TRADE, SOVEREIGNTY, AND BIG PHARMA

 

 

 

Phyllis Spivey
July 29, 2005
NewsWithViews.com

Understand the trade agreements – aka NAFTA, GATT-WTO, and the pending CAFTA – and you’ll understand why America is on its way to becoming a Third World country. You’ll know why illegal immigration has exploded and why the U.S. government refuses to halt it. You’ll know why millions of jobs have been outsourced and why remaining positions, whether unskilled, technical, or professional, increasingly go to foreigners, legal and illegal.

You’ll realize that many of America’s biggest problems, seemingly unrelated, have either been caused by the trade pacts or severely worsened, largely for two reasons: (1) in signing on to the agreements, the United States ceded huge chunks of sovereignty to international bodies; and (2) the trade agreements govern much more than matters of trade.

We can blame both policy directions for the latest attack on Americans’ freedom of choice. The villain is Codex, an international body that says its main purposes are to protect the health of consumers and ensure fair trade practices. The target is alternative health care, and the very survival of the health food industry is at stake

Carolyn Dean, author, medical doctor and president of Friends of Freedom International, describes this developing disaster in a July 23, 2005 article "Kiss Your Health Goodbye."

What is "Codex" that it should hold such immense global power over health and nutrition? The Codex Alimentarius Commission was created in 1963 by the United Nation’s World Health Organization and Food and Agriculture Organization. (WHO/FAO) to develop food standards and guidelines. They want all countries to "harmonize" their food laws and adopt internationally agreed standards; Codex standards, that is.

Critics insist, however, that Codex strategies are designed to benefit the European Union (EU) and eliminate competition for international pharmaceutical firms. "Follow the money", Dr. Dean says. She believes the enormous popularity of dietary supplements is hurting the drug industry, which wants to keep its monopoly over all aspects of health and disease. The new mandates would "set up framework to allow BIG Pharma to take over the supplement market as a new form of drugs where prices can be jacked up outrageously and doctors dole them out for a fee."

The EU has already embraced the BIG Pharma agenda. A July 12 Evening Standard article (www.thisislondon.com) reports that the European Court of Justice has cleared the way for "controversial new laws which could outlaw thousands of vitamins and mineral supplements." Under the EU directive to be effective August 1, health food companies will have to submit natural remedies, vitamin supplements and mineral plant extracts – many of them in long-established regular use – for approval. But that’s just the beginning.

In a worst case scenario, Codex Guidelines will decimate the health food industry. Not only will many vitamins, minerals, dietary supplements, and herbs be outlawed or made available by prescription only, others will be reconstituted, stripped of effectiveness. Codex standards will dictate content, source, nutrient quality, packaging, and labeling.

If the U.S. chooses not to comply with the new standards, it will be violating contract terms it has agreed to uphold. The EU will simply file a complaint with the 148-nation World Trade Organization (WTO) and, based on recent history, the WTO dispute panel will find the U.S. guilty of taking unfair advantage or creating unfair barriers to trade; punitive penalties will be imposed, and the U.S. will succumb. Already, Codex warns that measures taken by some countries to insure the safety of imported food, animals, and plants could constitute trade barriers.

No wonder U. S. pharmaceutical firms love NAFTA, GATT-WTO, and CAFTA. No wonder the all-powerful Business Roundtable – major lobbyist for CAFTA – is chaired by Henry McKinnell, Chairman and CEO of Pfizer Inc., the giant pharmaceutical company. This is the same Pfizer Inc. that prompted the Kelo lawsuit resulting in the infamous U.S. Supreme Court decision that decimates Americans’ property rights but allows Pfizer to bulldoze private homes and build its own massive development.

In NAFTA (Annex 703.3), the U.S., Canada, and Mexico pledge allegiance to Codex. GATT (Part III) and CAFTA (Section 6) build on that pledge. The Codex issue is reason enough to kill CAFTA but there are countless others. Most importantly, CAFTA works to erase borders and merge the United States with Western Hemisphere nations to create a European-style union, facilitating the end of the nation state.

Scheduled for a vote in the House of Representatives this week, CAFTA’s fate may be decided before you read this. Nevertheless, call your Congressman toll free at 1(877)762-8762 and demand to know how he or she will vote or did vote. A July 25 survey of Southern California. Republican congressional offices produced dismal results, especially because these politicians claim they’re opposed to against illegal immigration. Hah!

In the highly implausible "don’t know" category: Congressmen Dana Rohrabacher, Ed Royce, Christopher Cox, Gary Miller, Jerry Lewis;

Voting "yes" (according to a July 12 survey) – Darrell Issa, David Drier, Mary Bono, and Ken Calvert;

Voting "no" in all surveys – only one Republican – San Diego Congressman Duncan Hunter. Thank you, Congressman Hunter.

© 2005 Phyllis Spivey - All Rights Reserved