Bill C-51, Codex and the SPP

(IntelStrike.com) - On April 8, 2008, Canada’s Health Minister introduced Bill C-51 which proposed sweeping changes to the Food and Drugs Act. The Canadian government has since been forced to make amendments because of intense grassroots pressure. There are fears that this Bill could lead to some vitamins, herbs, minerals, and dietary supplements no longer being available in the country. Through the Security and Prosperity Partnership (SPP), Canada, the U.S., and Mexico are already busy harmonizing food and drug regulations into a North American Union structure. Some have suggested that this Bill would also bring Canadian law into compliance with the Codex Alimentarius Commission. Bill C-51 has the potential to take away the rights of people to freely choose natural medicine as an alternative to expensive drug-based products and treatments.

Bill C-51 will further encroach on civil liberties and increase police state measures. There is reason for concern because of the Bills ambiguous language in regards to raids and seizures. It has been referred to as a police state bill masquerading as a health bill.  It will make it easier for Canadian officials to seize natural health products and remove them from store shelves. It grants inspectors the power to raid homes and businesses without a warrant and the power to seize bank accounts and property. Some might recall that in the early 90’s, the FDA engaged in paramilitary raids on American health food stores, holistic treatment centers, and other nutritional supplement businesses. This behavior created such a public outcry and backlash, leading Congress to pass the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) to protect the right of American consumers to purchase and use nutritional supplements.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: IntelStrike.com ]

Bill C51 in Canada is a MAJOR WARNING to all of us. Fascism is coming in through food and health products.

(OpedNews.com) - Activists in Canada have wrung some changes from the government in regard to Bill C51 it but the bill is so draconian that it stands as a warning to all of us of what corporate/government agencies will do to destroy alternative movements that are growing, whether in health or in food, and the means that they are using.

The bill derives its forces from the Codex Alimentarius, created by the United Nations in 1962, through a series of relationships between The World Health Organization (WHO), the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Trade Organization (WTO) as well as the American FDA and USDA.

The dangerous elements of the Codex are first, that these standards are devised as international rules intended for world-wide adoption, and second, that they classify nutrients as toxins.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: OpedNews.com, Linn Cohen-Cole ]

Clement wants Parliament to dig into food legislation

Clement was commenting on Canwest News Service reports about an internal government review showing big gaps in Canada’s safety checks on imported foods and a draft plan to transfer key parts of domestic meat and other food inspection to industry.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: Canwest News Service, Juliet O'Neill ]

Councillor wants town on record opposing Bill C-51

(Alliston Herald) - New Tecumseth Coun. Jim Stone believes changes to the Canadian Food and Drugs Act takes away freedom of choice and he wants to do something about it.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: Alliston Herald, Metroland Media Group Ltd., Maija Hoggett ]

Bill C-51 tries to fix things that aren’t broken in Canada’s health food industry

(The Huntsville Forester) - Regarding Bill C-51: if it is not broken, don’t fix it. The system is not broken. People are not dying in the street or in the hospitals from products sold in health food stores. But they are dying from prescription drugs and over-the-counter medicines.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: The Huntsville Forester ]

Is Bill C-51 a crackdown on natural health?

A former New Democrat MP claims that the Conservative government’s proposed amendments to the Food and Drugs Act are the result of lobbying from big pharmaceutical companies.

Lyle MacWilliam, who represented Okanagan-Shuswap from 1988 to 1993, told the Georgia Straight he formed part of former Liberal health minister Allan Rock’s 17-member transition team that helped set up the Office of Natural Health Products, now the Natural Health Products Directorate, where “the landscape for a new regulatory structure for NHPs arose”. Bill C-51 would amend the Food and Drugs Act and multiple other statutes, and this has MacWilliam worried for the fate of the natural-health-product industry, which he said will be placed under “stringent” and onerous conditions.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: Straight.com ]

Naturopathic doctor, others want Bill C-51 amended

The federal government’s Bill C-51, intended to update the Food and Drug Act and its regulations, isn’t necessarily a conspiracy by drug companies to control natural health products, a local naturopathic doctor says.

However, after attending a town hall meeting at Our Lady of Fatima Church hall Tuesday, hosted by local Liberal MPs Rodger Cuzner and Mark Eyking, Dr. John Hawrylak said it’s clear the Conservative government’s draft legislation needs to be amended.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: The Cape Breton Post ]

Bill C-51 – no cure for what ails us

If you’ve visited a health food or vitamin store in Canada recently, you’re no doubt aware that the federal government wants to change the way it monitors and regulates the health products you use.

There are dozens of bills before parliament right now, but none are generating as much ink or email as the proposed Bill C-51. In attacks led by the folks in the natural health products industry, the Bill’s main point of contention is the government’s wish to lump natural products and pharmaceutical drugs together under one regulatory umbrella. If Canadians are going to keep putting things into their mouths, those things do require some level of government oversight, regardless of whether the product was manufactured in a lab or drawn from a plant.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: CommonGround.ca ]

Draft Discussion Paper on the Amendments to Bill C-51

(NHPPA.org) - Bill C-51 was debated during second reading in the week ending June 13, 2008. During second reading the Government introduced amendments to the Bill.

Bill C-51has become a significant issue for persons in the Natural Health Community. Because of this, it is important for the amendments to be analyzed so that Canadians can understand the impact of Bill C-51 as it is now amended.

Discussion Paper Only

This is a discussion paper only and does not reflect the position of the NHPPA or of the NHPPA advisory board. The thoughts and comments are those of the author, Mr. Shawn Buckley and are intended to foster discussion.

The NHPPA will formulate its position after feedback from the Natural Health Community.

The Government is Claiming Victory for the Natural Health Community

One of the key demands of the Natural Health Community is for the Government to stop regulating Natural Health Products as drugs. According to the media, the Government is now claiming that with the amendments to Bill C-51 they have listened, and have now given Natural Health Products their own distinct category.

Click here to download the full article in printable PDF format.

[ Source: NHPPA.org ]

Letter to Ottawa about Bill C-51

Click here to download this letter as a printable PDF file

Dear____________________________,

Regarding Bill C51 and Health Canada’s (HC) regulation of Natural Health Products (NHPs), please take the time to consider the following before addressing my questions below.

The statement that Natural Health Products are not regulated as drugs, which many MPs and Ministers are making, is false. Under the Food and Drugs Act, there are currently only two choices: Foods or Drugs. In 1997, HC proposed the Establishment Licensing Act to stop regulating NHPs as foods, and move them all into the drug category. In one of the largest protests of all time, Canadians made it resoundingly clear they did not want this. The issue went to the Standing Committee on Health, and it was firmly established that the approval model used for pharmaceuticals could not be fairly applied to NHPs. Accordingly, the Committee’s first of 53 accepted recommendations to Parliament was that the Food and Drugs Act be amended to provide NHP’s with a distinct third category, separate from either “foods” or “drugs.” HC then held country wide consultations on the issue, and publicly announced that by far the number one desire of Canadians was to have increased access to a wider range of NHPs. Yet, against the public’s wishes, and Parliament’s directive, HC classified NHP’s as drugs anyway.

READ MORE HERE

Bill C-51 Must be Stopped NOT Amended

Click here to download this article as a printable PDF file

The NHPPA has fielded many inquiries concerning whether Bill C-51 should be stopped or amended. Because of the tremendous threat posed by Bill C-51 the NHPPA is taking the position that:

• Bill C-51 must be stopped, not amended, and

• The “Amend” Bill C-51 campaign threatens to undermine the Stop Bill C-51 efforts and permit Bill C-51 to pass with only superficial amendments.

Bill C-51 is too Dangerous to Take Chances With

Bill C-51 is the most significant threat to the Natural Health Community in generations. Some of the problems with Bill C-51 include:

• It is an offence not to follow the instructions of a Health Canada Inspector regardless of whether that direction creates a health risk. Natural Health Practitioners who are told to stop providing a treatment will be committing an offence if they continue to help their patients. Manufacturers of Natural Health Products will be committing an offence if they continue to provide products people rely upon for their health. In effect, Bill C-51 enables Inspectors without medical training to make health decisions;
• the scope of the definition of “sell” is expanded in a manner that will include single sales of compounded NHPs by natural health practitioners;
• trade agreements and foreign laws can be imposed without Parliamentary scrutiny;
• Pre-approval by Health Canada of all “therapeutic products” regardless of risk profile becomes mandatory. Exceptions are only by regulation on a single narrow ground;
• Fines for violations are increased by unprecedented factors of 500 and 1000 times. Directors and officers are made personally liable. Few in the NHP Community could survive a prosecution if Bill C-51 passes;
• Inspectors can seize private property for any reason, for any length of time, and without judicial oversight or pre-approval;
• Inspectors can destroy seized property without Court approval;
• Property owners are liable for seizure, transportation and destruction costs regardless of whether the seizure and destruction was justified.

For a detailed analysis of Bill C-51 see our Discussion Paper.

READ MORE HERE

Bill C-51: Targeting natural health products?

In the wake of a spate of product warnings, recalls and contaminated food warnings in 2007, the federal government announced that it would take steps to overhaul consumer protection legislation.

READ MORE HERE… [ Source: CBC.ca ]

Big Pharma Pushing to Criminalize Supplements

A new law being pushed in Canada by Big Pharma seeks to outlaw up to 60 percent of natural health products currently sold in Canada, even while criminalizing parents who give herbs or supplements to their children. The law, known as C-51, was introduced by the Canadian Minister of Health on April 8th, 2008, and it proposes sweeping changes to Canada’s Food and Drugs Act that could have devastating consequences on the health products industry.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: Canada Free Press ]

New bill threatens our civil liberties

On April 8, 2008, the Minister of Health in Canada introduced Bill C-51 into the House of Commons. This Bill proposes significant changes to the current Food and Drugs Act that would allow our government to bypass parliamentary approval on new laws introduced in Canada. It also authorizes enforcement without judicial review.

READ MORE HERE… [ Source: Miramichi Leader, Online Edition ]

The Failure of Multi-Ingredient License Applications is Estimated to Become 80-90%

The current 60% failure rate for product license applications has mainly involved applications for single-ingredient products. This means that 60% of single ingredient NHPs have failed to pass Health Canada’s stringent safety and efficacy standards. The difficulty in meeting Health Canada’s standards increases with each ingredient. Because of this many are estimating that 80 to 90% of multi-ingredient NHPs will become illegal when their license applications fail.

READ MORE HERE [ Source: NHPPA.org ]