VOTE NOW! AGAINST EU LEGISLATION
OF VITAMINS, MINERALS AND HERBS

On 14th March 2002, The European Parliament will vote on some very far-reaching legislation called THE EU DIRECTIVE ON DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS. This is a long and complex document seeking to restrict the availability of many supplements and information about those supplements.

If you would like to have a voice on this issue, then one of the most important things you can do is to write to as many Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) as possible. Contact as many of them as you can. Letters are needed in their millions and time is now very short.

With this note there is a list of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and two sample letters, one of which is from Dr Rath's website. The letters are samples only and it is best if you use them to give you help and information to write your own letter reflecting your own views. We understand that a barrage of letters is more effective if they are not all copies of the same letter. You can also ring up the MEPs and ask them what their position is on the Directive on Dietary supplements. Be sure to say how you would like them to vote - Against the Directive. It is also possible to e-mail them all as their e-mail addresses are thoughtfully supplied.

The list attached is of the UK MEPs. You may be able to get the French, German, etc. members on the Europarl website. It is also possible to get them from the Library.

MEPs are not health professionals and vote on widely diverse issues all the time. They need to hear facts to support why we, the people they serve, think they should vote to protect our freedom of choice.

The Pharmaceutical industry has many, many lobbyists putting their case to MEPs and we really need to make our voices heard.

Please have a look at Dr Rath's website - www.vitamins-for-all.org - where you can submit your vote online as well. 380 million email votes have already been received. So … we are not alone!

MEPs will be in Brussels until March 11th. After that they will be in Strasbourg until the 13th or 14th. Here are the mailing addresses:

The European Parliament,
Rue Wiertz,
Brussels B1040

The European Parliament
BP1024,
F67070,
Strasbourg Cedex,
France

UK MEP's

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Sample letter 1

SAY NO TO A WORLDWIDE RESTRICTION ON VITAMINS AND MINERALS

It is with great concern that I have learned that, under pressure from the pharmaceutical industry, vitamin and mineral therapies and other natural treatments are to be severely restricted for millions of people in Europe and throughout the world. To protect the interests of the billion-pound industry in purely symptom-oriented and often dangerous pharmaceutical drugs, my right of access to effective vitamin therapies and natural treatments and also my fundamental right to health, well-being and free speech are being seriously violated.

The European Commission's Directive on Dietary Supplements and the UN's Codex Alimentarius plans solely serve the pharmaceutical industry's interest in artificially sustaining its billion-pound markets. These attacks on the human right to health come at a time when ever more widespread diseases and public health problems can be successfully combated by vitamin and mineral therapies and other natural treatments free of side-effects.

I myself am interested in natural health. I am aware that vitamin deficiency is the main cause of the most widespread health problems of our time. I also know that HEART ATTACK, STROKE, CANCER, OSTEOPOROSIS, DIABETES and other public health problems could be reduced to a tiny fraction of their current frequency. Is it not remarkable that in the last 50 years, after pouring ever-increasing sums of money into pharmaceutical research, the number of people suffering and dying of these diseases is growing by the minute?

According to the UN, two billion people suffer worldwide from vitamin and mineral deficiency BOTH IN INDUSTRIALISED AND DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. The spurious argument that these censorship laws are to protect consumers from the alleged side-effects of vitamins is a lie. Several hundred thousand people die every year from the side-effects of pharmaceutical drugs. Not a single person has ever come to any harm as a result of vitamin therapies. THE DEADLY SIDE-EFFECTS OF DRUGS HAVE BECOME THE 4TH MOST COMMON CAUSE OF DEATH IN THE INDUSTRIALISED WORLD - SURPASSED ONLY BY HEART ATTACK, CANCER AND STROKE. If you, as a political decision-taker, support these laws, you are knowingly contributing the unnecessary deaths of millions of people.

I am appalled to find out that these censorship plans are to be unscrupulously forced through on behalf of the pharmaceutical industry, while the war against terrorism is making all the headlines, without any public discussion and against the express will of the people. I condemn the fact that neither the EU Commission nor the Codex Alimentarius Commission is an elected body. It is significant that this same EU Commission was recently dismissed by the European Parliament for corruption and for taking bribes from multinational companies.

I call on you, as a political decision-maker, to:

Stop the EU's Directive on Dietary Supplements and corresponding censorship laws against natural health therapies at the national level.

Commit yourself to giving all people in the world free and unrestricted access to life-saving information about the health benefits of vitamin therapies and other natural treatments.

Commit yourself to the fight to make natural health a fundamental right enshrined in your country's constitution and also as a basic human right within the UN Charter.

Please visit the website of Dr M. Rath (www.vitamins-for-all.org).

I demand the immediate launch of a referendum for the fundamental right to natural health.

I will never cast my vote for any politician who does not commit him or herself to free access to natural treatments. I am counting on you and look forward with interest to your reply.

Name:…………………………………… Signature:……………………………………………..
Address:………………………………………………………………………………………………
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Sample letter 2

Dear

It is with the greatest concern that I write to you regarding the CODEX ALIMENTARIUS and THE EUROPEAN DIRECTIVE ON DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS.

Further restrictions on the sale of, and information about Vitamins, Minerals and Herbal supplements are completely unacceptable to the people of Europe and the world. The proposed legislation seeks to restrict freedom of speech, information and education.

The only people who will benefit from this legislation are those involved in the pharmaceutical industry. That is why they are pressing MEPs to pass The European Directive on Dietary Supplements. Their motives are purely financial.

We must not allow the interests of big business to deprive the people of Europe of the right to choose how they look after the health and well-being of their own bodies. This is our God-given right and we will not allow ourselves to be deprived of it.

Vitamins, minerals and herbs help to maintain good health and to restore health when it has been lost. They effectively address many conditions for which drugs are not only of little use but can be very dangerous. Side-effects of prescribed medication are number four on the list of causes of death. The research on many of the drugs on the market is extremely suspect. The British Medical Journal has refused to publish any future research by pharmaceutical companies because it is so inaccurate and poorly done.

Vitamins, minerals and supplements are safe. There is no reliable evidence to prove otherwise: in fact no evidence at all.

Dr. Linus Pauling, the only person to have won the Nobel Prize twice, has said that almost all the diseases of mankind can be traced to mineral deficiency. In fact it is because supplements are so safe and effective that the pharmaceutical companies are so desperate to get hold of a virtual monopoly on their manufacture and sale. They are losing profits because people are taking charge of their own health in a natural way. The 380 million votes on Dr Rath's website (www.vitamins-for-all.org) were all cast by consumers of natural products. The drug companies would like to have their business back. Please have a look at Dr Rath's website.

The proposed legislation is draconian. It restricts freedom of speech, of choice, of health, of information and of education. It smacks of book-burning. When opposing points of view and differing scientific thought are not allowed to be voiced, Democracy is in serious trouble.

Do not hand more power to the self-interested giants of industry. YOU WILL FIND IT VERY DIFFICULT TO GET IT BACK. Their profit is not our concern and their science is highly suspect.

VOTE AGAINST THE EU DIRECTIVE ON DIETARY SUPPLEMENTS.

Protect the rights of your constituents.

I will not cast my vote in future for any politician who refuses to commit to free access to natural treatments. I am counting on you and look forward to your reply and statement.

Yours sincerely,

Signature:……………………………………Name:……………………………………………
Address:………………………………………………………………………………………….
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