Fwd: CAFTA COULD BE KILLED IN SENATE FINANCE COMMITTEE *TODAY* (TUES) KEEP PRESSURE ON

[Guest guest]

IAHF List:

 

CAFTA could die in the Senate Finance Committee tomorrow

(tuesday) due to the Bush administration's inability to cut a

deal with the sugar lobby. (See Reuters article below), but

we can't take ANYTHING for granted especially given that

the Washington Post reported last week that things were so

tight in the House on the issue that the measure could be

decided by a single vote.

 

VERY IMPORTANT VITAMIN CONSUMERS ACT NOW TO OPPOSE CAFTA!!!

 

CAFTA contains SPS language which dovetails with the SPS

language in the WTO trade agreement to threaten our access to

dietary supplements as it would force harmonization to a

restrictive codex vitamin standard which could be ratified in

at the 28th General Session of Codex (July 4-9) in Rome.

 

Very important everyone on the IAHF list call members of

the Senate Finance committee

http://finance.senate.gov/sitepages/committee.htm via

202-225-3121 (Capital Switchboard), but lets especially focus

on the Republicans and Senator Hatch in particular given our

concerns about the SPS language in CAFTA and the danger

they pose to dietary supplements. (Hatch is on the committee

and was the sponsor of the Dietary Supplement Health &

Education Act of 1994 which CAFTA & FTAA threaten.)

 

If you are new to the IAHF list or need a phone script to

go by please use the form letter at

http://capwiz.com/lef/mail/oneclick_compose/?alertid=7739691

(and also send this in to your congressmen and senators, if

you did it already, please do so AGAIN!!

 

If we don't kill CAFTA in committee tomorrow, the Reuters

article below reports that the trade agreement could be

voted on in the Senate at the end of this week, then taken up

in the House after July 4th week long recess.

 

Previous reports had indicated it would be taken up in the

House first, but now we're hearing otherwise although Norm

Singleton in Congressman Paul's office told Brenna Hill he

thought it could go to the floor of the House Wednesday or

Thursday of this week- so who knows? We need to be ready

for ANYTHING.

 

 

Republicans want sugar fix in CAFTA fight

Mon Jun 27, 2005 08:41 PM ET

 

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. sugar industry needs a

longer-term solution to problems caused by a free trade

agreement with Central American than the Bush administration has

proposed, Republican lawmakers said on Monday.

" The administration made a very good offer. I do not

dispute that, " Sen. Larry Craig, an Idaho Republican, told

reporters after a meeting between Republicans from sugar states

such as Florida, Montana and Wyoming and top Bush

administration officials, including U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike

Johanns and U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman.

 

But the plan to keep overall imports below a key farm

program threshold level of 1.532 million short tons by paying

countries cash or commodities not to export sugar to the

United States only covers the remaining two and a half years of

the current farm bill, Craig said.

 

Sugar farmers who take on heavy debt loads to run their

operation need a longer-term commitment than that, he said.

 

The $100 million to $300 million annual cost of the

administration's proposal also could create " a very negative

environment " for the sugar program in the 2007 farm bill debate,

unless there is some agreement now on a longer-term plan

for the sugar industry, Craig said.

 

Intense sugar industry opposition is one of several

obstacles that could block approval of the U.S.-Central American

Free Trade Agreement, or CAFTA, which President Bush

formally submitted to Congress last week.

 

The agreement allows Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala,

Honduras, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic to ship some

additional sugar into the tightly controlled U.S. sugar

market.

 

U.S. sugar farmers fear the agreement could drive them out

of business, especially if other sugar producers such as

Brazil, Thailand and South Africa are also granted additional

access in possible free trade pacts with the United States.

 

The Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to vote Tuesday

morning on the agreement, which was negotiated under the

terms of 2002 trade legislation which bars Congress from

making any changes to the pact. The full Senate could take up

the legislation by the end of this week, but action in the

House of Representative may not start until lawmakers return

in July from a week-long Independence Day break.

 

" There's certainly no resolution of the issue tonight, but

there continue to be positive ideas laid upon the table and

I still remain hopeful that something can be worked out, "

Senate Agriculture Committee Chairman Saxby Chambliss, a

Georgia Republican, told reporters after the meeting.

 

One idea being discussed is providing incentives to

encourage the use of sugar in ethanol production, he said.

 

" The problem is we're up against a very close deadline ...

It's difficult to put the mechanics (of such an ethanol

program) in place in a short period of time, " Chambliss said.

 

 

For Health Freedom,

John C. Hammell, President

International Advocates for Health Freedom

556 Boundary Bay Road

Point Roberts, WA 98281-8702 USA

http://www.iahf.com

jham

800-333-2553 N.America

360-945-0352 World

 

 

 

 

http://www.blueaction.org

A politician is a man who will double cross that bridge when he comes to it

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