Urge Your Congressman to Attend Staff Briefing on CAFTA/CODEX Issue: See Details- Also Countering More Spin

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IAHF Webmaster: Codex Emergency, Breaking News, Whats New,

What to Do, USA/All Countries

 

IAHF List:

 

It is very important that all of you call your

Congressman's office to request that they attend a STAFF BRIEFING on

the CODEX/CAFTA issue on Wednesday, from Noon- 12:30 PM in

Room 1537 Longworth House Office Bldg. Lunch will be

included. The Liberty Caucus will be showing

WE BECOME SILENT- the hard hitting documentary on the

CAFTA/CODEX issue produced by Kevin Miller which can be viewed

at http://www.welltv.com

 

Seats are limited, so your congressman's office should

contact Kent Snyder at the Liberty Committee at

kentsnyder or call him at 703-276-2094 if they wish

to attend.

 

CAFTA vote could occur as soon as Wednesday evening, but

our sources on the Hill feel it is more likely to occur late

Thursday evening, but we must be ready for it at ANY TIME.

 

 

CONGRESSMAN CLAY SHAW (R-FL) ATTACKS DIETARY SUPPLEMENT

CONSUMERS WITH

HIGHLY QUESTIONABLE " DEAR COLLEAGUE " LETTER

 

We're in the middle of a pitched PR battle, and Congressman

Clay Shaw has just turned up the heat several notches by

unleashing a " Dear Colleague " letter in which he regurgitates

the spin emanating from the USTR's office (which The

Coalition For Health Freedom has THOROUGHLY REBUTTED at

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

 

Congressman Paul's office will be generating a " Dear

Colleague " letter which will completely REFUTE the absurd

statements in Shaw's letter which you can see below followed by my

comments:

 

Congress of the United States

House Of Representatives

Washington, D.C. 20515-0922

 

July 21, 2005

 

DR-CAFTA WILL NOT ELIMINATE ACCESS TO DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS

 

Dear Colleague:

 

Opponents of DR-CAFTA have stooped to a new low. Americ's

seniors are recipients of a new round of scare tactics in

which they are being told that passage of DR-CAFTA will

limit their access to dietary supplements and vitamins.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

 

According to the office of the Untied States Trade

Representative, DR-CAFTA will not limit market access of dietary

supplements, nor will the agreement force the US to change

our regulation of the these supplements.

 

In fact, DR-CAFTA states that the US and the Central

American nations, including the Dominican Republic, do not intend

to change existing Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures and

their obligations under the World Trade Organization.

 

DR-CAFTA is tremendously important to the national security

interests U.S. We cannot afford to turn our backs on these

infant democracies. We must not allow scare tactics, such

as false allegations of limits to dietary supplements and

vitamins to deter us from creating balancee trade between

the United States and DR-CAFTA countries.

 

I have included a detailed explanation by USTR regarding

DR_CAFTA and the issue of dietary supplements.

 

Sincerely,

 

Clay

 

E. Clay Shaw, Jr.

Member of Congress

-------------------------IAHF and COALITION FOR HEALTH

FREEDOM RESPOND TO THIS DRIVEL:

 

USTR: " Note: WTO rules, in effect since 1995, have had

absolutely no impact on the regulation or availability of

dietary supplements in the United States. "

 

COMMENT: So what? There has been no question of this up til

now. The Codex Guidelines for Supplements were only

ratified on July 4th, 2005, and the blanks on allowable potencies

remain to be filled in in November at the CCNFSDU meeting

in Bonn, Germany- however with an FDA employee in charge of

the effort to fill in the blanks which is occuring via the

World Health Organization, it is highly predictable how

she'll go about doing this, nor is there any reason to expect

that Christine Lewis Taylor, a Registered Dietician will do

so in a fashion consistent with current US law.

 

USTR- " The CAFTA-DR will not limit consumer access to

dietary supplements in any way, nor will it change the way the

federal government or the US states regulate dietary

supplements. "

 

COMMENT: The U.S. has entered into an OPEN ENDED process.

The Codex guidelines for supplements were ratified at CODEX

this MONTH, and what was ratified was a FRAMEWORK. Codex is

not scheduled to fill in the blanks on allowed potencies of

vitamins and minerals until November 2005 at the CCNFSDU

meeting in Bonn, Germany, so could not begin to impact ANY

country until AFTER that meeting takes place.

 

USTR States: " The Guidelines to NOT establish upper limits

for vitamins and minerals in supplements. "

 

COMMENT: Not YET! This statement depends on what your

definition of IS, is. The upper limits will be dicussed in

November 2005 at the next Codex Committee on Nutrition and Food

for Special Dietary Uses meeting in Bonn, Germany, with a

view toward adoption. And yes, it will not be Codex itself

who establishes them. These highly controversial " safe upper

limits " will be set by the parent body to Codex, the World

Health Organization.

 

There WILL BE upper limits for supplements, this is just

saying they are not in place YET, and splitting hairs as to

exactly who is behind them. They can only do this because so

few people are following this issue.

 

Why do they want to deny these upper limits are being

created? Because these levels are the cause of outrage in the

scientific community, and are the key to the takeover of the

supplement industry.

 

The full remit of Codex is soon to expand beyond vitamins

and minerals, likely banning many herbs and traditional

medicines, pursuing the European Union's 2006/07 legal

direction.

 

USTR: " In fact the agreement imposes no obligations

regarding Codex standards or guidelines. "

 

COMMENT: Not true. It is cited in CAFTA Chapter 6 which

dovetails with Article 3, the SPS Section in the WTO Agreement

(see below)

 

USTR: " Chapter 6 of the CAFTA-DR... merely:

Establishes an inter governmental committee to discuss SPS

issues of mutual interest. The SPS committee will not seek

to harmonize national SPS regulations governing dietary

supplements. In fact, Chapter 6 does not require, recommend,

or even mention harmonization. The committee will simply

work to assist the seven governments in carrying out their

_OBLIGATIONS_ under the WTO SPS Agreement. " (emphasis added)

 

COMMENT: These are mutually exclusive statements. Yes,

thats RIGHT, the committee will work to assist the 7

governments in carrying out their.... _OBLIGATIONS_ under the SPS

Agreement, for the purpose of HARMONIZING their laws as is

REQUIRED under the WTO's SPS Agreement. Article 3 of the SPS

Agreement 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. " The WTO has adopted the Codex

Guidelines as their world wide standards.

http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/sps_e/spsagr_e.htm

 

This contradicts the claim by USTR " Nothing in the WTO SPS

Agreement will require the United States to adopt the Codex

Guidelines. " This can evolve to ever increasing

entanglements due to legal and economic pressure. The US government

may or may not wish to harmonize, but it can now be FORCED

to.

 

For additional response to the USTR on this issue see the

complete response by the Coalition for Health Freedom at

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

 

 

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

 

Many people are receiving responses from their congressmen

similar to the one below sent by Congressman Lee Terry

(R-Nebraska) Please read it along with my response, and if you

receive a similar letter from YOUR congressman, you can

respond to it by copying my response (below) and also by

providing my response to Clay Shaw's " Dear Colleague " letter.

 

You must also KEEP CALLING the HOUSE via these 3 toll free

#s which take you to the Capital Switchboard 866-340-9279,

877-762-8762, 866-340-9281 If one is busy, try the next!

 

What to Say:

 

" I am a dietary supplement consumer opposed to CAFTA. I

have seen the policy briefing of the US Trade Representatives

Office about CAFTA and Dietary Supplements, and it doesn't

hold water, it is very powerfully contradicted by the

Rebuttal of The Coalition for Health Freedom at

http://www.coalitionforhealthfreedom.org I am aware of Clay

Shaw's " Dear Colleague " letter on this issue but it is

directly contradicted by the Dear Colleague letter from

Congressman Paul, who has his facts straight. If you vote for

CAFTA despite my strong objections, I will work TIRELESSLY to

drive you from office in the next election, and you will be

BLACKLISTED on the website of The Coalition for Health

Freedom " (If some wise ass staffer attempts to play devil's

advocate with you and tries to pin you down on specifics, you

can read from what we cited above from our Rebuttal.)

 

HERE IS MY RESPONSE TO CONGRESSMAN TERRY (R-NB) If you

received a response similar to this one of his, you can copy

him on my response below and tell him you share my views:

 

A message from Congressman Terry

 

Dear Mr. Dickson:

 

Thank you for contacting me regarding the

Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement

(DR-CAFTA). I appreciate the opportunity to learn your views.

 

Several constituents have contacted me about

chapter six of the final agreement, saying they are concerned

that DR-CAFTA would limit access to dietary supplements and

vitamins. Chapter six of DR-CAFTA does reference CODEX

committees as one source of guidance for discussions relating

to food safety, and human, animal and plant health. However,

I am confident for several reasons that chapter six

provides no authority to any committee to either develop or

mandate any guidelines related to dietary supplements in the

United States for several reasons.

 

First, the Food and Drug Administration

Modernization Act of 1997 specifically exempts dietary supplements

from trade discussions and " global harmonization

initiatives. " The fact is, discussions regarding food safety may be

important in the facilitation of trade among countries, but

under U.S. law dietary supplements will not be a part of

these discussions. Also, U.S. law also requires the U.S.

Trade Representative to work with the Secretary of Commerce and

the Secretary of Health and Human Services to ensure that

consumer protection is protected consistent with U.S. law,

in any meetings with representatives of other countries

regarding these issues.

 

Finally, neither European law, nor Codex

guidelines dictate the sale, availability, or content of

supplements marketed in the United States . Only law enacted by the

U.S. Congress will do so.

 

I understand there may be therapeutic properties

to a number of dietary supplements. As long as products are

not harmful and their labels are not false or misleading, I

support an individual's right to use supplements that have

no been prohibited by the FDA. Under the provisions of the

Dietary Supplement and Education Act of 1994 (DSHEA), the

Food and Drug Administration (FDA) must show that a

supplement is unsafe and causes harm before it can be removed from

the market.

 

Thank you again for contacting me with your

concerns. Please feel free to contact me again on this or any

other issue that is important to you.

 

 

Sincerely,

LEE TERRY

Member of Congress

11717 Burt Street, Suite 106

Omaha, NE 68154

Phone: 402-397-9944

 

Congressman Terry:

 

We urge you to send your staff to the STAFF BRIEFING thats

been scheduled by the Liberty Committee to air this

documentary film WE BECOME SILENT http://www.welltv.com which

reflects our concerns on the CODEX/CAFTA issue. The film is

narrated by Dame Judi Dench, famous British Actress, and it

raises serious questions about globalization. The Founding

Fathers warned us about entering into " entangling alliances " .

This staff briefing will be held on Wednesday, from

Noon-12:30 in the Longworth building, and lunch will be included.

If you wish to send staff, please contact Kent Snyder at

kentsnyder or call him at 703-276-2094

 

As the person who did the work on Capital Hill that

resulted in the FDA Modernization Act of 1997 being amended to

specifically exempt dietary supplements from harmonization

language which impacts the whole REST of the Food, Drug, and

Cosmetic Act (everything ELSE the FDA regulates), I must

inform you that your comments provide me with zero

reassurance, here is why:

 

My amendment made it ILLEGAL for the FDA to take ANY ACTION

at the meetings of the Codex Committee on Nutrition and

Food for Special Dietary Use, or at the Codex Committee on

Food Labeling, or at the General Meeting of Codex such as the

one just held on July 4, 2005 in Rome Italy that is

INCONSISTENT with current US law (DSHEA). I know that the FDA is

violating the law by IGNORING my amendment due to a letter I

received from FDA attorney L.Robert Lake who made it

abundantly clear that the FDA intended to ignore the will of the

people, and the will of Congress by taking positions at

CODEX that go diametrically against US law (DSHEA).

 

On March 20, 2001, a congressional oversight hearing that

COULD have brought the truth out on this issue was

WHITEWASHED when I was barred from presenting testimony along with

my witnesses. The vitamin trade associations do not speak

for the vitamin CONSUMERS in this country (the people who put

YOU in office and who campaigned in '94 to pass DSHEA). The

vitamin trade associations WANT Codex, they WANT one set of

regulations for the planet so they don't have to

manufacture different products for different countries with different

labels and the biggest companies in the industry don't CARE

what they have to sacrifice to get these regulations put in

place because all they care about is getting increased

marketshare to please investors, and driving smaller

competitors under.

 

The supplement trade associations have entered into an

unholy alliance with the FDA on this issue, and the truth of

this is amply brought out in Suzanne Harris,JDs article

WHO SAYS WHATEVER HAPPENS AT CODEX WILL NOT AFFECT US LAW

AND WHY DO THEY SAY IT

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

 

At the 28th General Session of Codex in Rome on July 4th,

US Codex Delegate Dr.Ed Scarbrough wrongly moved to RATIFY a

framework for a global trade guideline for vitamins and

minerals that is not consistent with US law, while knowing

full well that he was signing off on an OPEN ENDED PROCESS

being directed by an FDA employee who opposes the Dietary

Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994 and who is actively

working to subvert it.

 

At the next meeting of the Codex Committee on Nutrition and

Foods For Special Dietary Use in Rome Italy in November,

they'll be moving to fill in the blanks on allowable

POTENCIES of vitamins and minerals, and there is no reason to

expect that this will be done in an honest or scientific way

given the fact that the person in CHARGE of filling in those

blanks is Christine Lewis Taylor, PhD, a registered

dietician who is an FDA employee.

 

Taylor is " on loan " from the FDA to the WHO's International

Program on Chemical Safety, where she is running their

" Nutrient Risk Assessment Project "

http://www.who.int/ipcs/highlights/nutrientraproject/en/

 

Last May, Taylor sent out a call for applicants to

participate in a " Nutrient Risk Assessment Workshop " along with a

call for comments on the methodology being employed by the

WHO as they move to " fill in the blanks " on allowable

vitamin potencies at CODEX. She rejected every single applicant

(more than 100) from our side who believe that consumers

world wide should enjoy the same level of access afforded to

American consumers under DSHEA, and this included the

rejection of Dr.Robert Verkerk, Exec Dir, of the UK based

Alliance for Natural Health, whose organization submitted these

extensive comments which expose the WHO's " risk assessment

methodology " as biased, unscientific, and unfair.

http://www.alliance-natural-health.org/_docs/ANHWebsiteDoc_121.pdf

ANH's comments indicate that WHO is only looking at alleged

" Risks " of dietary supplements, while totally IGNORING

their BENEFITS. They indicate that WHO has been examining

animal data, drawing flawed conclusions from it, while far more

ACCURATE human data exists. Morever, they indicate that WHO

has been taking a highly biased and SELECTIVE view of the

medical literature clearly intended to skew their results to

favor pharma interests who don't WANT consumers having

access to vitamins and minerals within the optimal therapeutic

range because they have a " business with disease " and don't

benefit when we remain healthy.

 

Your argument is echoing things you're being told by the US

Trade Representatives Office which has issued a policy

directive on the issue of CAFTA and Dietary Supplements. This

Policy Directive has been totally discredited by the

Coalition for Health Freedom in a rebuttal that you can read here:

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

 

Congressman Ron Paul and many others on The Liberty

Committee who have thoroughly reviewed this information and all

the rest of what we're saying completely share our concerns

and have generated a " Dear Colleague " letter which reflects

them. We urge you to strongly reconsider your position on

CAFTA accordingly, and to contact Kent Snyder of The Liberty

Committee via http://www.thelibertycommittee.org so that

you may sign this " Dear Colleague " letter and assist

Congressman Paul and others who support his position against CAFTA

when this matter comes up for debate on the House Floor.

 

When it comes to CAFTA/CODEX, your assurances seem very

weak to us. It is evident from their actions that the FDA is

setting us up for the harmonization of our dietary

supplement laws to grossly restrictive international standards which

they are working very hard to create in total defiance of

existing US law.

 

If you do not want your name added to the BLACK LIST of

congressmen who vote for CAFTA which will be maintained on

over 25 health freedom websites including that of the

Coalition for Health Freedom

http://www.coalitionforhealthfreedom.org you will strongly

reconsider your stance on this matter. Please keep in mind

that in 1994, vitamin consumers generated more mail to

Congress during the campaign to pass DSHEA than were generated

over ANY issue in the HISTORY of Congress. Our Coalition

has a Speakers Bureau and we do numerous radio shows on an

ongoing basis. This issue will NEVER go away.

 

For Health Freedom,

John C. Hammell, President, Legislative Advocate

International Advocates for Health Freedom

Consultants to The Life Extension Foundation

556 Boundary Bay Rd.

Point Roberts, WA 98281 USA

http://www.iahf.com main site

http://www.ymlp.com/pubarchive.php?jham Newsletter Archive

Site

http://www.iahf.citymaker.com/page/page/1794186.htm

Auxilliary Site

http://www.coalitionforhealthfreedom.org Coalition Site

800-333-2553 N.America

360-945-0352 World

 

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

 

 

 

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