Update from ANH

[Guest guest]

The USA is widely regarded as the research and development centre

for the natural products industry worldwide. Dietary supplement

sales in the US currently comprise around 8.5% the volume of

pharmaceutical sales in the US, in contrast with only around 1.5% of

total pharmaceutical sales in Europe.

 

The Dietary Supplement Health & Education Act (DSHEA) of 1994 has

provided the environment to catapult the natural products industry

in the US to its present state. But DSHEA, which was only won after

a massive campaign targeting Congress, is now seriously under attack.

 

Two key reports from the Natural Acadamies of Science Institute of

Medicine (IOM) provide the writing on the wall.

 

One is the CAM report, released 12 January 2005, the other is the

proposed dietary supplement evaluation framework, released 1 April

2004.

 

See ANH news item for our take on the CAM report:

http://www.alliance-natural-health.org/index.cfm?action=news & ID=131

 

The proposed dietary supplement evaluation scheme switches the

burden of proof and puts it squarely on industry - as for

pharmaceutical products. The framework places considerable onus on

industry to supply data on safety which will be prohibitively

expensive for all but the largest manufacturers. It considers safety

issues in isolation i.e. there is no concomitant consideration of

safety and beneficial effects, the FDA arguing, like the European

Commission, that this comparison is valid only for drugs. The IOM

framework, as per the EU equivalent, comes into effect gradually,

the `compliance period' supposedly giving industry sufficient time

to adjust - or expire?

 

These reports should be the ultimate wake up call for all Americans

and other citizens of the world who value their freedom to choose

natural products.

 

Perhaps it is now easier to see how global harmonisation works. The

IOM proposals are very similar in effect to the EU Directives which

provide such a major threat to the leading-edge of the natural

health sector in Europe. It is just that the EU Directives are

further down the track and the first of several directives, the Food

Supplements Directive, is set to ban some 75% of vitamin and mineral

forms as of 1 August 2005 - unless the ANH legal challenge in the

European Court of Justice (Luxembourg) succeeds on 25 January.

 

Please help us by donating now - how much is your health worth?

 

Thank you.

 

Alliance for Natural Health

info

www.alliance-natural-health.org