resending More on FDA Ban

April 15, 2004

Resending this as it has not come through yet. I see changes are afoot. Is

the group now moderated?

Sammy

G.A. Bates

B.A. B.Sc. M.Sc. P.G.C.E.

Registered Fitness Instructor

-

" sammy_bates " <sammy_bates

Wednesday, April 14, 2004 12:14 PM

Re: More on FDA Ban

>

> > the codex alimentaris that goes into effect in the European Union in

2005,

> will spread round the globe by 2008 because of WTO harmonization, ...

>

> Is it possible the WTO is trying to support a policy to protect indigenous

> health systems worldwide by the FAO/WHO[1] but it is all going horribly

> wrong?

>

> As far as medicine preparations go the WHO has a mission to support

> indigenous or traditional medical systems worldwide[2] and this looks

> consistent with what the WTO are trying to do 'on paper' [3]. However as

far

> as legislation in the USA and EU goes regarding the banning of certain

> substances that have hitherto been regarded as part of the traditional

> medicine armamentarium, there may be a case against the promotors of

> 'severe legislation' * if it can be shown they are acting in a " disguised

> protectionism " manner as suggested in the last footnote[3] e.g. " Article

20

> of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) allows

> governments to act on trade in order to protect human, animal or plant

life

> or health, provided they do not discriminate or use this as disguised

> protectionism. "

>

> *I am thinking of the current state in Germany where it is virtually

> impossible to obtain even raw fresh herbs if they are on a 'list' that

only

> medical doctors can prescribe. A short time ago someone I know tried to

> import qinghao for his own use. The German authorities went mad when they

> discovered this and almost prosecuted him for " importing dangerous drugs " .

> This is where the EU CODEX ALIMERTARIUM has got Germany and it may well

get

> us all that way in a few years if we do not wake up to what is going on

with

> this legislation.

>

> I suggest that most of it is illegal within the terms of reference of

both

> the WTO and the FAO/WHO but to prove that in a High Court

> and overturn the vast amount of legislation already on the books is

probably

> going to require a great political initiative to outgun the pharmaceutical

> lobby who are happy taking over ownership of traditional medical systems

> 'formulations' and then burying them or replacing them with 'patents'.

>

> Incidentally, this 'takeover' has been going on big time since the end of

> WW2 when the widespread use of penicillin started the great leap forward

> from the 'formulating chemist's trade' to the 'pharmaceutical patents

> industry'. In the centuries before that we had the 'ethnic cleansing' in

> Europe and the Americas of naturalistic medicine systems. It is a sad tale

> of opportunism in the field of medical quackery, where the quacks finally

> ended up as the 'professionals' and the real healers all got burnt

> (literally). This did not happen in the Far East luckily, so we still have

> TCM and other branches of OM. [ 200 years of British legislation in India

> practically wiped out Ayurvedic medicine.] It is a great shame the

medical

> systems of sub-Saharan Africa and South America will be swallowed up by

> 'patents' before the unique paradigms, herbologies and praxis of these

> systems can be properly recorded and translated.

>

> Sammy.

>

> 1.

> http://www.codexalimentarius.net/

>

> The Codex Alimentarius Commission was created in 1963 by FAO and WHO to

> develop food standards, guidelines and related texts such as codes of

> practice under the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme. The main

purposes

> of this Programme are protecting health of the consumers and ensuring fair

> trade practices in the food trade, and promoting coordination of all food

> standards work undertaken by international governmental and

non-governmental

> organizations.

>

> 2.

> http://www.who.int/medicines/organization/trm/orgtrmmain.shtml

>

> The WHO Strategy for Traditional Medicine for 2002-2005 has been in

> preparation for more than three years. The objective of the strategy is to

> discuss the role of traditional medicine in health care systems, current

> challenges and opportunities and WHO's role and strategy for traditional

> medicine. Many Member States and many of WHO's partners in traditional

> medicine (UN agencies, international organizations, nongovernmental

> organizations, and global and national professional associations)

> contributed to the Strategy and have expressed their willingness to

> participate in its implementation. The Strategy was reviewed by the WHO

> Cabinet in July 2001 and, based on Cabinet comments, has since been

revised.

> The Strategy was printed in January 2002. Since this is at present a

working

> document, the proposed objectives and activities have started to be

> implemented in early 2002 and the Strategy will be widely disseminated. We

> understand that the situation in the use of traditional medicine is quite

> different from country to country and region to region. For example, in

AFRO

> and in WPRO, the Member States consider that traditional medicine is a

> priority for health care in their regions, but in other regions the role

of

> traditional medicine is treated as complementary or alternative medicine.

>

> Fact sheet N°271 -- June 2002

>

> Traditional Medicine: Growing Needs and Potential is the core of the WHO

> Strategy for Traditional Medicine for 2002-2005. It provides brief

> information on the growing needs and challenges faced by traditional

> medicine worldwide. It also gives key messages and a checklist for the

> safety, efficacy and quality to policy-makers. Finally, it sets out WHO's

> role and how the WHO Strategy could meet the challenges to support WHO

> Member States in the proper use of traditional and

complementary/alternative

> medicine. WHO Press Release Press Release WHO/38 16 May 2002

>

> 3.

>

> http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/tif_e/agrm4_e.htm

>

> UNDERSTANDING THE WTO: THE AGREEMENTS

> Standards and safety

> Article 20 of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) allows

> governments to act on trade in order to protect human, animal or plant

life

> or health, provided they do not discriminate or use this as disguised

> protectionism. In addition, there are two specific WTO agreements dealing

> with food safety and animal and plant health and safety, and with product

> standards.

>

> Food, animal and plant products: how safe is safe? back to top

> Problem: How do you ensure that your country's consumers are being

supplied

> with food that is safe to eat - " safe " by the standards you consider

> appropriate? And at the same time, how can you ensure that strict health

and

> safety regulations are not being used as an excuse for protecting domestic

> producers?

>

> -

> " " <attiliodalberto

> <Chinese Medicine >

> Wednesday, April 14, 2004 9:23 AM

> Re: More on FDA Ban

>

> Hi all,

>

> Has anyone got any idea what the hell is going on in Europe

> regarding herb bans? Is anyone doing anything about it?

>

> Attilio

>

> mystir <ykcul_ritsym> wrote:

>

> My dark take on this is that even if some herbs are spared in the

> US, for the time being, the codex alimentaris that goes into effect

> in the European Union in 2005, will spread round the globe by 2008

> because of WTO harmonization, and make illegal then or soon after,

> the use and sale of most herbs and supplements, except by MDs,(and

> they will have their own formulary).

>

> Membership requires that you do not post any commerical, swear, religious,

> spam messages,flame another member or swear.

>

> To change your email delivery settings,

> Chinese Medicine/ click 'edit my

> membership' on the right hand side and adjust accordingly.

>

> If you , it takes a few days for the messages to stop being

> delivered.

>

April 15, 2004

No, not moderated Sam. I sent an email last week that took 6 hours to go

through.

Kind regards

Attilio

Chinese Traditional Medicine

sammy_bates [sammy_bates]

15 April 2004 11:28

Chinese Medicine

resending Re: More on FDA Ban