More On CODEX - Help Needed

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The following is a quick synopsis on what and where CODEX is going and the difficulties that lie ahead. While this is a funding request for organizations and such it should really help if more individuals could also join the Friends of Freedom (membership from attached here). or go directly to the web site membership from here.

Thanks,

Chris Gupta

------ Forwarded Message
From: Carolyn Dean MD ND Date: Tue, 07 Sep 2004 12:54:13 -0400
To: Lyle Herd Subject: Codex Funding Request

Dear Lyle,

I hope you will be able to help and forward this to people who need to be involved.

After I wrote "Death by Medicine" (attached here) I became very active in the politico/legal aspects of supplement and health care regulation. I began to work with "Friends of Freedom", a health activist group in Canada. On June 22, 2004, we launched a legal challenge against Health Canada for their unconstitutional designation of several supplements as drugs. See:

Canadian Court Case against Health Protection Branch (HPB)

After seven years of meetings with Health Canada and reassurances that supplements would be in the designated Food category, the Canadian government did the opposite and began to designate supplements as drugs. This policy is in line with the Codex Alimentarius proceedings in the European Union.

My work with Friends of Freedom resulted in an invitation to fill a chair at the next Codex meeting in Bonn, Germany. It is almost impossible for new delegates to be allowed at these proceedings, so I am very grateful for the opportunity to be involved.

Codex, you may or may not know about, but being in the health care industry, Codex could dramatically impact your life.

I¹ll quote from a forty-page document commissioned, in part, by Friends of Freedom, written by an American associate, Diane M. Miller JD, Legal and Public Policy Director, National Health Freedom Coalition, and National Health Freedom Action.

CODEX is a group of 170 country member nations, that have gotten together to set up international safety standards for the rules around the trading of food products (which they have decided includes food supplements like Vitamins and Minerals). CODEX has become a charged word in the food industry because of the differences of opinion about what type of standards should be applied to all member nations when trading food.

Key players include:

1. Government officials: These are generally government employees from various agencies like the FDA and the DOA representing the American people at the international Rounds on trade. These officials are certain that they are doing the right thing delivering the position statements of their governmental agencies. The question to ask in this situation is whether an ³agency¹s position² is really always reflective of ³the people¹s position².

2. International corporations: These corporations finance professional staff from their for-profit corporations to travel and track the negotiations and write position papers and work to influence international governmental positions. The question here is whether the relationships between government employees and corporate employees are sufficiently independent and without conflict of interests with respect to each other¹s agendas.

3. International non-profit corporations: These groups, (non governmental organizations NGOs) are nonprofit corporations taking a stand one way or the other on global issues in order to impact international policy and laws. They can be special interest corporations that have an invested interest in a product area such as the International Dairy Association, or they can be consumer-based groups such as Consumers International. Although consumer based NGOs and other corporate NGOs are very different in focus and nature, they are all considered NGOs. NGOs have to raise donations from, often times, corporate sources. The questions here are whether the NGO is representing their members properly and whether they have been influenced by their funding sources or markets that they have an interest in. For consumers, it is especially important to ask whether a consumer based NGO is reflecting consumer wishes.

4. Local and national activist groups: Local groups in each country generally do not have an international membership so they communicate with the international groups to glean information to tell the local people. Most of their staffs are volunteers. The question here is whether they are getting accurate and unbiased information.

5. Trusting Americans and Canadians: Trusting Americans and Canadians often are comfortable in their job, home, and priorities, and busy with their lives, and have no intention of learning or acting on global issues because of their complexity. Therefore they trust their elected officials and the people who really care about specific issues to do the right thing. The question here is whether the American people can trust the global process like they trust their own local processes.

6. And finally, vigilant Americans and Canadians: Vigilant Americans and Canadians are interested in being enlightened citizens on many issues and would do the right thing if they just knew what to do. The question for them is also one of trust. It is OEwho to believe?¹²

I have the opportunity to be part of an NGO, which is Friends of Freedom, whose purpose is very simple

The medico/legal work I do for health freedom and much of my work for health care reform is essentially pro bono. Unfortunately, the people we are lobbying against have very deep pockets. This trip to Bonn will have a high price tag

You can submit your donation by joining Friends of Freedom-International with the attached membership form. And let me know so I can send you Diane Miller's paper.

I am well aware that everybody is asking for money these days but I also know that if we don¹t fight Codex now, none of us will have either personal access to supplements or professional access to supplements.

I am asking for a $250-$1,000 contribution. If you wish to share your report with other organizations and individuals please donate the larger amount and ask your friends to share your cost.

Sincerely and Thankfully

Carolyn

See also: Risk Analysis - A Study Of Canadian Health Products Legislation

 

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posted by Chris Gupta on Monday September 13 2004
updated on Saturday September 24 2005

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