Act Now to Stop EU Directive Ban on Supplements!
Well the EU Directive on health supplements has not gone away, it's just been insideously heading toward an unfortumate conclusion. This is our last chance to stop them from banning a huge range of vitamin, mineral and other health supplements.
Does no one think it odd that we are allowed to smoke and drink ourselves to death, so long as we pay tax on these products, but heaven forbid that we should be allowed to take health supplements to support health and probably save the NHS millions in the process.
To be able to buy nutritional supplements is a basic human right!
Essentially, you need to email your MP to express you views and do it now!
After Tuesday it will be too late - details below.
Please help, millions of people take these supplements and many of which rely on them for any sort of quality of life.
Thanks - Andrew.
Answers:
There's also a Thread in General Discussions on this. We know that there is some repetition, but we have agreed that this is too important an issue to delete.
Andrew.
PS If you are in the Neston & Ellesmere port area of Cheshire, then your local MP is http://www.andrew-miller-mp.co.uk/
Please email your local MP before Tuesday.
Answers:
URGENT - ACTION NEEDED THIS WEEKEND
Please make sure your friends know about this campaign immediately.
From Carole Caplin and Jenny Seagrove.
We are sending this message to seek your urgent assistance with our campaign to
stop the impending ban of many vitamin tablets as a result of the controversial
European Food Supplements Directive.
On Tuesday evening, Conservative MP Chris Grayling and Labour MP Kate Hoey will
lead a cross-Party effort to force the Government to renegotiate the Directive
and end the threat to our minerals. The Opposition have given up half a day of
the time allocated to them for this debate, and it will provide an opportunity
for MPs to vote against the Directive and to instruct the Government to go back
to Brussels and renegotiate its provisions.
We need your help to make sure ALL MPs E-MAIL BOXES ARE FULL ON MONDAY &
TUESDAY. We need to put as much pressure on MPs as possible to vote with us on
Tuesday.
Please can you send an email to your own MP at Westminster over the weekend or
before Tuesday lunchtime urging them to back the Motion-414 and to oppose the
Directive.
The e-mail address for most MPs works in the following way; the surname and the
initial followed by @parliament.uk.
So John Reid, the Health Secretary's email address would be reidj@parliament.uk
and the Junior Minister involved, Melanie Johnson's would be
johnsonm@parliament.uk.
You might like to send an email to both of them as well.
If that doesn't work, and you're not sure of the constituency or the name of
your MP, you can find this out by visiting www.locata.co.uk/commons
If you are a Brit now living in Europe, you can still help! You can e-mail the
MP in the place where you last lived in the UK - and you can certainly e-mail
Melanie Johnson and John Reid.
Please give us your help. We are in the last-chance saloon for many of our
vitamin tablets. We have to get the Government to listen - and if they won't, we
need to let them know how angry we are.
Thank you and very best wishes
Carole and Jenny.
(for further information contact Sue Croft at letsliveSC@compuserve.com )
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Sue Croft
Consumers for Health Choice ~ Save Our Supplements Campaign
11 Green Pastures Road
WRAXALL
North Somerset
BS48 1ND
England
Telephone: +44 (0) 1275 852597
Facsimile: +44 (0) 1275 858702
Mobile: 07860 286425
Web site: www.healthchoice.org.uk
Answers:
Just Posted a draft letter Thread in General, that you can Copy and Paste any bits you like.
Here -
Act now, there's only one day to go.
Andrew.
Answers:
PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release 25 January 2005
EUROPEAN COURT OF JUSTICE ADVOCATE GENERAL DESCRIBES VITAMIN AND MINERAL BAN "AS TRANSPARENT AS A BLACK BOX"
UK GOVERNMENT DECIDES NOT TO ATTEND COURT HEARING TO MAKE ITS OBJECTIONS TO THE CHALLENGE
The Alliance for Natural Health today presented its oral submission to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg in its landmark case challenging the ban in the EU Food Supplements Directive on 75% of vitamin and mineral forms currently sold in the EU market.
Opposing oral submissions were made by the European Commission, the Council of Ministers, the European Parliament and only one EU Member State, Greece.
UK Government does not present its objections to the challenge.
Interestingly, neither the UK government nor Portugal attended to present oral arguments despite having filed Written Observations in the case. This means that none of the major EU countries felt the need to oppose the ANH's application for a declaration that the ban in the Directive was unlawful.
David Hinde Solicitor and ANH Legal Director said:
"Given the vigour with which the UK government resisted this application at the Judicial Review stage, it was extraordinary it did not now think the issue sufficiently important to warrant being represented at the ECJ to make oral submissions. The question inevitably arises whether this signifies a change of attitude on their part and a retreat from their previously bullish position about the legality of the Directive."
Paul Lasok QC, a world leading expert on EU law, representing the ANH opened the proceedings and systematically undermined the legal and scientific basis of the Directive, highlighting contradictions between various arguments put forward by the key bodies involved in developing the Directive, namely the European Commission, the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament.
When asked by Judge Lenaerts as to the origin of the positive list which appeared to have been derived from an old list produced by the European Commission, and so omitted a vast array of nutrients that can normally be found in food, Mr Lasok responded:
"The list was put together without adding, without subtracting and without thinking."
Advocate General Geelhoed, the senior judge at today's hearing, appeared to be baffled by the procedure for adding nutrients to the positive list, which he described:
"As transparent as a black box."
Dr Robert Verkerk, executive director of the ANH said after the hearing:
"It was remarkable that the vast majority of points that we had gone to great length to show the Court were not countered in any effective way by the opposing parties. The Commission, the Council and the Parliament were not able to give any adequate scientific explanations for why so many forms of vitamins and minerals that naturally occur in foods could be banned across the EU."
Final judgement expected in June 2005
The Advocate General announced that he would deliver his opinion on 5 April 2005, while the Court is expected to give its judgment in June, shortly before the ban would otherwise be set to come into effect on 1 August 2005.
ENDS
For enquiries and further information contact:
Alliance for Natural Health
www.alliance-natural-health.org
Answers:
Thanks for the update.
And.
Answers:
Hi. I have also posted this on the thread in general discusions.
My mp took part in the debate (on our side:)).
He has sent me a copy of the debate (Hansard) which is about 250 pages long. If anyone would like it for reference etc pm me & I will be pleased to pass it on.
PS. The food supplement part of the report is about 55 pages.
tony