international industrial lobbying groups and then cloaking that

work

with legitimacy and now real binding legal and political force by

feeding their agreements through Codex, an international governmental

entity. The more jaded among you will say, 'Well, how is that any

different

from the way things have worked in Washington for decades?' The

answer

is it is different because decisions are made by bureaucrats and the

actions are offshore. With a truly domestic piece of legislation you

have

a

chance of overcoming industrial pressure with grassroots pressure on

the people you elected. With an international guideline, by the time

it's done you have almost no chance to win. You can't bring pressure

to

bear in all the right places. The real damage was done long ago and

long

before you felt it.

 

 

Would some bureaucrat in Washington deliberately mislead anybody? You

bet.

 

Again and again in a variety of contexts, I have heard bureaucrats

tell

unwary consumers and reporters tall tales filled with half truths. At

the end of a meeting in Washington last Fall, a Washington-based

attendee slipped me his card and said " If you ever get a straight

answer out

of these folks let me know. "

 

When I started to catch on to the game myself, I began changing the

way

I prepared for meetings and the way I asked questions. I hunted for

evidence of these meetings and premised my questions accordingly. The

results were startling. Bureaucrats knew months, sometimes years

ahead,

what was going to happen next, and they told me. I knew, for example,

over

two years ago that the German risk assessment for vitamins and

minerals

was being built — long before others 'discovered' it in January.

 

But they do still try to con you even if you know the game. More

recently in Europe an EU bureaucrat I was interviewing said, " Of

course, it

is different for the FDA. They can't regulate food supplements the

way

we do because of DSHEA. "

 

" Did someone tell you that? " I replied. " You have been misinformed.

DSHEA contains a huge escape clause 'substantial or unreasonable risk

of

.... ' " I didn't get to finish my sentence. He did it for me, ' ...

of

illness or injury.' " You could drive a whole herd of camels through

that language. Do you know any bureaucrat who wouldn't? " I said. A

huge

grin covered his face like a Cheshire cat smile. I had caught him and

he

knew it.

 

 

Why aren't they telling the truth and the whole truth? Because it is

a

truth they do not want you to hear.

 

No one in this game internationally or in Washington wants you to

know

that the upcoming Codex guideline will circumscribe what Congress

does.

It's a little game they all play now — decide offshore what to do,

write a standard or guideline, tell the elected representatives: find

a

problem at home, launch a PR campaign, pretend you are writing new

legislation to fix the problem.

 

Indeed, the concept of gamesmanship is now so imbedded in the

bureaucratic mind that it is hard to shake out even when half truths

won't work.

I saw another real life demonstration of this mentality when a

consultant told a room full of bureaucrats, " Half truths won't work

here. They

know what you are doing. " The assembled bureaucrats reacted by

suggesting that yet another study on how to 'disinform' the public

needed to be

done. A meeting organizer expressed disappointment that I was there

to

witness this. " We thought nobody from the press would come. We had

buried the notice so deep in our website, " he commented.

 

 

What are they really doing? Building blocks for global regulations

through 'consensus.'

 

The name of the game here is convergence and harmonization, to build

regulations and laws in each country that fit together with those

written

in other countries and at places like Codex so that trade (with a

hugely expanded definition of trade) moves seamlessly. The mantra of

the

hour is 'approved once, accepted everywhere.'

 

Can this be overcome? Is it too late? No, not if just the right steps

are taken right now. Otherwise, we can all look forward to a harder

fight with less chance of success in Washington in the future.

 

2005, The Law Loft. All rights reserved. No extract,

portion or part of this material may be reproduced without the

express

written permission of The Law Loft. For permission to reproduce this

article

in whole or in part, contact The Law Loft, thelawloft

or

write to us at

The Law Loft, at KCXL 1140AM, 310 South La Frenz, Liberty, Missouri

64068.

 

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http://www.coalitionforhealthfreedom.org/action.html

Contact Congress today use these links

 

 

-->

Call your Representatives' office (recommended)

Locate your House Representatives or call 1-202-224-3121 weekdays

 

 

or

 

Email your Representative with 2 clicks send a letter you can edit

and read more on CAFTA

 

For extra impact - do you or your friends live here?

 

 

 

-->

--> -->ACT NOW to preserve your access to nutrients, effective

vitamins and minerals

and nutritional medicine!

-->CAFTA - BAD for jobs, small businesses, health stores, health

freedom read on..

 

In the fine print the US is being signed up to global regulations

that

override US supplement laws.

 

 

 

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--> --> -->What has the Central American " Free Trade " Agreement got

to

do with my health store?

 

Why Stop CAFTA?

 

CAFTA contains fine print to let strict new global food laws (Codex)

into America.

 

 

This is NOT " Free Trade " !

Thousands of safe products could be banned in the USA!

 

Today in Germany, zinc is $54 a bottle. Woman arrested in France for

selling 500mg of vitamin C! UK health consumers, even after

submitting

over a million signatures on petitions, realized they " woke up " too

late.

 

CAFTA is the latest treaty carving new trade areas in the world,

moving

us faster toward the FTAA – FREE TRADE AREA OF THE AMERICAS – an area

like the European Union, here - in North and South America. Our

borders

are becoming irrelevant! Thanks to NAFTA, CAFTA, and next the FTAA!

 

These agreements are drawn up by big businesses and bureaucrats. They

already have a track record of destroying protections for small

businesses (which create the most jobs), labor, the environment, -

and now our

health choices.

 

Very low dosage limits are already law in many countries, and this is

gradually working it's way across the globe. There are heavy

restrictions on almost all supplements in Europe, Canada and

Australia, where many

are regulated as drugs. And they cost from five to ten times what it

cost before the restrictions were implemented a few years ago.

Herbals

will not be available.

 

Read " Who Says Whatever Happens at Codex Doesn't Affect US Law and

Why

Do They Say It? " at The Law Loft.

 

Even if you are not opposed to CAFTA for other reasons, please call

Congress to protest the fact that it makes US supplements vulnerable.

There is a better way to do globalization. If they can't do it

without

threatening our health freedom, then we must scrap the these

international

rules and start over.

 

You might consider this article by Public Citizen, that shows how the

numbers from the previous treaty, NAFTA, have been distorted to hide

the

costs of CAFTA: " Fool Me Twice? "

 

Unless you and I act NOW to stop these treaties – virtually

irreversible once passed - products could start disappearing from

U.S. shelves

over time, smaller cutting-edge companies could be driven out of

business,

many nutrients and new breakthroughs could become illegal or super

expensive. If we allow these irreversible treaties now, it won't

matter how

much we protest later!

 

In the fine print, CAFTA makes the US subject to the " SPS Agreement " :

another treaty to adopt world food standards (called Codex). Article

3

of SPS states: " To harmonize sanitary and phytosanitary measures on

as

wide a basis as possible, Members SHALL base their food safety

measures

on international standards, guidelines or recommendations. " This

makes

the supposedly " voluntary " Codex standard for vitamins and minerals

MANDATORY for all nations who are members of the World Trade

Organization.

Since these standards are being adopted everywhere these " free trade "

areas exist, there are also many other economic reasons US

supplements

will be restricted.

 

Republicans, Democrats, liberals, conservatives, trade unions,

citizen

advocacy groups, and other countries, are part of a great opposition

to

CAFTA.

 

This treaty is in trouble! But it could still pass… as there's a big

campaign to lobby Congress this week to push it through! There are

many

Representatives, especially Republicans, who have not yet made up

their

mind. Every call, fax and email counts!

 

- Let's show them this time they've gone one step too far.

 

Make your access to health freedom a reason CAFTA fails!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Learn more on CODEX/CAFTA:

 

FREE CONFERENCE CALLS: Wed, Thurs, 9 pm EST hosted by Nancy Lee

Bentley

712-824-4100, then enter CODEXNO# (2633966#)

Ask for meetings in your area with: Nancy Lee Bentley for The Food

Circle

 

 

 

 

 

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CODEX AND CANADA

http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/chris/2005/03/10/health_canada_bull_on

_codex.htm

http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/chris/2005/01/24/life_under_codex.htm