This is esp. of interest to US citizens and residents -- more about coming
(and current) attacks on our "health freedoms", e.g. making nutritional
supplements either illegal or prescription only. Please read, and please
let's make ourselves heard! Quoting the last paragraph: "A complete list
of government e-mail and postal addresses is available at a web site called
www.Congress.org/ Send a message to your congressmen and let them know that
we want no part of international "harmonizing" that restricts our access to
supplements."
Because you know, folks, our right to choose (and practice) our method of
healthcare is on just the same "page" as this.
************
Please Network...
The red highlighting is my emphasis.
Philip
======================
Forwarded Message: Subj: Twilight's Last Gleaming?
Date: 13/07/2004 17:37:59 GMT Daylight Time
From: HSIResearch@healthiernews.com
Twilight's Last Gleaming?
Health Sciences Institute e-Alert
Tuesday July 13, 2004
Dear Reader,
Is your government doing enough to protect you from the dangers of vitamin
supplements? The absurdity of that question would be comical if it weren't
the basis of an international drive to severely limit our access to dietary
supplements.
In yesterday's e-Alert I gave you some background on the "European Union
Directive on Dietary Supplements" that will become law in August of 2005.
Among the 25 European Union (EU) nations (representing more than 450 million
people), this directive reclassifies vitamin supplements as "medical drugs,"
mandates low dosage levels, and outlaws many supplement ingredients that are
currently widely available. Created to "protect" consumers, the directive
will do exactly the opposite by denying consumers access to natural
therapeutic supplements.
But don't think you're off the hook if you live outside the EU. Plans are
already underway to bring these extreme regulations to the U.S. and many
other countries.
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Trying to stay positive
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Under the EU directive, a "positive list" has been created to mandate which
dietary supplements will be allowed for sale. The list does not include
about 350 supplement ingredients, such as boron, a mineral that helps manage
symptoms of menopause.
So if you're a supplement manufacturer in an EU country, and you produce a
supplement that contains boron, you'll be required to remove it from the
supplement by August 2005. But there is another option. You can submit a
"technical dossier" to argue the case that a particular ingredient (such as
boron) should be included on the positive list. Ah, but there's a catch: The
European Commission has made this process so expensive and time consuming
that many manufacturers simply can't afford the costs involved. As a result,
many safe formulas and nutrients that have been on the market for decades
will soon be banned.
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But wait... it gets worse
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The positive list isn't really as positive as it sounds.
For instance: Vitamin E made it on the positive list. Sort of. As HSI
Panelist Allan Spreen, M.D., has made clear in several e- Alerts, there are
a number of different vitamin E forms, and the synthetic form should be
avoided for internal use. But according to Euromonitor International, the
ONLY form of vitamin E on the positive list is the synthetic form.
And then there's selenium. Besides the fact that selenium has excellent
antioxidant properties that have been shown to help increase insulin
efficiency, selenium also enhances the effect of vitamin E, making it a
perfect match for any vitamin E regimen. But the only two forms of selenium
that made the positive list are - yep - synthetic forms.
Wondering why the positive list emphasizes synthetics? I'll answer that
question with another question: What sort of company specializes in
manufacturing synthetic forms of natural treatments? You already saw it
coming, didn't you? The answer: pharmaceutical companies. Large drug
companies can easily produce synthetic ingredients at low cost. So the
positive list will certainly be positive for drug companies, while many
small manufacturers of natural supplements will be forced out of business.
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Decoding Codex
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
The outlook for the future of dietary supplements in Europe is decidedly
gloomy. But if you're a U.S. citizen you might be wondering how all of this
will affect you. In fact, the 2005 implementation of the EU directive won't
directly affect consumers outside the EU. But the U.S. and the EU are both
members of a much larger club.
The U.S. is one of the 165 member countries of the Codex Alimentarius
Commission - an international food standards program created by the Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). One
of the purposes of the Codex Commission is to "harmonize" international food
trade. And here are a few key elements of that harmonizing:
* WHO regards all dietary supplements as "drugs"
* The Codex Commission has made it clear that it wants to limit
over-the-counter sales of dietary supplements while reclassifying others as
pharmaceuticals, available only through a pharmacist
* The U.S. has one vote on the Codex Commission. The European Union
represents 27 votes on the commission: the 25 votes of its member countries
and 2 votes of the 2 EU candidate countries
* Under World Trade Organization (WTO) rules, Codex decisions override
decisions of individual countries
* Member countries (including the U.S.) that refuse to "harmonize" with WTO
directives may be subject to restrictive trade sanctions
* The European Union is the United States' largest trade and investment
partner, with a yearly two-way trade in goods and services that is estimated
to be nearly $600 billion
"Harmony" never sounded so awful.
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Securing the Homeland
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The remarkably harsh restrictions of the EU directive on Dietary Supplements
have met with an enormous protest from people who correctly see this process
as an infringement on their right to make their own health care choices.
This past February, the High Court in London ruled that a case challenging
the directive should be referred to the European Court - the only court with
the authority to challenge EU directives. Exactly when that court will hand
down a ruling is not known. What is known is that the decision will have a
profound effect on the availability of dietary supplements in Europe and
beyond.
Meanwhile, back on the other side of the Atlantic, many congressmen and
pro-pharmaceutical organizations have been calling for more restrictive
regulations of supplements. So there's no time to waste in letting our
legislators know that we don't want to see any form of the EU directive
taking effect in the U.S.
A complete list of government e-mail and postal addresses is available at a
web site called www.Congress.org/ Send a message to your congressmen and
let them know that we want no part of international "harmonizing" that
restricts our access to supplements. And most importantly, tell them that
you don't need any government or international organizations to "protect"
you from your personal health care choices.
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