To: IAHF List
Subject: US Laws Not Safe From Harm-onization - Sovereignty Being Stripped From Us - No Law (including DSHEA) is Safe
From: "International Advocates for Health Freedom" jham@iahf.com
Date: Wed, 20 Dec 2000 16:55:41 -0500
IAHF List: (Please see news story below my comments) The FDA, Pharmaceutically corrupted Vitamin Trade Associations, and Members of Congress being scripted by FDA when replying to constituents demanding oversight on the Codex Vitamin Issue are all claiming that Codex "cannot, and will not" force US dietary supplement laws to be harmonized to emerging very restrictive Codex vitamin standards. Strictly speaking, this is NOT (technically) a lie, but it is none the less VERY misleading.
There IS an exemption clause in the Federal Statute that implements the GATT trade agreement. In THEORY this clause protects our laws from harmonization, but in REALITY it is only a paper tiger, and the situation described below PROOVES it. What happens is that in every single case where the US has lost trade disputes over safety, public health, or environmental issues, Congress has harmonized our laws due to the threat of trade sanctions if they do not.
Could this happen to our dietary supplement laws? ABSOLUTELY! What can we do to stop this? Keep demanding an oversight hearing until we GET one, and keep WAKING UP more people world wide to the TRUTH! IAHF has just organized the biggest radio broadcast in the world to expose the truth about the Codex vitamin issue. It will air on the web December 27, from noon-eastern US time, and can be heard world wide on the Gary Null show at http://www.vitalcast.com/ Be sure to download the free software in advance of the broadcast in order to listen. It's available from that website, and takes a half hour to download.
IAHF needs your urgent donations to help the health freedom fighters of Europe stop the European Vitamin Directive by March. If we don't stop it, all 15 EU countries will soon walk in lockstep with Germany leading in to the next Codex meeting in Berlin in 2002. IAHF POB 625 Floyd VA 24091 USA sign up for IAHF email distribution list at http://www.iahf.com/ Please forward this mssg to more people!
http://www.citizen.org/press/pr-gtw17.htm
NAFTA's Plummeting Image: Now Safe Highways Are a Trade Barrier
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, a NAFTA dispute tribunal issued an interim ruling that could jeopardize the safety of everyone who drives on America's highways. The panel ruled that the U.S. is violating NAFTA by prohibiting unsafe Mexican trucks from roaming freely throughout the U.S. Under NAFTA rules, if the U.S. does not agree to open the border to Mexican trucks, it faces trade sanctions.
Public Citizen urges the U.S. government to work to obtain a reversal of this interim ruling. However, if the final NAFTA panel ruling remains against the public interest, the U.S. must accept the trade sanctions and in the name of safety, keep the border closed.
"The safety of our highways must not be compromised, no matter the price," said Public Citizen President Joan Claybrook. "Keeping Mexican trucks within a limited border area is essential for the safety of U.S. highways. The serious safety problems with the Mexican truck fleet have not been addressed since President Clinton first refused to open the border. Granting unlimited U.S. highway access to deadly Mexican trucks was then -- and is now -- an astoundingly bad idea." Claybrook served as the top U.S. auto safety official in the Carter administration.
U.S. Department of Transportation data show that Mexican carriers licensed to operate in the U.S. are more than three times as likely to have safety deficiencies as U.S. carriers. Common safety problems include faulty brakes, tires, taillights and brake lights. The problems found with Mexican trucks are among the top causes of serious crashes. In Mexico, trucks are allowed to carry heavier loads. Mexican truck drivers have no hours-of-service limitations compared to the limits set on U.S. drivers of 10 hours of continuous driving. While operating in the U.S., Mexican trucks are supposed to comply with U.S. standards, but the U.S. does not have enough inspectors to ensure that trucks crossing the border follow U.S. regulations.
"This ruling is exhibit A in the case for why NAFTA is a backwards, damaging agreement that the public dislikes more each time it trounces public safety in the name of an extreme corporate-managed trade agenda," said Lori Wallach, director of Public Citizen's Global Trade Watch.
Added Claybrook, "This ruling is particularly galling because it allows unelected bureaucrats essentially to overturn American laws and safety standards. It is also appalling that the ruling was based on trade alone; the panel refused to hear evidence about safety and the risks that the trucks pose to the American public."