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Dear Friend -
Below is a well written account of what the CODEX Alimentarius
Commission will mean to every American, Canadian and European.
Please read and stop Bill S.830. Write to your Congressman, Senator
and local newspapers, and tell all your friends.
"Unless we put medical freedom into the constitution,
the time will come when medicine will organize itself into an
undercover dictatorship...denying equal privileges. All such laws
are un- American and despotic...
-Benjamin Rush, Physician
Signer, Declaration of Independence
Codex Alimentarius, in simple terms, is a code of law for food.
What it actually means to each and everyone of us is a threat
to our health and the health of every human being on this planet.
The future availability and legal status of herbs, vitamins, amino
acids, minerals and all other supplements in the U.S. and throughout
the world, may be determined by a committee made up of 146 nations
called the Codex Alimentarius Commission, which operates in conjunction
with the United Nations and the World Health Organization (WHO).
It is under the guise of protecting public safety through the
standardization of food and botanical codes that the commission
may be a tool of the international pharmaceutical industry that
is intent on making ALL SUPPLEMENTS -herbal or otherwise- available
by prescription only.
Established in 1962 for the purpose of setting international
standards and codes for foods, the Codex Commission is over- whelmingly
composed of German and International Pharmaceutical Corporations.
Over 90% of the international organizations ALLOWED to send delegates
to the meetings represent giant multinational pharmaceutical corporations.
The only consumer organization is the International Organization
of Consumer Unions. NEITHER THE NATURAL HEALTH CARE INDUSTRY NOR
THE GENERAL PUBLIC HAS ANY REPRESENTATION AT THE CODEX MEETINGS.
Spearheaded by the German pharmaceutical corporations, this Codex
Commission plans to ban -on a worldwide basis- any health statement
in relation to any non-prescription supplement, preventive, therapeutic,
or otherwise. Moreover, any formulas which would still be available
would have to meet the arbitrary restrictions of the Codex Commission.
Those nations that do not comply with these restrictions are faced
with economic sanctions.
While researching this article, I came across a letter written
in 1995 from Matthias Rath,MD to Chancellor Kohl and Members of
the German Bundersag, prior to the Codex meeting in Bonn Germany
in 1996.
"As a physician and scientist who led the breakthrough in
vitamin research which can eradicate heart disease, atherosclerosis,
I feel it is incumbent upon me to address this important matter...
as I see it, the attack of the Codex Commission is a desperate
act by the pharmaceutical companies to protect their world wide
drug market against naturally effective and much more affordable
supplements. Particularly disturbing is the role of the German
pharmaceutical and chemical corporations within the Codex Commission.
Once before in this century, a German pharmaceutical and chemical
corporation, I.G. Farben, became responsible for the deaths of
millions of people and consequently was dismantled in 1946 by
the Nuernberg Tribunal and split into Bayer, BASF, and Hoechst.
With the current plans of the German pharmaceutical companies,
the predictable dimension of the unnecessary and premature death
of millions of people is unavoidable. If the Codex Commission
is allowed to obstruct the eradication of heart disease by restricting
access to nutritional supplements, more than 12 million people
world-wide will continue to die every year from premature heart
attacks and strokes. Within the next generation alone, this would
result in over 300 million premature deaths, more than in all
the wars of mankind together..."
When I first read this, I took it with a grain of salt - until
I came across an article in Issue 14 of the Alternative Medicine
Digest, a reprint of an article that originally appeared in the
Wall Street Journal on April 25, 1996. The headline read "They're
Scientific When It Suits Them, But a $1.4-Billion Deal is Better
than Science." The article opened by saying that if a study
which was peer-reviewed by 5 independent medical experts had been
published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in
January 1995 as planned, American consumers with thyroid problems
would have saved $356 million a year in drug costs.
However, the publication of this article would have wrecked a
$1.4-billion deal for its manufacturer, Boots Company, the British
pharmaceuticals and drugstore chain. The study documented how
Synthroid, which controls 84% of the US thyroid medication market
and is used by 8 million Americans, works no better than 3 other
lower priced drugs.
The makers of Synthroid - first introduced in 1958 as a synthetic
version of thyroid hormone - had never been required by the FDA
to submit proper clinical trial data, like other drugs. An unpatented
drug for underactive thyroids,Synthroid's vigorous U.S. sales
have been protected by something as good as a patent: the presumption
that the competing, lower-priced drugs are not bioequivalent,
which means that they are not absorbed and assimilated as fast
and as well as Synthroid.
The JAMA study proved this presumption wrong and it was about
to call an end to Synthroid's free market run. Even worse, the
study would have jeopardized Boots' $1.4 billion buy-out by Germany's
BASF-AG. How did the study's sponsor, which has invested $250,000
to finance the research feel about it? It was the sponsor itself,
none other than Boots, that did everything to discredit the study
and block its publication. Quite clearly, scientific evidence
takes a backseat to preserving the competitive edge.
Another more recent web-site written from a Canadian point of
view about how Codex will affect Canada goes on to state:
In October, 1996, Codex met in Bonn, Germany to make radical
changes in the rules governing dietary supplements for member
nations. The proposals of greatest concern were those made by
the German delegation (see the proposed Draft Guidelines for Dietary
Supplements) and is being sponsored by Hoechst, Bayer and BASF.
These are the three drug companies formed when the Nuernberg War
Trials disbanded IG Farben, manufacturer of the poison gas used
in Nazi concentration camps. This is not the first time that the
UN has been linked closely with Nazi war criminals. Ostensibly,
their purpose is "...to create a set of international standards
to guide the world's growing food industry and to protect the
health of consumers.
Can reports from 4 different, totally unrelated sources, be ignored?
I think not!
The pharmaceutical company backed proposals call for the following:
1. No vitamin, mineral, herb, etc., can be sold for prophylactic
(preventive) or therapeutic reasons.
2. Natural remedies can be sold as food but they must not exceed
the potency (dosage) levels set by the commission. This means
that consumer access to dietary supplements will be limited to
the RDA dosage as a maximum limit for vitamins (Vitamin C - 60
mg. Vitamin E - 15 mg., etc.) Supplements without an RDA (e.g.
coenzyme Q10) would be illegal to sell because they would all
become drugs.
3. Codex regulations for dietary supplements would become binding,
eliminating the escape clause within the General Agreement of
Tariffs and Trade (GATT) that allows a nation to set its own standards.
This applies to all member countries of the UN. Any nation that
does not accept these new standards will be heavily fined by the
World Trade Organization (WTO) creating the potential for crippling
entire sectors of that nation's economy.
4. All new supplements would be banned unless they go through
the Codex approval process. Five steps have already been taken
in the Codex process over the past few years. Remember Canadian
Bill C-7 which was passed eventually in Canada as C-8? The similarity
of the process, the secrecy, and the wording between the Codex
proposals and the Canadian laws is uncanny. Voting in favor of
adopting the German proposals has been overwhelming (16 for 2
against in the most recent vote). The Codex process is now at
Step Five - formalization and debate concerning the specific features.
In two years, Codex could jump from Step 5 to Step 8 to finalize
these restrictions.
In the U.S., the FDA has already tried to use guerrilla tactics
to stop the use of these supplements. The first time I became
totally aware of their horrendous practices was in the case of
ESSIAC, the herbal formula that had been researched since the
1920's with excellent results in curing, yes I said curing, cancer.
Fortunately, once their tactics came to light, a nation-wide non-violent
revolution took place resulting in millions who were appalled
at the tactics, writing letters and calling their congressmen
and the FDA. The end result, ESSIAC is now widely available in
many forms. Even Respirin, the drug company in Canada who owned
the rights to the formula has started producing it and selling
it via magazine ads and in health food stores. All of this took
place in 1989-1990.
In 1992, the FDA raided the Tahoma Clinic in Kent, Washington.
The FDA alleged that Dr. Wright, MD was engaged in the commerce
of foreign labeled injectable "drugs" (which were actually
vitamins). This action interfaced with FDA raids of 17 health
food stores in Texas and others in Oklahoma, supplement manufacturing
facilities in California, Oregon, and Washington, and other nutritionally-oriented
medical doctors across the US. Again, there was a national call
to action of everyone interested in preserving their rights to
make their own choices in health care. Letters were mailed and
faxed to the White House by the millions and once again, the FDA
was forced to back off. At this same time Bill H.R. 3642/S2135
was in committee and being reviewed prior to voting it into law.
This bill would have given the FDA the power to put the health
food and dietary supplement industry out of business. It would
have also given them the power to legally conduct warrantless
searches, seize and embargo products and levy heavy fines ($250,000
on individuals and $1,000,000 on companies) without a trial. Again,
the people of the United States took action and through a powerful
campaign whereby they voiced their opinions, another small battle
was won for freedom of choice!
In 1995, the FDA attempted to quietly but quickly do away with
the use of any type of electronic instrumentation (not already
approved) for use in diagnosing, tracking, or treating illness.
This would have affected many doctors, dentists, osteopathic physicians,
chiropractors, etc. Fortunately, they banded together, got their
scientific studies and documentation together and, after a long
hard struggle, managed to hold their ground and prevent the FDA
and other interested parties (pharmaceutical companies and medical
practitioners who felt that only the usual methods of treatment,
ie. surgery and drugs should be allowed) from getting their way.
Now, here we are in 1997 and BY ALL APPEARANCES, the FDA has
ceased their efforts to take away our rights to make our own choices
about healthcare. Their policy with regard to the Codex standards
is stated in the Federal Register of October 11, 1995 - FDA Policy
on Standards, which states:
"It is the intent of this policy to enable the FDA to continue
to participate in international standards activities that assist
it in implementing statutory provisions...
and
"The development of an international standard that achieves
the agency's public objectives is generally, but not always, given
a higher priority than the development of a domestic standard...
and
"Where a relevant international standard exists, or completion
is imminent, it will generally be used in preference to a domestic
standard...
In considering the above statements about their intentions coupled
with their past tactics as well as their continuing policy of
ignoring the public's wishes in protecting health freedom, a public
outcry against the Codex is again called for. I urge you to educate
yourselves to what is really going on here. Most of the information
can be found on the Web. In the past 4 months, I have found only
one small article about this issue, tucked away in the back pages
of Issue 18 of the Alternative Medicine Digest which is on the
newsstands now.
If the German and Canadian proposals are passed, it would constitute
an effective end run by the pharmaceutical companies around the
medical rights of Americans. They wouldn't dare attempt to do
this in the U.S. because there would be such a public uproar it
would never pass through congress. However, by taking the stance
that they have, the FDA WILL ACCOMPLISH ITS GOALS BY LETTING CODEX
DO ITS UNACCEPTABLE DIRTY WORK. The pharmaceutical companies are
planning a global takeover of the vitamin-herb industry and within
a few short years, they will have succeeded by pushing competitors
out of the field. They are planning to do it very quietly and
carefully through GATT and the Codex Commission. They will succeed
if they are not exposed and their plan is not given national headlines.
This is the last wake-up call that may be given before it is
too late. It is of the utmost importance that everyone become
aware and voice their displeasure with the leaders of their respective
governmental agencies. In the U.S., it is imperative that everyone
call and write to their local congressmen. Phone the White House.
Call the FDA. Tell everyone you know to do the same. Call your
local newspaper and alert them to what is really going on here.
If we don't take action now, our freedom to choose will be taken
away without most of us even being aware that it had happened!
President,
The White House,
Washington, DC 20500
Phone: 202-205-5372
Fax: 202-260-8957
Email: president@Whitehouse.gov
Director, Food and Drug Administration
Office of Special Nutritionals,
HFS 456. 200 C St. SW,
Washington, DC 20204
Phone: 202-205-5372
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Codex
Alimentarius
