Urge Your Congressman to Attend Staff Briefing on CAFTA/CODEX Issue: See Details

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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. America'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 until now. The Codex

Guidelines for Supplements were only ratified on July 4, 2005, and the

blanks on allowable potencies remain to be filled 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 occurring 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 do 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 discussed 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, that's 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