Monday, March 28, 2005
Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, cell 202-487-0693, mclarty@greens.org
Nancy Allen, Media Coordinator, 207-326-4576, nallen@acadia.net
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Green Party leaders called
Congress's impending surrender to the World Trade Organization (WTO) on
the availability of dietary supplements a blow to U.S. sovereignty,
democracy, and public health.
If the WTO imposes regulatory harmonization of
dietary supplements on the U.S., consumers could face sharp prices rises
for such products here as they have in some European countries.
"The Green Party warned all along that
international trade authorities like the WTO would overrule our ability
to pass our own laws," said Howie Hawkins, Teamster, fair trade
activist, and chair of the Green Party of Onondaga County, New York.
"If Congress, which is authorized by the Constitution to regulate
interstate trade, signed away such powers when it endorsed U.S.
membership in the WTO, then the Constitution has been rendered
meaningless. We urge Congress to defy the WTO and to cancel U.S.
membership in the WTO when it comes up for review later this year."
The Green Party favors international trade pacts
that promote democracy, economic justice, and environmental
sustainability, and urges abolition of the WTO unless it is reformed in
accord with these principles and goals.
Greens compared Congress's compliance with WTO
rulings with Congress's vote in October, 2002 to surrender its
constitutional power to declare war to the White House.
"In both cases, Congress undermined its own
power, vital to the survival of democracy, and granted unchecked power
to an international bureaucracy and to the executive branch of U.S.
government," said Nan Garrett, Georgia Green and Spokesperson for
the National Women's Caucus, who noted that both Democrats and
Republicans voted yes on WTO membership and on the transfer of war
power.
Such concerns have motivated Green Party members and
other Americans who value labor, environmental, human rights, consumer,
and health protections to protest the WTO and other international trade
authorities and agreements. Many Greens plan to participate in
demonstrations and other events during the spring meetings of the World
Bank and International Monetary Fund in Washington, D.C.
MORE INFORMATION
The Green Party of the United States
http://www.gp.org
1711 18th Street NW
Washington, DC 20009.
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193
"Bowing and Scraping for the WTO"
by Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.), February 28, 2005
http://www.house.gov/paul/tst/tst2005/tst022805.htm
"Summer of '05: Critical Time for Dietary Supplements"
by Suzan Walter
American Holistic Health Association
http://ahha.org/CodexWalter2005.htm
Alliance for Natural Health
http://www.alliance-natural-health.org/
