HEALTH FOOD STORES SUPPORT CAMPAIGN AGAINST AUSSIE RULES
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BLACKOUT DAY: WEDNESDAY 10 DECEMBERHealth
food stores across the country will �black out� products
endangered by proposed Treaty with Australia to impose
draconian rules on herbs, vitamins and minerals.
On
Wednesday 10 December health food retailers will decorate
their stores in black and cover supplement sections with
black drapes to demonstrate the disastrous effects of the
proposed Trans-Tasman Therapeutic Goods Agency.
Health
Minister Annette King is signing a Treaty with Australia on
Wednesday to set up a new agency with Australia that would
regulate herbs, vitamins and minerals � despite opposition
from the entire Health Select Committee of the New Zealand
Parliament.
On Tuesday [editors: 9 December],
Parliament's Health Select Committee unanimously agreed that
dietary supplements should be regulated in a separate
category from medicine � unlike the proposal that the
Government proposes to commit itself to on
Wednesday.
Health store retailers are concerned that
unnecessary restrictions and red tape will drive up
supplement prices and force many products off the market --
reducing product lines and thus limiting their customers�
choices.
Australians would dominate the proposed Agency:
three of the five Board members will be Australian
residents, the Board will be established under Australian
laws, and the Australian Minister of Health has final
sign-off on all appointments.
Australian regulations on
dietary supplements are among the most restrictive in the
world.
The national lobby group Citizens for Health
Choices is organizing Blackout Day to raise public awareness
about the dangers of the proposed agency.
The major
opposition political parties � ACT, Greens, United Future,
National and New Zealand First � have all announced policies
compatible with CFHC�s position.
Joint Co-coordinator Gary
Mabey says �This proposal will increase costs and decrease
choice of supplements for New Zealand consumers, with no
improvement in consumer safety.�
�Dozens of New Zealand
supplement businesses are threatened. Manufacturers,
importers, distributors, and retailers will all face cost
increases, and that could mean hundreds of their employees�
jobs are at risk too. The industry could be facing
multi-million dollar losses as a result of this
regime.�
ENDS
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