“H.R.759 is dead, Long Live H.R.2749” That was the cry of the anti-health-freedom goons on Capitol Hill in Washington as the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, chaired by Congressman Henry Waxman, approved H.R.2749, the misnamed “Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009.”
The NHF opposed the predecessor to this Bill, is opposed to this Bill, and is asking NHF members and all others to register their vehement opposition with their Representatives. The text of it can be viewed at http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-2749. The Bill has yet to be scheduled for a final vote by the full House of Representatives, but this is expected soon, so we must act now.
What’s at Stake
In an effort to address food-contamination issues – such as salmonella in spinach and peanuts – certain Congressmen and -women are pushing legislation that would bury American farmers, food producers, and other food and cosmetic businesses in yet more red tape and regulations.
Have there been food-contamination issues? Absolutely. But instead of addressing the root causes of such contamination by, for example, tackling the over-crowded, disease-laden feedlots that contaminate the water used by the farms downstream, Federal legislators ignore existing law that would already rectify this problem, if properly used, so that they can impose another layer of burdensome rules and regulations (and fees) that will unfairly punish innocent small farms and food producers.
Under the semblance of improving the safety of the nation's food supply, the anti-DSHEA Democratic leadership is using H.R.2749 to install new and enhanced expansion of FDA authorities over farms, nutritional foods, and dietary supplements. The Bill especially establishes burdensome administrative requirements on small and mid-size food facilities, nutritional food companies, and food suppliers. It also gives the FDA one-sided, arbitrary legal authority to recall contaminated "foods" and "unsafe medications." And this is even before regulations are promulgated by the FDA to “flesh out” their powers!
In particular, H.R.2749 requires registration of all food facilities, including manufacturers, processors, packers and storage facilities. Any such facility that introduces food into interstate commerce without being registered and having paid the mandatory registration fee would be subject to penalties for marketing misbranded food. But there’s more – registered facilities must implement hazard analysis, risk-based preventive controls, and food safety plans. For large commercial operations and Agribusiness with their retained professional staffs of attorneys and accountants, these additional costs will be barely noticed; but for small farms and small operations, these regulatory requirements will be oppressively burdensome, even fatal.
In essence, this bill proposes total Federal government control over and tracking of food production, distribution, and sales supposedly to ensure “food safety” but which powers in fact would be unconstitutional and unnecessary. Under H.R.2749, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would empower the government to regulate food production at all levels, up and down the chain of production. For violations, the bill provides for criminal prosecution for producers, manufacturers, and distributors who fail to comply with the new laws, and punitive property seizures and large fines for each offense upon conviction. And for those who have been following Codex, you have almost certainly not missed the fact that H.R.2749’s “science-based” approach tracks that found in Codex food guidelines.
Not the “End Game”
Remember, these kind of “consumer protection” bills are always incremental. They are not the “End Game,” but rather intended as a step towards further control over your life. These people, who always seem to think that life is about controlling others so that the World will be “a better place” (for them, by the way, and not us), do not realize that – as John Lennon once said – “Life is what happens to you when you are busy making other plans.” Their efforts to control human nature and place all of us into neat little boxes will backfire and result in food that is less safe, not safer. Or, is that their simple plan anyway?
The Bills’ sponsors argue that all of these burdensome regulations – heaped on top of already-existing, unevenly-enforced burdensome regulations – will somehow make the nation’s food supply safer. Standards would be set and legions of bureaucratic enforcers would descend upon food establishments of all sorts, including “food production facilities” comprising even the smallest farms, ranches, orchards and poultry-raising operations. Mandatory recordkeeping and bureaucratic nitpicking would be the order of the day. Inevitably, costs of compliance would soar resulting in a boom for professional accountants and lawyers, who would of course be in increased demand.
Given the abusive history of the FDA, this Bill will have a substantial financial impact on the operations of small dietary supplement and nutritional food manufactures and suppliers, both at home and abroad. The expansion of FDA authority includes mandatory annual registration, with yearly registration fees, without regard to the size of the company, while the large criminal and civil penalties that FDA may impose do not even have to be based on a showing of any harm whatsoever by an unsafe product!
Despite efforts by the NHF and members to, among other things, amend the Bill to include exemption language for supplements, the Waxman-controlled Committee and Democratic leaders did not include this, and are engaging in backdoor politics to accomplish their anti-DSHEA agenda. This is just the first round of the more FDA command and control is better philosophy that pervades the current Congressional leadership.
Take Action!
It’s important that this Bill be stopped. Write your Representative now to oppose this bill before it comes up for a final vote in the House. Contact information for House Members and a form letter opposing H.R. 2749 to send to them can be found on the NHF website at http://www.thenhf.com/government_affairs_federal.html or the links below.
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Bill Text H.R. 2749 Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009- http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-2749
Petition to Act Now – (Click Here)
Contact Your Congressional Representatives-
Click on this address to contact your Congressperson in the U.S. House of Representatives: http://www.house.gov/writerep
Fax List for House of Representatives
House of Representatives mailing addresses: Click Here
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As the oldest and best-respected health-freedom group on Capitol Hill, the NHF continues to be the credible source of objective assessment of, and proactive actions on, Congressional legislation and FDA matters that have material impact upon our freedom-of-health choices and access to dietary supplements and nutritional foods.
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Click here for the permanent link to this press release, use this link to inform others.
National Health Federation: Established in 1955, the National Health Federation is a consumer-education, health-freedom organization working to protect individuals' rights to choose to consume healthy food, take supplements and use alternative therapies without unnecessary government restrictions. The NHF is the only such organization with recognized observer-delegate status at Codex meetings. www.thenhf.com
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