• The legislation referred to is “Therapeutic Goods Regulations Advertising Code of 1989 (Amendment) Statutory Rules Nos. 400 and 401“ gazetted 24 December 1997.
• Amendment No 400 requires all promotional materiel of natural health products to be submitted to the Secretary of the Therapeutics Goods Administration (TGA) accompanied with a reported fee of $180, for approval prior to publication in any mainstream media, and prohibits any claim of therapeutic benefits. Amendment No. 401 prohibits use of the term “drug free”.
• A new Schedule, No 14 has been implemented, detailing which 20 “designated ingredients” are being targeted. These include vitamins, minerals and herbs.
• This move is to bring the Australian health industry in line with that of the European Union under the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), known as Codex, which has already severely restricted health freedom in Canada and Europe. This is now being attempted here. The move was successfully stopped in the USA last November. New Zealand is also currently being targeted for “harmonisation” as it is called.
• The Codex Commission is a joint UN/WHO Commission and is committed to a German proposal, behind which is I.G. Farben (now called Hoescht, Bayer and BASF), one of the world’s largest chemical and drug corporations, all of whom have major input into the WHO’s decision-making on regulatory issues pertaining to drugs.
• This is limiting consumer access to dietary supplements to the RDA dosage as a maximum limit for vitamins (eg Vit C is 60 mg (about what is in an orange), Vit E is 15 mg, etc) and supplements that don’t have an RDA (such as trace minerals, amino acids, co-enzymes) are to become illegal to sell as foods and they are to be reclassified as drugs. This has been occurring overseas since 1996.
  For example in Norway, Vitamin C over 200 mg is illegal; in Canada a whole list of products are now banned, such as amino acids, EPA’s (fish oil, cod liver oil), Eyebright (for eyes), Gota Kola (relaxation and memory), Pau D’Arco (powerful antioxidant, antifungal and some benefit in treatment of cancer), St John’s Wort (Hypericum) an antidepressant (far more effective than Prozac without the horrific side-effects). There are more and more being added to the list every week.
• In Norway, Shering-Plough, the pharmaceutical giant, now controls an Echinacea tincture (a herb widely used to boost the immune system and prevent or minimise cold and flu symptoms) which is being sold there as an OTC (over the counter) drug, at grossly inflated prices. The same is true of Ginko Biloba.
• On December 4, 1966, the WHO announced a new technology called “Pharma Printing” which “produces pharmaceutical versions of herbal medicines that previously could not be standardised, patented, clinically tested, approved by government agencies, prescribed by doctors, nor reimbursed by governments or insurance companies.
• This means that natural herbs which people have used for thousands of years with fantastic results may now be patented (at a cost of some $5 - $20 million). The question is at whose expense will this be done? After spending millions to patent the herbs of the world, won’t the medical industrial complex want to protect their investment and drive all natural products out of the marketplace?
  This would appear to be what is happening now.
• The pharmaceutical and drug industry has been singularly and spectacularly the most profitable industry in the world in the last 50 years. Australian Governments have subsidised the purchase of drugs to the tune of some $2 billions per year. Health care costs are escalating at a greater rate than any other service.
  Nutritional and herbal remedies receive NO Government handouts or subsidies. In fact, the natural product industry gets significantly increased government charges, little research in to nutrition and threats to it’s very future as government fails to implement its own stated policy of promising “that approval processes of the TGA do not present unnecessary barriers to people obtaining ‘alternative therapy products’”.
  The recent media hype regarding the death of a person in 1997, allegedly from taking Royal Jelly, is absolutely ridiculous in light of the fact that prescribed drugs cause side effects, including the ultimate one - death, to 40% of people who take them. Yet these statistics are never brought to the attention of the public.
• It would appear that the Government is biased in the extreme towards multi-national corporations and is assisting them in their take-over of this country’s small business community. The pharmaceutical industry in this country is 100% foreign-owned.
• This current move, amongst other moves in other sectors of the community, is well on the way to promoting higher unemployment and financial ruin for many.
• Why are foreign owned multi-nationals allowed to dictate to the Australian people on so many issues? Foreign companies already have a better chance of making their businesses work, through paying little or no tax, while Australian companies bear the cost of debilitating taxes and regulations (with their accompanying fees), forcing them out of trade through economic overload, or selling out to the multinationals to recoup some of their losses.
  Foreign companies already own 90% of the corporate sector and anything else that was Australian owned is rapidly being sold off.
• A new agreement is being made with the Multilateral Agreement of Investments (MAI) that will also negate any of our laws that currently protect local businesses - even giving these foreign investors government aid and subsidies.. Will they also have to pay taxes now? Why is this aid not being diverted to more vigorous subsidising of Australian owned businesses instead? Why are we not safeguarding our own industries and looking at ways to boost our local economy? Where is the fair trade and equal competition which was once in place?? If foreign countries want to invest here, it shows that there must be a market, and profits to be mad, or they wouldn’t do it - so why doesn’t Australian do it for ourselves?
• The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) was removed from their position last year of safeguarding fair trade under the TGA Code. They have been replaced with the Proprietary Medicines Association of Australia and the Nutritional Foods Association of Australia - both of which primarily represent major pharmaceutical and drug companies. WHY?????
• A Media Release dated 5 February 1998 from Trish Worth, Parliamentary Secretary responsible for Therapeutic Goods allows pharmacists to advertise pharmacist-only products, which was previously not allowed. Why are drugs allowed to be advertised and natural health products not????
• These moves are blatantly ANTI-COMPETITIVE and, we would say, UNCONSTITUTIONAL in the extreme.
• Already there have been reports of one small company being restricted in their advertising, while major competitors are not similarly restricted. Also, a herb farm in NSW was raided, had books on herbs confiscated and is now facing prosecution in June.
• THIS IS EROSION OF THE AUSTRALIAN PEOPLE’S CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS AND FREEDOM OF CHOICE!!!!!!!!!!!!
  WHO KNOWS WHAT WILL BE NEXT?
• As over 60% of Australian use some form of alternative or preventative health care, and many more use vitamins etc. This issue affects every individual and their freedom of choice about their health care, and let’s face it, health - physical, mental and emotional, is a big issue!!
  We are asking for an immediate MOVE FOR DISALLOWANCE of this legislation and a FULL SENATE INQUIRY into the matter.

The Australian Healthcare Consumers’ Association Inc is distributing information packs regarding this issue - PO Box 153, Mudgeeraba Q 4213.

NB We are simply a concerned group of citizens, funding this move for a full inquiry into what is happening out of our own pockets. The only vested interest we have is that of wishing to preserve our freedom of choice and our rights under Common Law, for ourselves and our children.

We started looking into the TGA issue and find that is it is only the tip of the iceberg as to what is happening in this country. Unfortunately it is not until you seriously start looking for information about what is happening, that you will find it.

We know we don’t have all the facts - it’s extremely difficult to try and sort through the wealth of information from here and elsewhere, and also hard to get people to actually stop and consider what what you are telling them may be true.

In fact we welcome, and urge you, to do your own investigating. Just DO IT NOW!!!!!

No doubt, you will be as horrified as we are at the extent and the ramifications of the legislation which are going through without your knowledge or consent. But if you sit back and rely on “the news” to keep informed, you’ll never know - they don’t know a lot of this themselves.

And that is what we are counting on - that good people are out there who simply are not aware of what is happening, and how it can affect them.

Every day you hear people complaining about various issues, and they end up with “Well, what can you do? It’s sad, but I can’t do anything about it.”

Well you’re wrong - you can do something - you can voice your objection.

Our democracy is supposed to “be government of the people, by the people, for the people” - but if you don’t make your wishes known, how can they be implemented?

February 28, 1998