READ THIS VERY IMPORTANT HEALTH MESSAGE!

Business Achievers Academy // Canada | 02/12/2005 | Peter Arnold.

[Dog Gone]

A bill that was introduced in Congress but never passed is worth what?

[kcvl]

Dick Durbin: "We can lead the country in protecting our kids by imposing reasonable safety restrictions on these dangerous drugs; this experience with ephedra should convince everyone the law should be changed in order to protect the American consumer."

Mind your own damn business. ANY DRUG can be dangerous, including cough syrup, if not taken properly. Not only does Durbin think we are too stupid to run our own finances, he now thinks we are too stupid to take our medicine properly.

[Nephi]

A bill that was introduced in Congress but never passed is worth what?

Wait, crap that isn't true but was introduced? This could get interesting.

[Dog Gone]

the freepers I posted to will now start defending the legislation proposed by Dick Durbin and Hillary.

Just like you'll apologize when this prediction falls flat...

[ThePythonicCow]

Doing a google search for this shows up:

• Consumers for Health Choice (CHC) is an independent consumer organisation with 11,000 members in the UK: CODEX Alimentarius – A threat to your vitamin supplements? By Paul Anthony Taylor
• American Holistic Health Association: Codex Recent Developments "Summer of '05: Critical Time for Dietary Supplements" by Suzan Walter.
• Josef Hasslberger: Health Supreme (Italy) - Codex Nutrition Committee: Supplement Guidelines Final
• MayDay - Codex Alimentarius - A threat to your vitamin supplements? - By Paul Anthony Taylor, United Kingdom, March 2004

The last of the above items seems to be an ancestor to the original posting on this thread.

It seems that if the WTO follows these guidelines, it would lead to vitamins becoming classified as drugs in more countries than just the few, such as Germany, that do so now. Such as the good old U. S. of A.

There is perhaps some hype and fear mongering mixed in with this alarm. But my suspicion is that there is some substantial truth as well.

[ThePythonicCow]

What's not real, Dog Gone. References?

The Durbin and Hillary bill, which didn't pass, or the WHO and WTO CODEX ALIMENTARIUS (Food Code), that began this thread?

I have seen no evidence (in 10 minutes of looking ;) that the CODEX ALIMENTARIUS is not real.

[Dog Gone]

None of this is law that affects Americans. Not now and not in June. If the EU wants to goof around with supplements, that's their business, but you are not going to be affected.

[ThePythonicCow]

None of this is law that affects Americans.

But this stuff will affect the WTO, no? And doesn't the U.S.A. usually end up trying to play nice with the WTO, perhaps after a little bit of messing around? Remember the steel row: US Trade Goods Set To Double In Price As Europe Plans Huge Trade War?

[Dog Gone]

There's no relation to the WTO at all. That's just a totally unrelated topic.

The WTO doesn't regulate drugs, vitamins, or any other product. It provides the traffic rules for international trade.

I'm not sure where this wacko post came from. The guy who posted it doesn't want to tell us.

It's nonsense.

[ThePythonicCow]

There's no relation to the WTO at all

I am becoming annoyed at your continued refusal to answer my direct questions, or to offer countering references. You just respond by leveling another ambiguous charge, without presenting any basis for that charge.

There transparently is a relation of the original post to the WTO, in that the original post clearly includes the term "WTO". So I don't know what you claim lacks any relation at all to the WTO.

More over, I am finding repeated explanations in my web searches that the WTO has already, and will continue to, take guidelines of the WHO as subject to their enforcement and a basis for their decisions.

For example, at http://ahha.org/codex1.htm:

Start with the "big picture." Codex is a huge international project with a vast organizational structure and great power. Here are brief descriptions of some key elements.

Codex Alimentarius is a set of international standards for food quality and safety established to protect the health of consumers and ensure fair practices in the food trade.

Food is defined as any substance, whether processed, semi-processed or raw, which is intended for human consumption.

Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) is the international body that:
  · creates the sets of standards - Codex Alimentarius (Latin for Food Code)
  · generates reputable scientific texts
  · convenes numerous expert committees, consultations, and international meetings
  · establishes itself as "the" international reference or authority on these matters.

The Codex Alimentarius Commission was established by and works in coordination with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) - since 1962.

Committees
While the CAC meets every two years (alternately at FAO headquarters in Rome and at WHO headquarters in Geneva), Codex committees meet annually to continue drafting the standards that are to be submitted to the CAC. Most committees are hosted by a member country, which is chiefly responsible for the cost of the committee's maintenance and administration and for providing its chairperson. There are five to eight steps for a proposed standard to become an official Codex standard. This process often takes many years. The current Codex committees include:
  · General Principles, hosted by France
  · Committee on Food Labelling, hosted by Canada
  · Committee on Methods of Analysis and Sampling, hosted by Hungary
  · Committee on Food Hygiene, hosted by the United States
  · Committee on Pesticide Residues, hosted by the Netherlands
  · Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants, hosted by the Netherlands
  · Committee on Import/Export Inspection and Certification Systems, hosted by Australia
  · Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses, hosted by Germany
  · Committee on Residues of Veterinary Drugs in Food, hosted by the United States.

NOTE: Nutritional supplements come under the jurisdiction of the Committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses.

Calendar of sessions 2004-2005

CAC and Committee Membership
Membership is open to all Member Nations and Associate Members of FAO and WHO. Each country has one vote, which is cast by the chief delegate (leader) of the country's delegation. However, the Codex Procedural Manual dictates that consensus, not voting, is the preferred method for approving changes.

Delegations are led by government officials appointed by their governments. Delegations may, and often do, include representatives of industry, consumers' organizations and academic institutes. "Only the chief delegates of member countries, or of observer countries or of international organizations have the right to speak unless they authorize other members of their delegations to do so."

Current Codex membership includes 165 countries. The online list is set up so that when you click on the name of a country you access the Codex contact information for that country. Codex activities in the United States are managed by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) may attend in an observer capacity. Although they are "observers", such organizations may express their points of view except in the final decision, which is the exclusive prerogative of Member Governments.

"Complete List of Standards Adopted by the Codex Alimentarius Commission up to 2001" includes most of the Codex Standards which have completed the harmonization process. Unfortunately, this list needs to be updated.

Enforcement of finalized Codex Standards is under the jurisdiction of the World Trade Organization (WTO). When there is a trade dispute related to food between member WTO countries, Codex Standards are used to resolve. Economic trade sanctions can be used to force compliance of WTO decisions.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) was established on January 1, 1995, as the common international institutional framework for the conduct of trade relations among its members in matters related to the Uruguay Round Trade Agreements. The WTO is the successor organization to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which had been in effect since 1947. U.S. membership in the WTO was approved and the Uruguay Round Agreements Act was signed into law by the President of the United States on December 8, 1994. The Uruguay Round Agreements became effective, with respect to the United States, on January 1, 1995.

The two WTO Urugruay Round Agreements which detail how Codex Standards will be used are:
  · Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures
  · Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade

Codex documents or texts are either Standards or advisory documents, such as Guidelines. Traditionally Standards were considered mandatory regulations, while Guidelines were optional. However this changed when the WTO came into the picture. The WTO definition of standard includes all types of texts and does not differentiate between standards and guidelines. Therefore, all Codex texts are treated as Standards by the WTO. Unfortunately, some Codex committees continue to draft Guidelines on the assumption that they will be optional, not mandatory.

Acceptance of Codex Standards in the Codex Procedural Manual outlines seveal options for level (or degree) of acceptance by a country once a new Codex Standard is finalized. These have been ignored for over a decade. (In fact the United States has never registered a level of acceptance for any Codex Standard) All of this became of no consequence when the CAC received a 1998 letter of clarification from the WTO stating that the WTO does not differentiate between differing levels of acceptance. At that time the CAC declared that the Levels of Acceptance "should no longer be used." This means that all WTO countries are bound by any finalized Codex Standard.

[Cicero]

Do I take it this warning refers to Canada and not the US?

The US has actually moved away over the past few decades from a situation where medical doctors had a virtual monopoly on what could be bought and sold. Some insurance companies now even pay for alternative medical treatment.

Some forms of alternative medicine are pretty effective, depending on what the problem is.

[ThePythonicCow]

Or directly from the WTO's own website www.wto.org, at the web page http://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/whatis_e/eol/e/wto03/wto3_26.htm:

The SPS Agreement aims to overcome health-related impediments to market access by encouraging the "establishment, recognition and application of common sanitary and phytosanitary measures by different Members". The establishment of national sanitary and phytosanitary regulations that are consistent with international standards, guidelines and recommendations is referred to as "harmonization". The primary incentive for the use of common international norms is that these provide the necessary health protection based on scientific evidence and improve trade flows at the same time.

The role of standard-setting organizations

International standard-setting organizations offer ready-made benchmarks for WTO Members to use in developing their regulations. Most WTO Members are actively involved in those fora. Together with scientists and health experts, they participate in the development of internationally-agreed standards.

The Three Sister Organizations

The SPS Agreement explicitly refers to three standard-setting international organizations whose activities are considered to be particularly relevant to its objectives: the FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius Commission, the Office International des Epizooties, and the international and regional organizations operating within the framework of the FAO International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC). These organizations are often referred to as the "Three Sisters". They are observers and important contributors to SPS Committee meetings. They can also be called in as experts to give advice to WTO dispute settlement panels.

FAO/WHO Codex Alimentarius

The Codex Alimentarius Commission, based in Rome, is a subsidiary organ of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO). The SPS Agreement designates Codex as the authority for all matters related to international food safety evaluation and harmonization. Several Codex activities relate to the evaluation of food-borne hazards, although Codex also develops non-health related technical food standards, like nutrition, composition, and quality standards. Codex develops scientific methodologies, concepts and standards to be used worldwide for food additives, microbiological contaminants, veterinary drug and pesticide residues to be used worldwide. It has also developed useful references like the "General Principles on Food Hygiene" and the "General Principles on Meat Hygiene".

OIE

The Office International des Epizooties (OIE) is the world animal health organization, based in Paris. The OIE's "International Animal Health Code" and "Aquatic Animal Health Code" offer international animal health standards and procedures that are periodically amended to take into account the latest scientific research. The OIE develops manuals on: animal diseases; standards for diagnosis, vaccination, epidemiological surveillance, disease control and eradication; procedures such as disinfection and certification; and laboratory equipment. It shares scientific information with its member countries and identifies countries that are free of a particular disease.

IPPC

The International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), based in Rome, is a subsidiary body of the FAO. Its main objectives are to take specific actions to prevent the introduction and spread of plant pests, and to promote measures for pest control, including information exchange. It has developed region-specific lists of plant pests. The IPPC develops international plant import health standards, principally on quarantine pests, a "Glossary of Phytosanitary Terms", basic principles governing phytosanitary laws and regulations, and harmonized plant quarantine procedures. The IPPC guidelines for pest risk assessment provide a scientific means for evaluating risks before governments determine the appropriate level of plant protection.

Use of international standards

Before the entry into force of the WTO, international standards, guidelines, recommendations and other advisory texts could be adopted by governments on a voluntary basis. Although these norms remain voluntary, a new status has in effect been conferred on them by the SPS Agreement. A WTO Member adopting such norms is presumed to be in full compliance with the SPS Agreement. A Member may decide to establish protection levels that exceed international standards if there is a scientific justification or if it determines that the standard does not meet its acceptable level of protection. When a Member decides not to use an international standard, however, its measure must be based on a proper risk assessment and is subject to a range of other conditions set out in detail in Article 5 of the SPS Agreement.

[davisfh]

"Well, then, you obviously aren't in need of immediate medical attention."

No, but I could certainly use some attention. Otherwise, I'll have to rush this one into town.

[ThePythonicCow]

Or see the following article for more details of how this affects us: Why Codex Should Matter to You, by John Hathcock, Ph.D..

[Howlin]

I'm trying to get in touch with the feminine side of me!!!

With a penis?

[Erasmus]

I've been taking Saint John's Wort for years...and I still got these little bumps on my penis.

A common side effect, known as St. John's warts.

[dvan]

Mea Culpa! Maxmi culpa!
This post turned out to be a false alar, Should have check it out first! Can you ever forgive me?

A search of Thomas Register Congressional & Senate bills pending indicates the the above Bills are NOT as indicated in your post. I don't know what your motivation was for circulating this false information. check your facts out first.


107th CONGRESS

1st Session

S. 722
To amend the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit telemarketers from interfering with the caller identification service of any person to whom a telephone solicitation is made, and for other purposes.


IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

April 5, 2001

Houseboat Safety Improvement Act of 2001 (Introduced in House)

HR 3377 IH


107th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 3377
To improve the safety of houseboat generator exhaust systems.


IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

November 29, 2001

[ThePythonicCow]

This post turned out to be a false alar, Should have check it out first!

Wrong, twice over.

The parts about CODEX ALIMENTARIUS, WHO and WTO do not seem to be false alarms, as best as I can tell. See my several posts above.

And you got the wrong year in your research. These House and Senate bills, for the 108th Congress, were on the topic at hand:

• http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c108:1:./temp/~c108RnSsN5::

  Dietary Supplement Safety Act of 2003 (Introduced in Senate)
  

  S 722 IS

  108th CONGRESS

  1st Session

  S. 722

  To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to require that manufacturers of dietary supplements submit to the Food and Drug Administration reports on adverse experiences with dietary supplements, and for other purposes.

  IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

  March 26, 2003

  Mr. DURBIN introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

• http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?c108:2:./temp/~c108RnSsN5::

  Dietary Supplement Access and Awareness Act (Introduced in House)
  

  HR 3377 IH

  108th CONGRESS

  1st Session

  H. R. 3377

  To amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act with respect to dietary supplements.

  IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

  October 28, 2003

  Mrs. DAVIS of California (for herself, Mr. WAXMAN, and Mr. DINGELL) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

---

Next time, get your corrections straight, before you post them.

[ThePythonicCow]

Granted, these bills are old in any case. The 109th session of congress convened on January 4, 2005.

And so I suspect the article you initially posted is a bit confused, mixing news of early 2005 (about WHO, CODEX and WTO) with old warnings of last sessions bills.

[ApesForEvolution]

STOP THIS HORSESHI* NOW! BTTT