CAFTA has already passed the Senate in a 54 to 45 vote on July 1st

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~CAFTA has already passed the Senate in a 54 to 45 vote on July 1st,2005.~Legislators have just recessed for one week, reconvening July 11, 2005.~IMPORTANT- For House consideration, when they return, the<http://www.thenhf.com/s1307is.pdf> Senate Bill 1307 (click here to viewbill), ratifying CAFTA, can be voted on without going to committee. Itis on the House calendar and may be brought up at any time.

 

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Hi All-Well, even if you're not a "Dietary Supplement Freedom Fighter," it'sworth defeating CAFTA. It will force the US to "harmonize" with theCODEX food standards through our agreements in the World TradeOrganization, causing us to lose access to most dietary supplements. Theones we will have left will be of forms and potencies that are virtuallyworthless. We will be forced to comply or face crippling tradesanctions. CAFTA will basically make the 1994 DSHEA dietary supplementlaw unenforceable. Looks to me like the international trade agreementsare undermining our US sovereignty. CAFTA will give corporations more availability of cheap labor markets,causing the loss of yet more American jobs. The Central Americancountries will probably be able to buy our agricultural products at alower price than those they now produce in their own countries since ourfarmers are subsidized by the US government. Sounds good for balance oftrade and all that, but our subsidized produce has the potential to ruinthe Central American countries' economies due to the fact thatagriculture is a large part of their economies. This very scenario hasalready happened on other countries. All in all, a win for big corporations, especially pharmaceuticalcompanies, and a big LOSE for average Americans, including the millionsthat rely on vitamins, minerals, and various other health supplements,which will mostly go away. Please, if you value access to safe,effective health supplements, or even if you just value United Statessovereignty and American jobs, take a minute and contact your USCongressional Representative. Since the House is on holiday for thisweek, most of them will be in their home districts. They will vote onCAFTA (most likely) on Monday, July 11th, so we have only one week tomake this happen. All the best,Dana newsletter[newsletter] Saturday, July 02, 2005 9:26 PM Dietary Supplement Freedom Fighters, wherever you are, there is only oneweek to oppose CODEX in the House of Representatives.... While everyone is distracted on a Holiday weekend, and away onvacations, and while vitamin supplement advocates are monitoring eventsin Rome (CODEX meeting), legislation pending before Congress (CAFTA)would essentially make CODEX restrictions on vitamin and mineralsupplements binding as US law via the CAFTA trade agreement. The Senatehas already passed CAFTA, so you must contact the US House ofRepresentatives to oppose CAFTA, in order to stop CODEX..... theNational Health Federation has the right information........ NATIONALHEALTHFEDERATIONA NOT-FOR-PROFIT HEALTH ORGANIZATIONJuly 2, 2005 URGENT ALERT ACT NOWYOUR HEALTH FREEDOM IS BEING THREATENED

 

CAFTA VOTE - 1 WEEK AWAY

 

WE MUST NOT ALLOW CAFTA AND CODEX TO OVERRIDE DSHEA

 

The Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) Treaty will requirethe U.S., a member of the World Trade Organization, to revise our foodlaws and regulations based on Codex decisions. CAFTA would forceharmonization of our dietary supplements and regulations tointernational standards, overriding the DSHEA Act of 1994.

 

The Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) and the even-broaderFree Trade Agreement of the Americas (FTAA) are both modelled after theNorth American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). These agreements aretypical bureaucratic monstrosities of "managed" trade that masquerade asfree trade and would expand NAFTA to include first Central America andthen the rest of the Americas in an economic "union." True free tradewould take a few pages of written text to enact ("eliminate thesebarriers to trade and these tariffs," etc.); all three of theseagreements encompass thousands of pages of bureaucratic textual garbagesprinkled liberally with rules, regulations, and special-interestbenefits.

 

Buried in the language of CAFTA is Section 6 that would require of allits members that they form a Sanitary and Phyto-Sanitary (SPS) committeefor the purpose of insuring ongoing harmonization under the terms of theSPS Agreement in the World Trade Organization (WTO). You can find thattext at the following website: <http://www.ustr.gov/Trade_Agreements/Bilateral/CAFTA/CAFTA-DR_Final_Texts/Section_Index.html>http://www.ustr.gov/Trade_Agreements/Bilateral/CAFTA/CAFTA-DR_Final_Texts/Section_Index.html.

 

If you then look at Article 3 of the WTO's SPS Agreement, you will readthe following words: "To harmonize sanitary and phytosanitary measureson as wide a basis as possible, Members shall base their food safetymeasures on international standards, guidelines or recommendations."(emphasis added) And as you all know by now, Codex sets theinternational standards for food safety including vitamins & minerals.

 

So, CAFTA, which is set for a vote in the House of Representatives whenthey reconvene July 11th, 2005, is another critical link by whichhealth-freedom haters hope to bypass the Dietary Supplement Health andEducation Act of 1994 and obligate the United States and Canada bytreaty to harmonize to the harshly restrictive Codex vitamin-and-mineralstandards. They cannot be allowed to succeed, and we at the NHFcompletely oppose these two treaties that would put a knife in the backof our health freedoms.

 

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~CAFTA has already passed the Senate in a 54 to 45 vote on July 1st,2005.~Legislators have just recessed for one week, reconvening July 11, 2005.~IMPORTANT- For House consideration, when they return, the<http://www.thenhf.com/s1307is.pdf> Senate Bill 1307 (click here to viewbill), ratifying CAFTA, can be voted on without going to committee. Itis on the House calendar and may be brought up at any time. *********************

 

ONLY ONE WEEK TO ACT. CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES. URGE THEM TO VOTEAGAINST CAFTA NOW.

 

YOUR LETTERS WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE. THE VOTING IN THE HOUSE WILL BECLOSE. WE HAVE ONE WEEK TO FLOOD THEIR OFFICES WITH CAFTA OPPOSITIONLETTERS.

 

PLEASE JOIN IN THIS EFFORT AND CONTACT YOUR REPRESENTATIVES.

 

Contact any member of the House of Representatives via<http://www.house.gov/writerep/> http://www.house.gov/writerep/

 

<http://www.thenhf.com/CAFTA%20NHF%20Letter.pdf> Click here forPetition Opposition Letter. P.O. Box 688, Monrovia, CA 91017 USA ~ 1 (626) 357-2181 ~ Fax 1 (626)303-0642Website: www.thenhf.com E-mail:contact-us <http://cp.perfora.net:8000/v=000000000291673BE687211A & t=cp>