Natural Solutions Foundation
www.HealthFreedomUSA.org
www.GlobalHealthFreedom.org
Draft NO HARMonization Bill
H.R. ________: To amend the Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act, Title 7 of the United States Code (Agriculture) and for other purposes.
HR _______
111th CONGRESS
1st Session
To amend the Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act and Title 7 of the United States Code regarding harmonization of United States food regulations with international regulations or guidelines, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July _____, 2009
[Co-Sponsors]
A BILL
To amend the Food, Drug and Cosmetics Act and Title 7 of the United States Code regarding harmonization of United States food regulations with international regulations or guidelines, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘Food Regulations No Harmonization Act” and may be referred to as the “No Harm Act.”
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.
1. International regulations or guidelines include the Guidelines adopted by the Codex Alimentarius or other bi-national, multinational or international bodies or agreements.
SEC. 3. CONGRESSIONAL FINDINGS REGARDING HARMONIZATION.
The Congress of the United States has determined:
1. The stated policy of the Food and Drug Administration of harmonization of United States food regulations with international guidelines announced in the October 11, 1995 issue of the Federal Register (60 FR 53078) should not the public policy of the United States.
2. The restrictions on harmonization of United States regulations enacted by Congress as 19 USC 3512 are insufficient to protect the interests of the United States and its citizens.
3. Codex Alimentarius guidelines are not mandatory upon the member nations and are merely “presumptive evidence” of the law to be applied in international trade disputes under the World Trade Organization, with member nations being allowed to adopt other science-based guidelines, laws and regulations.
4. Further restrictions on food regulations are required to protect the freedom of United States citizens to choose natural, unadulterated, nontoxic food products as a matter of national security, to protect the integrity of the national immune system thereby reducing the requirement for excessive medical costs secondary to food-born disease.
SEC. 4. NO HARMONIZATION WITH INTERNATIONAL OR DRUG REGULATIONS.
1. The Department of Agriculture, Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Trade Commission, the Food and Drug Administration and all other Federal agencies are directed to pursue a policy of not regulating food on the basis of harmonization with international guidelines or regulation of Dietary Ingredients. This policy includes all foods, including those offered with claims permitted under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, DSHEA. United States food regulation shall support the widest possible availability of recognized safe, high quality, high potency Dietary Ingredients and preserving to United States citizens their right to freedom of choice in health care, health care strategies and options. Organic, biodynamic and/or other non-genetically modified, non-irradiated or additive-free foods and Dietary Ingredients offered with claims to promote health, including all compounded, nutraceutical, bioidentical and functional foods, shall be included in the protections from harmonization enacted herein.
2. Neither the Food and Drug Administration, nor other department or agency of the United States, shall create a regulatory category known as “Complementary and Alternative Medicine (or Modality) Products”, or “CAM Products.” Dietary Ingredients used with informed consent by practitioners of complementary or alternative modalities shall be regulated as foods, generally recognized as safe, and not as drugs.
3. No department or agency of the United States shall issue, promote, support or permit regulations that denigrate the highest scientifically possible standards for organic foods, so that the public may be assured that, when buying foods denoted as “organic” they are buying foods that are only organic in origin and processing. Any deviation, no matter how slight, from strict organic standards must be clearly stated on the product label. These standards shall apply to organic food produced both domestically and internationally which are imported for distribution in the United States. Processes and conditions such as irradiation, gas sterilization, fumigation or other non-organic processes, which are prohibited for domestically produced organic foods shall not be permitted in foods imported into the United States and labeled or presented for sale in the United States as organic.
4. No department or agency of the United States shall issue, promote, support or permit regulations that allow irradiation of foods without that fact being prominently stated on the product label.
5. No department or agency of the United States shall issue, promote, support or permit regulations that allow Genetically Modified (GM) ingredients in foods without that fact being prominently stated on the product label. All foods which contain genetically modified (GM) ingredients or ingredients derived from genetically modified (GM) sources shall state that fact prominently on the product label.
6. No department or agency of the United States shall issue, promote, support or permit regulations that forbid purveyors of foods that are free of Genetically Modified (GM) ingredients from stating that truthful and not misleading fact on the product label.
7. All Food and Drug Administration regulations, guidances and policies that require the irradiation of food (including Dietary Supplements) or prohibit the truthful labeling of food (including Dietary Supplements) as non-irradiated, not genetically modified or toxin free are hereby repealed. This provision shall apply to imported foods as well as domestically produced foods, including Dietary Supplements.
8. Relationship of international food safety and claims agreements, including Codex Alimentarius to United States law and State law: United States law to prevail in conflict. No provision of any of international food safety and claims agreements, including Codex Alimentarius, nor the application of any such provision to any person or circumstance, that is inconsistent with any law of the United States shall have any effect. This statute may be cited as governing by any party to a dispute in any Court in the United States where such provision shall be in controversy.
9 No US agency or representative at Codex Alimentarius or other bi-national, multinational or international forum may bring forward, support or accept any standard, guideline or other international decision which conflicts with US food law or regulation, including DSHEA. US representatives must declare their opposition to, and reservations regarding, any such regulation.
10. If any international body, including Codex Alimentarius, adopts or ratifies (by vote, consensus or otherwise) a policy, guideline or standard which conflicts with US law or policy, non-adoption of which could result in World Trade Organization sanctions or trade sanctions by any other international body, the US shall take those steps necessary to adjust US law and regulation to protect it from such trade sanctions, such as adopting other science-based guidelines and laws or regulations derived therefrom, consistent with this Act.
Draft 1.2 rev.07.20.09
