Codex Victory in The Senate

[Guest guest]

Victory

in The Senate

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We

usually publish our newsletter on Tuesday. We held it overnight in order to report

on the outcome of the Senate HELP Committee’s “FDA Food Safety

Modernization Act” (Food Safety) mark up hearing. This hearing would

decide whether to amend the dangerous Codex provision. The decision

would have a momentous impact on the future of dietary supplements.

 

During the past few weeks, we met with most HELP Committee Senate offices to

discuss our concerns and request an amendment to the Codex language in the

Food Safety bill. Why were we so concerned? Because the

original legislative language appeared to commit the US to the

concept of harmonization of our food and supplement safety laws with a global

standard. This global standard in turn is very likely to reflect European

standards which are extremely hostile to dietary supplements.

 

Thanks to the amendment, the bill no longer requires the development of a

plan “to harmonize requirements under the Codex Alimentarius”.

Now the bill calls for a plan “on whether and how to

harmonize requirements under the Codex Alimentarius " (§306, p. 116).

 

As will be evident, we have not succeeded in eliminating the Codex provision

entirely. This is because the Senate wants to keep open the option of

adopting some Codex rules while protecting dietary supplements from the harsh

European regime. The language of the amendment means that we will have to

remain very vigilant and probably refight the same battle over again in the

future. But at least the US

has avoided committing itself to the concept of Codex harmonization. And this

is a very important legislative victory.

 

US

law on dietary supplements is currently governed by The Dietary Supplement

Health and Education Act (DSHEA). Senators Harkin and Hatch, strong

supporters of natural health and the use of supplements, have assured us that

asking the FDA to review Codex standards will not be allowed to threaten

DSHEA. This is vital of course because of the FDA’s well known

hostility to dietary supplements.

 

In his opening remarks in the mark up, Senator Harkin, chair of the HELP

Committee, emphasized this message of protecting DSHEA. As the

Senate moves forward with the legislation, Senators Harkin and Hatch have

also promised to see what else can be done to make absolutely clear that none

of its provisions will impact our access to high quality, potent dietary

supplements.

 

There is more good news. The Senate Food Safety bill has eliminated many of

the provisions in the House bill that most troubled us. However,

we can’t forget that after the Senate passes it’s version of the

Food Safety bill, the House and Senate will go to conference. There they will

work behind closed doors to combine the Senate and House versions of the

bill. This means that the worst provisions of the House bill could

return.

 

Perhaps the most troubling aspect of the House bill is the increase in jail

sentences (from three to ten years) and fines (to $100,000 for individuals

and $7.5 million for corporations) for " adulterating " or

" misbranding " food or supplements. If a food or supplement

company cites scientific, peer-reviewed studies in support of a health

benefit of a product, this would be deemed by the FDA to be misbranding and

could trigger the penalties. Likewise, as defined in the current Good

Manufacturing Practices, even minor paperwork violations could, per the FDA,

represent adulteration and lead to draconian fines or jail sentences. These

penalties are particularly worrying because of the FDA’s well

established record of intimidation and legal harassment of innocent parties.

It often seems that the FDA’s primary concern is to protect drugs from

competition. Drug companies of course pay a significant portion of the

FDA’s salaries.

 

The House bill also imposes new fees on food operations of all sizes,

from the very smallest to the largest; imposes record keeping, hazard analysis,

food safety plans, and more on farms as well as businesses, small and large;

gives the FDA control of farming standards and practices, despite the

Agency’s ignorance of these matters; permits the FDA to conduct random,

warrantless searches; and ignores the recommendations of a government report

on the failings of the FDA and the urgent need for reform at the Agency.

 

We will continue to work with members of Congress to ensure that the final

version of the Food Safety bill does not compromise your access to healthy,

natural and sustainable healthcare options, including high quality food and

food supplements.

 

We’ll keep you updated!

 

November 18, 2009