EU Supplements Directive
by Danielle Bryant BSYA (N.Th.)
This EU Directive came into force in January 2010 in a bid to control what is regarded as ‘safeupper limits’ of potencies (or strengths) of supplements that are available to us. The levels thathave been suggested are extremely low and are of no benefit to our health. This Directive has failed to have an impact as yet and this is due to the failure to agree on these so-called ‘safe upper limits’.
| EU Directives for Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products
This EU Directive is now in force as from 1st May 2011. There is much confusion and ambiguity regarding the effects of this directive but many therapists, practitioners, re-sellers and personal users of natural herbal products are now worried about the future availability of these products. |
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It is believed that many herbs will still be OK to be sold as long as there are no medical or health claims made – which is fine for those of us who know about them, but not so good for people to educate themselves and make informed choices on how they manage their health.
It is still unclear how much impact this will have – our suggestion is to stock up on your essential supplements and herbs, even look into growing your own. We believe self-sufficiency is the answer here if that is possible. We understand that future implications of further legislation may try to take our right to grow our own away – but if millions of us are doing it maybe we would make it impossible to police?
ACTION PLAN
At EU level there is not much that can be done, however we can contact our MPs, MEPs, councillors, etc to show our discontent and concern.It is worth signing as many petitions as possible (bear in mind some may be set up by controlled opposition to act as comfort blankets) however there is not much really that can be done for the long term as the driving force behind this Directive is a global entity entitled Codex Alimentarius Commission. There are petitions on Facebook, Avaaz.org, and many other websites across the web. We can make our voices known but not really have any long term impact on the outcome. Even if the Directive was overthrown we then have to contend with Codex.The long term plan is therefore to fight Codex and the most efficient way of doing this is by supporting the only unbiased delegate who actually attends the meetings and speaks out for us!
Codex Alimentarius
This term actually means Food Code and the commission was set up in the early 60s in an attempt to control anything that enters our mouths, or the mouths of animals that we use for food. The commission is made of an unelected representitive (or bureaucrat) from each country and various other delegates from other corporations and organisations, many of which have corrupt Pharmaceutical, Agribusiness, Biochemical and BioTechnical interests.
The National Health Federation won a delegate position at the turn of the millenium as an unbiased health freedom and consumer education organisation. To this day they remain the ONLY unbiased organisation that is concerned with our health freedom. The Commission is run by the World Health Organisation, The Food and Agricultural Organisation and more recently the World Trade Organisation. To begin with the commission just set up a load of guidelines, but since the WTO became involved many non-compliant countries are having to deal with heavy penalisation which will eventually force them to become compliant with their guidelines.
At present the EU is not ‘Codex compliant’ but the WTO are fining us 150 million Euros per year for not importing genetically modified meat from Canada, and with this figurerising every year we will soon be forced to comply. The aim is to get all countries to comply before April 2012.
In the EU a great distraction is now in place with the EU Directives that have come into force recently: the Supplements Directive in January 2010 and now the Directive for Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products in May 2011. Now many therapists, re-sellers and users of natural products are far too busy campaigning to get these directives overthrown and all the while Codex is creeping in through the back door.
If you inform any MP or MEP about Codex they will generally come back with a reply such as“nothing to worry about as it is just a set of optional guidelines”. But this is what they are told, and they are not told the underhand way in which we are being forced into this. But by contacting these people who are meant to work for us, we are telling them we are not happy.
The natural health industry could eventually be driven underground without any regulation or quality assurance as many people will refuse to bow to pharmaceutical products and synthetic remedies. But if we can channel our energies in following the only path that can actually work –the only path that can attack the belly of the beast – maybe there is hope after all.
You can become involved in the NHF in many ways:
1. Join our mailing list and attend our monthly meetings for free – we are not just about collecting money, we also want to educate and spread the word
2. Join the NHF as an associate member, for only £20 (concessions available) you can financially support your national branch and the work of Scott Tips, our president and delegate at the Codex Commission
3. Join the NHF as a full member direct with their headquarters in the USA, and receive quarterly magazines (sent by air at present)
4. Help to advertise, distribute leaflets, run local meetings, spread the word, donations of stalls at health shows, talks, etc are all very valuable to us. We are happy to arrange to come along and talk at your business or event, or if you would like to arrange your own public talk we will be very happy to support you!
This article was not intended to be a sales or information leaflet for the NHF (and I apologise that it has taken this route) – it is simply the ONLY true path that we believe can work!
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