USA - what can they do?

It has been a mystery to many at how slow the US has been to get involved in protecting their markets in the face of the EU legislation proposals. Americans are great supplements users and it would make sense for them to protect their substantial market. They could have long ago made a very good case against the Directive - citing barriers to trade. After all, if CODEX follows the EU, not only will US lose its global export market, it will lose its home market too. So helping the UK to stop the Directive should have been at the top of their list.

Without question, the EU is the single strongest influence at Codex meetings, and the EU Food Supplements Directive is essentially the blueprint for the Codex Guidelines for Vitamin and Mineral Supplements.

Unless serious changes are made to the way in which Codex operates therefore, it would not be unreasonable to expect that other EU health-related legislation, such as restrictive regulations on nutrition and health claims, will become the blueprints for still further standards to be enacted on a globally harmonised basis.

But it is still not too late for US supplements users to put pressure on their own governments to press for changes in Brussels. It is true that we are approaching the setting of the dose levels for all vitamins and all minerals (expected early in 2009) - and there are other issues still to be resolved. But until the last moment - until the ink is dry on the final document, everyone - irrespective of their geographical location, should make sure their own voice of protest is heard in Brussels - and that all involved in legislative matters receive and act upon that message.

Don't let the EU steal our supplements!