Petition to U.S. CODEX Office to Follow DSHEA Builds Steam

WASHINGTON—A Citizen’s Petition, initiated June 1 by the Natural Solutions Foundation in an effort to convince the U.S. Codex Office to resist harmonizing with any Codex proposal that does not follow the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA), was signed by three U.S. Congressmen. Representatives Ron Paul (R-Texas), Dan Burton (R-Ind.) and Peter DiFazio (D-Ore.) issued a joint congressional letter to Ed Scarborough, Ph.D., manager of the U.S Codex Office, demanding he direct U.S. delegates to the upcoming Codex meeting in Rome to oppose adoption of the restrictive Codex Vitamin and Mineral Guideline (VMG).

The petition contends the Codex VMG violates DSHEA by setting upper limits for nutrients and treating them as drugs. The U.S. Codex delegation had previously announced its intention to support the VMG adoption; however, the three congressmen, Natural Solutions and numerous individuals who signed the petition claim any attempt to support the Codex VMG is illegal. They argue the Omnibus Consolidated Appropriations Act of 1997 (Title 19 USC 3512(a)(1) and (a)(2)) prohibits the United States from harmonizing with any standard which violates United States law—in this case, DSHEA.

“The VMG ... threatens our rights and laws in a serious way,” wrote the Congressmen. “This [Codex] standard represents a violation of the significant protection offered to us in this country by laws like DSHEA and similar statutes.”

The petition has been presented also to the White House, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Commerce Department, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Congressional leaders from both parties. The 28th General Sessions of the Codex Alimentarius Commission, a United Nations trade agency, was scheduled for July 4 to 9 in Rome.

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