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NATIONAL
HEALTH
FEDERATION
A NOT-FOR-PROFIT HEALTH
ORGANIZATION
Codex Alimentarius
Commission (28th Session) Rome, Italy
NHF Update on Codex Proceedings Currently in
Session
July 5, 2005
The Codex Alimentarius Commission is an international body, operating
under the auspices of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and
the World Health Organization (WHO), that is charged with establishing
food standards that will be implemented worldwide. One of the food standards
being set is for vitamin-and-mineral food supplements, overseen by one
of the Commission's Committees that meets annually in Bonn, Germany.
That Committee had just last November prepared and sent to its parent
Commission a draft Guidelines for Vitamin and Mineral Food Supplements
that would greatly restrict consumer access to vitamins and minerals.
The National Health Federation, a U.S.-based
international nonprofit organization of health consumers seeking to
preserve health freedom in their various countries has attended Codex
meetings for years and is the only health-freedom organization with
a seat at the table of the Codex meetings. In its efforts to oppose
harsh and restrictive Codex standards, the NHF has been supported
at these meetings by many other organizations and individuals, including
the Danish-based MayDay, the Canadian-based Friends of Freedom International,
and the UK-based Alliance for Natural Health.
On Independence Day 2005, the Codex Alimentarius
Commission, meeting in Rome, Italy for its 28th Session, quickly went
down a list of many Codex guidelines for approval. It was obvious to
all that the Chairman, a Swede, was hell-bent for leather to get every
single one of the guidelines approved by the Commission. A rhythm of
approval was quickly set.
When the Chairman reached the draft Guidelines for
Vitamin and Mineral Food Supplements, the momentum slowed just for a
moment as the Chairman dealt with some last-minute revisions sought
by Australia, Venezuela, and China. The first two countries' revisions
were deemed technical while China's was determined by the Chairman to
be substantive. The last ruling was important because if a change sought
by a country was substantive, then the guideline could not be approved
and must be sent back to its Committee for re-review.
After these countries were heard, the Chairman recognized
the National Health Federation. NHF's head delegate and
General Counsel, Scott Tips, then spoke out as the sole voice against
adoption of the draft Guideline by the Commission. Arguing that they
were defective and must be sent back to Committee, Mr. Tips gave three
main reasons: (1) According to Codex's own Procedural Manual, guidelines
must state a purpose for those guidelines in the Preface and the draft
Vitamin-and-Mineral Food Supplement Guidelines do not contain a purpose,
(2) The Guidelines fail to define what vitamins and minerals are covered
by the Guidelines since they refer to an FAO/WHO list of approved vitamins
and minerals that does not even exist and therefore it is unclear as
to what would be covered by the Guidelines; and (3) The comments made
by China, and the changes sought by China to the Guidelines, were substantive
and according to the Codex Rules of Procedure as stated on page 27 of
the Manual of Procedure, any substantive amendment must be sent back
to the Committee and dealt with at the committee level.
After the NHF spoke, a so-called organization
of supplement associations, called IADSA, then argued in favor of the
adoption of the Guidelines.
Ignoring the blatant procedural defects, and with
all of the countries silent on the issue of health freedom, the Chairman
simply acted as he wished. He brushed aside the substantiveness of the
Chinese-requested changes, completely failed to address the issue of
those defects, and decided on his own that the Guidelines were adopted.
In doing so, the Chairman made a complete mockery
of the Codex Alimentarius Commission. He ignored and mocked its own
rules of procedure and he showed that the Commission is being run as
an autocracy and not a democracy. At least now, it can be clearly seen
by the World that the Commission needs to be completely reformed before
it continues any of its important works.
P.O. Box 688,
Monrovia, CA 91017 ~ 1 (626)
357-2181 ~ Fax 1 (626) 303-0642
Website: www.thenhf.com
E-mail: contact-us@thenhf.com
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