Most supplements to bebanned in Europe by August 2005

September 29, 2004

Hi All,

Roger Meacock forwarded this today.

Best regards,

Phil

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Roger wrote:

Those of you in N. America may not be aware of the implications of

the intended EU directive on sales of vitamins in N. America - I

know I wasn't. You may know people in the USA who would like to

know this.

Lynda (a friend of Roger's) wrote:

I assume you all know of the impending European legislation - the

EU directive on Dietary Supplements, part of the Codex

Alimentarius, the impetus of which comes from the German

pharmaceutical lobbies in the face of the rise in interest in

alternative therapies and natural remedies by consumers. In case

you don't, here's a very cogent summary, written by Dr Jonathon

Wright for an American audience. Supporting the UK legal action of

the Alliance for Natural Health against this legislation is critical if

you wish to be able to buy any sort of useful nutritional supplement

after August 2005.

Two years ago, I told you about the passage of the European Union

(EU) Directive on Dietary Supplements. This directive, which is part

of a larger form of legislation called Codex Alimentarius, severely

restricts access to natural health products in Europe. At the time,

it probably seemed a long way off: After all, the law wasn't to go

into effect for several years following the initial passage.

Unfortunately, that several years is up, and the EU Directive is on

track to take full effect in August 2005-less than a year from now--

and by 2007, the scene described above will certainly be a reality

for many, many people. Obviously, this is devastating news for

Europe. But thanks to some pre-existing international agreements

made by the U.S., the EU Directive will be just as devastating for

the natural health community here. The main difference is that

while the Directive has been big news in Europe for some time, it's

been virtually ignored by U.S. media, which means that the severe

restrictions it calls for will sneak up on most people and rob us all

of our freedom to choose natural alternatives before we even know

what's happening. That's why I and many of my colleagues in the

health publishing world have done our best to keep you informed of

the Directive's developments-and their consequences for the U.S.-

over the years. And why we've decided to make a big push in our

September newsletters by covering it in-depth.

Simply put, we're down to the wire, and if we don't act immediately,

we will be facing the same fate as Europeans. There are steps you

can take to get the word out and, hopefully, to diffuse this ticking

time bomb. But first, let's take a few minutes and recount some of

the specifics included in the Directive so that you know exactly

what it is we're fighting against.

5,000 PRODUCTS SET TO DISAPPEAR: The EU Directive

classifies vitamins and minerals in Europe as " medical drugs "

rather than dietary supplements, which means that they're subject

to government regulation in terms of dosage and availability. It gets

worse: There are many nutrients known to be vital to optimal health

that are not on the government's RDA nutrient list including

chromium picolinate, lysine, and selenium. Under the Directive,

these types of supplements are banned from over-the-counter sale.

Put simply, it will be illegal to buy them without a prescription.

The supplements that will be available will be restricted to multi-

vitamins containing no more than 100 percent of the established

RDA amounts, which are usually useless, trivial quantities--and

they'll be far more expensive than what we have now.

This Directive, for all intents and purposes, makes it illegal for

people to keep themselves healthy by supplementing with

essential nutrients. Plus, the Directive only allows supplements to

be made from a list of 15 minerals and 13 vitamins. That leaves out

at least 40 minerals important in human metabolism and forbids

the use of the most bio-available forms of vitamin complexes. In

essence, it means that all nutritional supplements will be virtually

the same-the specific combinations might vary, but the types and

amounts of nutrients will be identical-no matter what product

they're formulated into.

So, for instance, a middle-aged woman in Liverpool, England, who

has a dangerously elevated homocysteine level will no longer have

the option of reducing her risk of heart disease with a vitamin B

dosage of her own choosing. If she's currently taking 5 mg of folic

acid daily, under the new Directive she will be legally restricted to a

prescription of 1 mg per day. If she's taking a 100 mg dose of B6,

she'll be restricted to 10 mg. And her pantothenic acid (B5) intake

of 500 mg will drop to 200 mg. These maximum dosage levels have

been chosen to " protect " her (so we're told), when in fact the

protection she needs the most will be unavailable.

In addition to these essential B vitamins, low maximum dosage

levels have also been set for vitamin C, niacin, and vitamin E. But

at least they made it on the list of allowed nutrients.

Approximately 350 supplement ingredients are missing from the

list. If they are not added to the list by June 2005, they will be

deemed illegal throughout the European Union. Supplement

manufacturers may submit " technical dossiers " to support

applications for the inclusion of individual elements or formulations

on the so-called " positive list. " But the EU has made this process

so expensive and time consuming that many manufacturers simply

can't afford the costs involved. As a result, around 5,000 safe

formulas and nutrients that have been on the market for decades

will soon be banned.

SAVING US FROM OURSELVES: Of course, these regulations

were all passed under the guise of " protecting the public. "

According to the World Health Organization, popular alternative

medicines are often " misused " and may " harm patients. " They

point out that the " incorrect use " of alternative therapies has

caused deaths in wealthy countries where more and more patients

rely on them.

You could also argue that the incorrect use of kitchen knives, water

skis, and even plastic bags have all caused deaths! Not to mention

the use of AMA-sanctioned medical procedures and FDA-approved

drugs. The key phrase here is " incorrect use. "

The WHO could do everyone a service by first addressing the

incorrect use of accepted mainstream therapies that have caused

far more widespread death and adverse reactions than natural

medicine therapies ever have or ever will.

Although they are few and far between, there are mistakes and

fatalities associated with alternate therapies, supplements, and

herbal remedies. It's always important to keep in mind that many of

the compounds and herbs used in natural medicine treatments are

very powerful. They have risks and potential side effects, which is

why I always recommend that you work closely with skilled natural

medicine practitioners whenever you use these therapies. But even

with their cautions, natural remedies are far, far safer than

prescription drugs, and one reason might be the users themselves.

An article published in the journal Psychologist noted that people

who seek out natural and alternative treatments are generally more

health conscious than non-users, and believe that by making

sound lifestyle choices they can influence their own health. But not

if the EU has anything to say about it.

WHERE'S THE " FIGHT FOR FREEDOM " WHEN YOU NEED IT?:

You'd think that such blatant abuse of power to restrict people's

personal liberty would have our own self-proclaimed freedom-loving

government up in arms (literally). But there's an even darker side to

all this, and it has little--if anything-- to do with health or looking out

for people's best interests.

Even if the American government didn't want to go along with the

regulations imposed by the EU Directive, we really wouldn't have a

choice. In fact, the United States never has acknowledged or

stated any form of acceptance for the EU Directive. But hard as it

is to believe, this " Directive " can actually over-ride United States

law if it isn't stopped in Europe.

As a member of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the U.S. will

be bound by any finalized standards put forth in the Directive.

If we choose to ignore the regulations our WTO-affiliation binds us

to, we would face severe trade sanctions with other WTO

countries, which could potentially cripple part of our economy. And

there's no way that our already anti-natural-medicine government is

going to let that happen over access to vitamins and minerals. So

the best way to ensure it doesn't get to that point is to do

everything we can to stop it now--before it happens.

PROTECT YOUR RIGHTS WITH THESE 3 STEPS: There are three

actions to take:

(1) The most urgent is to support a case brought by the British

Alliance for Natural Health to overturn the European Food

Supplements Directive. In January 2004, the Alliance's attorneys (a

firm which has successfully had another European Directive

overturned) won the first round in the High Court of Justice in

London; the appeal was referred to the European Court of Justice.

Please visit the Alliance's website, www.alliance-natural-health.org,

read about their case, and most importantly, make a donation to

support their efforts to protect everyone's supplements, including

yours. Even a few dollars will help; a few dollars from each of us

will add up. If we can help them overturn this food supplement

dictatorship in Europe, it won't ever come here.

(2) The second action I urge you to take is to write, call, and e-mail

your state's Senators and Congressmen. Tell your Senators to

oppose S.722, the Dietary Supplement Safety Act, and tell your

Congressmen to oppose H.R. 3377, the Dietary Supplement

Access and Awareness Act. These two bills put the wheels in

motion for restrictions similar to those outlined in the EU Directive

to become U.S. law, which would be even more threatening to us

than just an inter- national code of standards. These extremely

dangerous and misnamed proposals would allow the FDA to " roll

back " most of the small amount of health care freedom you and I re-

gained with the 1994 " DSHEA " law we all fought so hard for. Even if

we're successful in helping the Alliance for Natural Health defeat

the European Food Supplements Directive, if these bills are passed

into law, our supplement choices will shrink dramatically anyway.

(3) The final step to take is to tell your U.S. Senators and

Congressmen to support U.S. Representative Ron Paul's H.R.

1146, the American Sovereignty Restoration Act. This accurately

named (for once) legislation would make the Constitution of the

United States the supreme law of the land again, and restore law-

making and judging power to our elected representatives and

American courts, respectively. Please don't leave this off your list;

in the long run, it's the most important action of the three.

Please make a donation-of any size-to the Alliance for Natural

Health as soon as you can. Then, please write, call, fax, and e-

mail your U.S. Senators and Representative as often as you can,

telling them to oppose S. 722 and H.R. 3377, and to support

American freedom by voting for H.R. 1146.

For further information on the European Union Directive on Dietary

Supplements and on the Codex Alimentarius legislation, contact

the American Holistic Health Association (www.ahha.org), the

Alliance for Natural Health (www.alliance-natural-health.org), or the

International Advocates for Health Freedom (www.iahf.com).

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Best regards,

Email: <

WORK : Teagasc Research Management, Sandymount Ave., Dublin 4, Ireland

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Chinese Proverb: " Man who says it can't be done, should not interrupt man doing

it "

September 29, 2004

For those interested in more information on the Codex regulations, I encourage

you to visit the website of the American Holistic Health Association

www.ahha.org The president of AHHA, Suzan Walters, is a friend of mine who as

been attending these meeting in Germany and has a lot of information about what

is going on at the AHHA site. - Matt Bauer

-

vBMA ;

Cc: traditional_Chinese_Medicine

Wednesday, September 29, 2004 2:18 PM