WHY ARE YOUR NATURAL HEALTH PRODUCTS UNDER ATTACK? Expensive prescription only or expensive over the counter drugs with lower potency will replace the present inexpensive, free availability of herbs, botanicals, vitamins and minerals. The new guidelines are supported by the international drug giants.

The Codex Alimentarius Commission, formally established in 1962, is a subsidiary of a joint program of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization's Food Standards Program. The Commission, composed of member governments including Canada, is mandated to set international reference standards for trade in all kinds of food products. On November 4-8, 2002, the Codex committee on Nutrition and Foods for Special Dietary Uses (NFSDU) met in Germany to develop guidelines which will result in binding new global trade rules for health supplements. Food and drug laws of all member countries will be "harmonized" to emerging international standards.

Vitamin and mineral supplements will be defined as drugs, not as food. Although the Codex guidelines are not immediately applicable as laws, they are nevertheless used by many countries including the Third World for creating their own legislation. So the Codex is used as a tool by the globalizing forces on this planet (the Pharmacartel & Co.) to maintain their financial dominion.

Codex Guidelines for Dietary Supplements mean that no dietary supplement sold under the food category can be sold for preventive (prophylactic) or therapeutic use (no health claims can be made) and that no dietary supplement sold as a food can exceed potency (dosage) levels set by the commission. Dietary supplements of higher potency will be sold as drugs and sold by the pharmaceutical or phytopharma-ceutical companies.

This allows them to monopolize unpatentable botanicals. Expensive prescription only or expensive over the counter drugs will replace the present inexpensive, free availability of herbs, botanicals, vitamins and minerals. The new guidelines are supported by the drug giants Hoechst, Bayer and BASF.

NEW GLOBAL RULES FOR HEALTH We are affected not only by what happens in Canada, but also by what happens at the Codex meetings. ***They want to limit internationally and nationally, access to vitamins and minerals and all kinds of dietary supplements. They want to limit potencies and combinations. In the case of potencies, they want to limit them to useless levels, reserving the right to sell and produce the higher potency products to the drug companies and the big phytopharmaceutical companies, principally of Germany and France (which are also connected to the big drug companies).

The Codex proposals already exist as law in most countries around the world with the exclusion of Canada, the U.S. and New Zealand. 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 regulation of supplements is at different stages in countries across the globe. The European Union already passed its Food Supplements Directive in July of 2002, framing it on the principle that supplements should be proven safe and effective in the same manner as pharmaceuticals. The UK is in the process of implementing this directive. Australia, Canada, New Zealand and a host of other nations are involved in their own battles, and in the U.S., Senator Dick Durbins proposed Dietary Supplement Safety Act of 2003 is one of the first shots in what will undoubtedly become a mounting campaign.

CODEX AIMS TO PROFIT THE MULTI-NATIONAL PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANIES Profit margins are believed to be highest when you take things like vitamins and minerals in high potencies, and herbs and botanicals, and turn them into over the counter drugs because in that class you can limit competition by setting the obstacles high enough that the small companies can't compete, and you can charge a great deal more money for your product. At the same time you can also make therapeutic claims for your product. So the bigger companies, especially the ones with the German and French connections, all see this as a golden opportunity to make more money by turning these products into over the counter drugs. From the consumer point of view this approach is disastrous because it means low potency product at high price. All of the pharmaceutical companies have already begun a massive buyout of the German phytopharmaceutical companies, so a herbal company in Germany is likely to be owned by Monsanto etc.

SUPPLEMENT COMPANIES WHICH SUPPORT CODEX There are some health companies out there who are selling vitamins, minerals, herbs etc. who are supporting Codex. There is an entity called the European-American Phytomedicine Coalition which is at work on both sides of the U.S. Canadian border. It is comprised of American and Canadian herb companies like Quest, Nature's Way, NuLife and others which have formed alliances with German phytopharmaceutical companies. Over the last decade or so, the multinational pharmaceutical companies have been buying up smaller phytomedicine and supplement companies (see Gen Eng News, Apr 15/97, Vol.17,No.8). It is in their best interest to sweep their smaller competition off a cliff. We know who these groups are through their stands on these issues. It is to their advantage to present a lot of disinformation which they have been doing. They really want supplements categorized as drugs. * * *

II NATURAL HEALTH PRODUCTS REGULATIONS IN CANADA

The new Natural Health Products Regulations are scheduled to come into force in early 2004. Under the new regulations, all natural health products will be considered a subclass of drugs. (see article by Dr. James Lunney, MP). Antiquated clauses in the Food and Drugs Act make it illegal to make health claims for natural health products when they are classified as food. As soon as a health claim is made (see Section 3(1) and 3(2) and Schedule A of the Food and Drugs Act), Health Canada declares the product a drug.

The global pharmaceutical cartel with the collusion of compliant governments is moving to eliminate its competition from natural health products and services all over the world. Over 167 natural health products have already been surreptitiously restricted or eliminated from the marketplace by Health Canada. Among these are Kava Kava, natural progesterone cream, tryptophan, lysine, DHEA, and melatonin.

In addition, Health Canada effective January 1st, 2004 is classifying as DRUGS all 60,000 natural health products that exist is Canada. This will reduce your choices by at least 20,000 products, and increase the prices of those remaining by at least 15%! Health Canada is also conspiring to reduce the available potencies, and is now charging GST on all of our natural Health products. This has given the federal government over 200 million dollars of new revenue.

Health Canada has recently attacked a number of small manufacturing companies:

1. Health Canada and has shut down a large double blind study on Empowerplus which was showing early signs of phenomenal success. Preliminary results have been published in at least four peer-reviewed psychiatric journals. Health Canada interpreted news of such success as a health claim, shut down the study, raided the company, is seizing their orders at the border and has threatened to remove Empowerplus from the market. Empowerplus, marketed by Truehope, is a vitamin and mineral supplement composed of widely available over the counter ingredients. Empowerplus is effective in the treatment of bipolar disorder (manic depression). In May, 2003, a mental health support group filed suit in the Federal Courts aimed at the Federal Minister of Health, Anne McLellan, and Health Canada alleging in the suit that Health Canada and the Minister have acted outside their statutory authority and jurisdiction, committed errors of law, and abused their discretion by seizing shipments of the nutritional supplement.
2. Health Canada has charged the Strauss Herb Company, the maker of Strauss Heartdrops®, three times and then dropped the charges. The latest charges were filed January, 2003, then dropped in May by Health Canada when the charges were challenged as unconstitutional. Jim Strauss wants a chance to be heard and is suing Health Canada for malicious prosecution. Named defendants in the writ of summons and the statement of claim filed June 11, 2003 are employees of Health Canada and the Attorney General of Canada.
3. Health Canada has attacked MSM, the key ingredient in Biomedica's successful product called Recovery, but they recently backed off and didn't follow up on this.

WHAT IS BEING DONE?

On March 20, 2003, Dr. James Lunney, MP, introduced Private Members' Bill C-420, an act to amend the Food and Drugs Act in the House of Commons. It received the first hour of debate on April 9, 2003.. The bill successfully passed the second reading on October 22, 2003 with a margin of 124 to 85! It will now be referred to the Standing Committee on Health for review and recommendations before returning to the House of Commons for further debate and voting.

This bill would put natural health products under an appropriate food-style directorate. Good manufacturing practices and supervision would still be imposed.

* Bill C-420 would amend the definition of 'food' in the Food and Drugs Act to include dietary supplements, herbs and other natural health products, and amend the definition of 'drug' to exclude food. * Bill C-420 would also repeal Sections 3(1), 3(2) and Schedule A of the Food and Drugs Act, which prevents anyone from conveying scientific information that Natural Health Products could be used to treat or prevent any of the diseases listed in Schedule A.

Unless these antiquated clauses are removed, Health Canada will continue to use them to classify any effective natural health product as a drug and restrict access to products.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?
1. Support lawsuits currently underway challenging the constitutionally illegal regulations and enforcement by Health Canada (contact Trueman Tuck at myrights@friendsoffreedom.org)
2. Contact your MP and urge him/her to support Bill C-420 which would see all natural health products regulated as foods, not drugs.
3. Contact and support Friends of Freedom and Freedom of Choice in Health Care
4. Support the Canadian Alliance of Health Retailers Inc., President, Croft Woodruff. For membership application form phone 613-968-2613. See www.canadianallianceofhealthretailers.ca Please note that the Canadian Health Food Association gives full support to the government's steps to regulate supplements under the drug category.

For detailed information about the new regulations for natural health products you may call Health Canada at (613) 957-2991 or go to their website www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hpfb-dgpsa/nhpd-dpsn/index_e.html

Over the past decade, the HPB has restricted or banned the following natural supplements from Canadian health food stores. Some are available with a doctor's prescription.
Arginine, Boron, Carnitine, Chaparral, Chromium picolinate, Comfrey, Cramp bark, DHEA, Germanium, Goldenseal, Gotu kola, Horsetail, Kava Kava, Lysine, Picolinates, Melatonin, Ornithine, Phenylalanine, Pregnenolone, Progesterone crème, Proline, Selenomethionine, Sodium oxide dismutase (SOD), Stevia, Taheebo (Pau d'Arco), Tryptophan, Tyrosine, Vitamin K, Zinc & magnesium, picolinate

Stay informed! Stay active! Participate with the three-group coalition to defend our rights of choice: Friends of Freedom, Freedom of Choice in Health Care Canadian, Coalition for Health Freedom Ste. 104, 199 Front St., PO Box 22099, Belleville, Ontario K8N 5V7 phone 613-968-2613 or 888-872-7035 www.friendsoffreedom.org www.freedomofchoicecanada.org myrights@friendsoffreedom.org