|
American media have raised little alarm about the U.N.'s Codex Alimentarius (Food Law). This surprises me. The Codex threatens to limit access to vitamins and health supplements. Yet these substances are seen as vital to health, even life saving, by many Americans -- especially the elderly.
What is the Codex Alimentarius, that it carries a name with a Roman imperial history? During the Roman Empire, various emperors created organized bodies of law like the Codex Justinianus. Down through Western history, the word "codex" has continued to imply any grand scheme to impose law and regulation on a broad scale. So it's no accident that this new food law, established in 1962 by two United Nations organizations -- the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) -- carries that ancient title.
For several decades, the 165-nation Codex Commission -- headed by a six-member Secretariat -- has been quietly meeting in FAO headquarters in Rome to set standards for everything from DDT use to fighting mad cow disease. The Codex has strong ties with the World Trade Organization and multinational corporations. There may be as many as twenty Codex Committee meetings in a year. In July 2001, for example, the Commission met in Geneva to discuss safety of GMOs and approve guidelines for organic livestock.
The Codex Alimentarius Commission describes itself as implementing "the Joint FAO/WHO Food Standards Program, the purpose of which is to protect the health of consumers and to ensure fair practices in the food trade. The Codex Alimentarius... is a collection of internationally adopted food standards presented in a uniform manner."
Sounds like a good thing, right? Who would object to clean food for the globe? International trade has meant that all kinds of dangerous organisms are being spread thousands of miles around the globe in food. The emergence of genetically modified foods, the over-use of hormones and antibiotics in food animals, the presence of industrial toxins in irrigation water and soil -- all have stirred hair-raising consumer questions. But the Codex Alimentarius is one of those swords that cuts both ways.
According to Organic Consumers Newsletter: "Codex decisions are made by the few, for the few. The public is not invited, and often non-governmental organizations are not permitted to observe. Under the World Trade Organization rules, Codex decisions override national and local decisions. So if, for example, Codex decided that no dose limits are required for irradiated food, the USA would not be able to stop the importation of foods irradiated at doses higher than the doses approved by the FDA."
Starting in the 1980s, Big Pharma began to cast covetous looks at the growing international market for alternative and preventive medicine and healthcare, which ranged from organically grown herb teas to commercial vitamins and health supplements. In many developing countries, people stayed loyal to ancient types of folk medicine, and many such national products -- like traditional Chinese herbs -- began to be widely exported. In industrialized countries, many people were losing faith in conventional Western medicine and veering to folk or alternative medicine. Growing numbers of older people used vitamins and supplements. In the U.S., the FDA tried to regulate vitamins and supplements as foods or prescription medicines. FDA argued that there were instances of dishonest advertising, substandard manufacture, improper use, and other dangers to consumers.
But many consumers fiercely opposed the FDA's move. They argued that some scientific studies show clear benefits from these substances -- that they have a constitutional right to make unregulated decisions about healthcare. Through the 1980s, Congress sided with consumers and blocked the FDA move.
Enter the Codex, with a plan cooked up by the German government and several multinational corporations. The Codex aimed to make an end run around Congress and other national legislative bodies. Currently, despite growing opposition from health group's worldwide, the Codex Commission is marching steadily towards adoption of its own strict guidelines for these substances. The Codex will (1) prohibit dissemination of health-related information concerning vitamins, amino acids, minerals and other natural products for prevention and treatment of illnesses, and (2) prohibit distribution of vitamins and other natural products, which exceed the guidelines of the Codex Commission. Countries failing to comply will be punished by WTO with economic sanctions.
Some Americans are happy that Codex is moving in. One prominent supporter wrote the FDA in 1997 demanding that the process of Codex control should be hurried up. He commented: "We believe that the adoption of these guidelines is essential to ensure that consumers do not consume excessive levels of substances that could lead to tragic adverse health consequences." So far the U.S. -- still responding to pressures from consumers -- has voted against Codex takeover of vitamins and supplements.
Consumer Health Newsletter of Canada cautions: "The name of the game for Codex is to shift all remedies into the prescription category so they can be controlled exclusively by the medical monopoly and its bosses, the major pharmaceutical firms. The Codex proposals already exist as law in Norway and Germany, where the entire health food industry has literally been taken over by the drug companies. In these countries, vitamin C above 200 mg is illegal as is vitamin E above 45 IU, vitamin B1 over 2.4 mg and so on." The Newsletter mentions that some supplements are already being sold in those countries at hugely inflated prices.
For Americans who have any legitimate interest in vitamins and health supplements, the handwriting on the wall of international law is clear. That old Roman sword is cutting too far, and in the wrong direction.
Express opposition by going to: target="_blank">http://www.health4us.org/codex.html#guidelines
Copyright 2002 by Patricia Nell Warren. All rights reserved.
Links from the article:
By Patricia Nell Warren;
Dr. Kelley |