THEDEATHSTARARRIVESTheEmpireShovesRactopamineDownOurThroatsa7erRazor-ThinVote

BySco=C.TipsCategory:Codex

Published:July2012

�

Itsoundedlikedoom.A1erhavingtakenavotebysecretballotonJuly5th,theChairmanoftheCodex Alimentarius Commission, Mr. Sanjay Dave, solemnly announced the results of the voDng onwhetherornotractopamine/ standardswereadopted. Outof143ballotscast, thevotewas69for1

ractopamine, 67 against ractopamine,with 7 abstaining. If only one vote had shi1ed from the “for”camptothe“against”camp,thentheresultwouldhavebeencompletelydifferentandtheractopaminestandardwouldhavebeendefeated.

This voDng was forced upon the Commission by the harping insistence of the United States,Canada,CostaRica,andBrazilthatthelongstalemateovertheadopDonofastandardforRactopamineMRLs (Maximum Residue Levels) could not be resolved through the Codex-preferred process of“consensus”butwould,a1erall,havetobevotedupon.

TheGreedoDrug/ 2

Among the many standards and guidelines being discussed by the Codex AlimentariusCommissionat its35thsessioninRome,Italyduringthesun-drenchedweekofJuly2-7,2012,wasthishighlychargedone for ractopamine–abeta-agonistdruggiven topigs, turkey,andca^le topromotetheirproteinandweightgainbeforeslaughter.

�

FAO Building, Rome, Italy

Thisveterinarydrug,developedandownedbyEliLilly’sElancoTechnology,takesnutrientsawayfrom fat producDon and pushes them instead into muscle, creaDng a leaner and ostensibly more-valuableanimal. WhiletheU.S.FoodandDrugAdministraDon(FDA)approvedthisdrugforanimalusein2002, threeyears later it sentElancoawarning le^eraccusing the companyofwithholding criDcalinformaDonthathadledtoapproval./ 3

MostoftheWorld’scountries(some160atlastcount)wiselydonotallowractopamine-dopedmeat to be soldwithin their borders. Especially strict is the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA),which has found that ractopamine constricts blood vessels and quickens the heart./ EFSA also has4

strongconcernsaboutthedrug’scarcinogenicityaswellasitsstressingandotheradverseeffectsontheanimals given the drug. As for humans, since there is no clearance period of two weeks prior toslaughter as with other veterinary drugs to rid the meat of drug residues, consumers are beingmedicatedwithractopamineresiduewhentheyeatthetreatedmeat./ TheChineseGovernmenthas5

spentmanymillionsofYuaninstudiesofthehealtheffectsofractopamineand,convincedofitshealthrisks,hasbannedboth its importandexport./ Asa furthernail in ractopamine’scoffin,EFSAand its6

member States have a very sensible public-health policy against drugging healthy animals just forsteroid-likeeffects.

Yet, JECFA/ conducted its own industry-influenced assessments of the risks of ractopamine and7

established MRLs for ractopamine residues that have been seized upon by the drug’s promoters as“proof”ofitssafety./ MenDoningJECFA’sreportsasfrequentlyandferventlyasdrugaddictsmainlining8

on heroin, the pro-ractopamine group conveniently overlooks the fact that JECFA’s study groupsconsistedofonlysixhealthyhumanmalesandabandofmonkeys(theembarrassingdogstudyhavingbeenslylyomi^edfromthereports). TheyalsooverlookthefactthatJECFA’sscienceisbasedonlyonindustrystudies.JECFAscienceiso1enbothpoliDcalandhighlysuspect,afactthatescapesmostCodexdelegates./ 9

VictoryisNeverFinalatCodex

ForthoseofyouwhohavebeenfollowingtheractopaminedramaatpreviousCodexmeeDngs,you already know that the NaDonal Health FederaDon (NHF) has been fighDng the adopDon of this

standard foryears. AtoneCodexmeeDng,NHF read thewarning label,word forword,whichclearlyprohibitsusebyhumans,fromtheractopaminepackagingtotheenDreCodexCommissiondelegates.AtthesamemeeDng,aswellasothers,weflauntedCodexprotocolbyalsoharshlydenigraDngJECFA’spoorexcusefor“science,”which isnothingmorethanregurgitated industrystudiesspoon-fedtoJECFAandthenrecycledbacktotheCodexdelegateswithanuntouchablereligiousaurasurroundingit.

Theractopaminestandard,though,wouldneverhaveevenmadeitthisfar–tothefinalStep8oftheeight-stepCodexprocessforapproval–butfortheUnitedStates’ownextremelysuspectacDons.TheU.S.isthehostcountryfortheCodexCommi^eeonResiduesofVeterinaryDrugsinFoods(CCRVDF)– the commi^ee that created anddebated the adopDon, at the commi^ee level, of the ractopaminestandardbeforeitwaspasseduptotheCommissionforfinalapprovalandadopDon. Unfortunately,atthecriDcalstageofitsadopDonbytheCommi^ee,theU.S.governmentreportedlyrefusedtoapprovethe visas for the Chinese scienDstswhowere planning to a^end themeeDng and present their ownscience showing the dangers of ractopamine! When I menDoned this fact during the ractopaminedebates at theCommissionmeeDng inGeneva in 2010, theChinesedelegates nodded their heads inagreement.

AlongwiththeEuropeanUnion(EU),Russia,China,Turkey,Iran,Norway,Switzerland,andmanyotherdelegaDons,allofwhomhavebeenfirmlyopposedtotheadopDonofastandardforractopaminethat would permit WTO trade challenges against exisDng ractopamine bans, NHF had helped tosuccessfullystopitsadopDonatthis,itsfinal,ulDmatestep.Andatlastyear’sCodexmeeDnginGeneva,Switzerland,theUnitedStates,Canada,andothershadforcedtheissuetoavoteandlost–byonlyfivevotes;butlikefliesonacarcass,theykeptcomingbackformore.

Compromise?

One of the flaws with the Codex process is that there is rarely, if ever, the final defeat of aproposed standard. As long as any delegaDon or group of delegaDons wants to keep pushing thatstandard,thenitcanlosevotea1ervoteandsDllwin. Butoncethestandardisadopted,thatisfinal;andthereisnorevisiDngofthatadopDondecisiontoreversewhatwasevenobviouslyabaddecision.ThatiswhyitissoimportanttoneverallowbadstandardstobeadoptedatCodex.Unfortunately,thatisexactlywhathappenedwiththeractopaminestandard.

�

View towards Podium of CAC Meeting in Rome July 2012

Despitevariousa^emptstonegoDate–Codexcalls it“facilitate”–acompromisebetweenthetwoopposingcamps,thoseeffortsfailedcompletely,justasIhadpubliclypredictedlongago.Howdoesone compromise betweenhaving poison in your food andnot having poison? You either do, or youdon’t. AndasNHFhasarguedover theyearsatCodexmeeDngs, it is absolutely insane to studyanytoxin,poison,chemical,whateveryouwanttocallit,inisola1onandthendeclareitsafe. Thesedays,people are exposed to numerous different chemicals and electromagneDc energies that ourgrandparentswerenot;and the interacDonamong thesechemicalsand their cumulaDveeffectsuponthebodyaresDllunknown.

The last example of an a^empt to arrive at consensus occurred during a special "facilitated"sessionthatwasheldfrom8:00a.m.to9:30a.m.ontheseconddayoftheweek-longmeeDng./ The10

ChairmanprojectedontolargescreensintheroomsixdifferentopDonsfordealingwiththeractopaminestalemate. Cleverly, the U.S. and its sidekick Canada wanted the six proposed opDons deleted andreduced to a simpler, black-and-white, two-opDon choice. Tomymind, itwas simply their strategy toreducetheissuestotwoopDonsthatdelegatescouldthenvoteoneitherthumbsuporthumbsdown.

DuringthedebateontheseopDons,NHFwasthethird-to-lasttospeakthatmorning;andIhadtheopportunitytorefutesomeoftheargumentsmadebySouthAfricaandAnDgua,whorespecDvelyhadarguedthatweshouldjust"noteourobjecDonsandmoveforward"and"notoffendtheExpertsbynotaccepDngtheiropinions,otherwisetheywillstopgivingthemtoCodex"!Inmywarmestway, and among other things, I said that “Codex should never just blindly accept theExperts'opinions–someyoumightaccept,othersyoudonot. The‘experts’didnothaveallofthedataandtheirconclusionsareflawedasshownbythefactthatmorethan70%oftheWorld'spork-consumingcountriesopposeractopaminedopingoftheirfood.The"wayforward"doesnotmeanconJnuingonthesamefalsepathbutinwiselyretracingone’sstepsbackunJlthecorrectpathisfound.”

Thefacilitatedsessionended,ashadalloftheothers,withnoconsensusonractopamine.But,asitturnedout,findingconsensusonractopamineatthismeeDnghadneverbeeninthegameplanforthepro-ractopamineforces.

TheEmpireStrikesBack

TheFourthof July sawfireworksof theverbalkindwithnumerousstatementsby thecountrydelegatesastotheirrespecDveposiDonseitherfororagainsttheractopaminestandard.But,amazingly,whentheChairmanfirstaskedforcommentsfromthefloor,therewasanawkward,extendedsilenceasnodelegaDonwishedtobethefirsttospeak. TheSwissdelegatefinallyendedthecalmwhenhefiredtheopeningshotoftheday’sdebate,bluntlystaDng,“Therearetworiskshere.RiskNumber1isinusinganabolizing drugs that affect health. Risk Number 2 is that the use of ractopamine will increaseconsumerdistrustandtheywillfeelcheatedbythesystemthatissupposedtoprotectthem. Ifthereisnoconsensus,andthisstandardisadopted,thenSwitzerlandmightwithdrawfromCodex.”

ThedelegatefortheNetherlands,Mr.Friedericy,gaveascathingspeechagainstractopamine,ontheorderofwhatNHF itselfhadplanned to say somewhat lessdiplomaDcallywhen its turn to speakcame. Amongotherthings,hedenouncedthecommercialintereststhatwerepromoDngractopamineovertruehealth,arguing:

“WhenwenowacceptthatCodexAlimentariusisusedasabackdoortoforcealargepartoftheWorldtoallow food products from another large part of theWorldwhich contain certain products, the use ofwhichisdiametricallyopposedtowhatourconsumersexpectfromsafefood,andinnowaycontributes

to the health or well-being of that consumer, the Codex Alimentarius will lose its credibility as aninternaJonalbodytopromotefoodsafetyandasaprotectorofconsumers’health. Anddespiteallthesplendidwork formankind thatCodexhasdone in thepastandmaybedoing in the future, itwillberegardedbytheordinaryciJzenasatoolforforeign industriestoforceunhealthyproductsdowntheirthroats.”

�

Dutch delegate Mr. Friedericy with colleague

But those words of wisdom, and others, were unfortunately smashed by the World HealthOrganizaDon(WHO)representaDveAngelikaTreitscher,who,sirngattheheadtablewithamantleofscienDficauthoritythatwasneitherdeservednormeritedgivenherwords,firmlydroveastakeintotheheartof theobjectorswhenshesummarily took thefloorandponDficated that the JECFAreviewhadshownractopaminetobesafeandthatanyopposiDontotheadopDonofaractopaminestandardwasnotbaseduponhealthconcerns./ Atthat,theroomeruptedintoapplausebythosepro-ractopamine11

forceswhich themselves,curiouslyenough,hadcynicallysweptallhealthconcernsunder therugandthenwerebusycalculaDngtheirprofitsfromincreasedporkandothermeatsalesthroughouttheWorld.

Herwordsclearlycomfortedthosepro-ractopaminedelegateswho,inliea1erlie,hadlamentedhowbadlytheWorld"needs"ractopaminetofeedthehungrymillionsandhowthescience"proves"thisanimalsteroiddrugissafe.Yet,betweenthoseargumentsandrealitylayanastonishingdarkness,whichnoamountofreasoncouldilluminate.

The debate went back and forth between the pro-ractopamine forces (essenDally all of theWesternHemisphere,plusAustralia,NewZealand,andmostofAfrica)andtheanD-ractopamineforces(theEasternHemisphereminusmostofAfrica)unDltheChairmanabruptlyandunilaterallycutoffanyfurther discussion, leaving 36 country delegaDons and 2 INGOs (the NaDonal Health FederaDon andConsumersInternaDonal)withoutanyopportunitytosharetheirviewsonthisissue.

ThisdecisionwasespeciallyunfortunatebecausebothNHFandCIwereonceagainpreparedtospeakout strongly against theWHO representaDve’sunsupported comment that “Science” supportedthesafetyofractopamineinthefoodsupply. TheChairman’sabruptdecisiontocutoffdiscussionalsostoodinsharpcontrastwiththatofthepreviousCodexChairwoman,KarenHulebak,whohadpermi^edamuchfullerdiscussionofthedelegates’views,noma^erhowunpopulartheymighthavebeen.

When the Chairman stated his view that “there is clearly no consensus” and that the CodexProceduralManual states thatwe shouldadopt standardsby consensus, it seemedas if the standardmight fail. But the Chairman then recognized Ghana to speak on procedure, and that countryannounced–againtoapplause–thatCodexProceduralManualRule12callsforavoteinthosecaseswhereconsensuscannotbereached.

TheEuropeanUnionandotherdelegaDons–firmlyopposedtotheadopDonofastandardforractopamine thatwouldpermitWTO trade challengesagainst exisDng ractopaminebans– challengedtheneedforavote,astheyknewthattheUnitedStates,Canada,andothershadbeenlobbyingCodexcountriessincelastyeartosupportractopamineusethroughouttheWorld.Iftheractopaminestandardweretobedecideduponbyconsensusalone,thenitwouldbedefeated;however,ifitwerevotedupon,thentherewasthestrongriskofitbeingadopted.

�

Codex delegates looking at the Voting Board

Ina late-eveningCodexsessionheldonJuly4th,andinareprisefromlastyear'svote,thefirstvotewastodecidewhetherasecretballotoranopenballotvotewouldbetakenonwhethertovoteornot.Thepro-ractopamineforceswantedthevotetobe"openballot"soastoensurethat"their"votesdidn't strayandvote the“wrong”way.TheEU, theNHF,andmanyotherswantedavote in secret toallowdelegatestovotetheirconsciences.Thisvote,theanD-ractopaminewonby93-41. Butthenextvote–onwhethertosubmittoavotetheadopDonoftheractopaminestandard–waswonbythepro-ractopamineforces,68to64.

Clearlyjubilantandsensingblood(andmostcertainlywanDngtohaveaFourthofJulyvictorytocelebrate),theU.S.delegateDarciVe^erpushedforthemeeDngtoconDnuesothatthevotecouldbeheldthatnight.TheChairman,noDngthehourhandresDngonnine,wiselyrefused.

DarthVader

This year’sU.S. delegate in chief,Darci Ve^er (whosename sounds eerily similar to a sinisterGeorgeLucasStarWarscharacter),hadclearlybeenworkingthedelegatecrowdbeforeandduringthemeeDng. BymisrepresenDngthescienceandtellingeveryoneit'sabout"FoodSecurity"(acodewordfor "let's unloadmore of our junk foodon theWorld"), she andher sales crew corralledwidespread

support from many developing-naDon delegaDons, which mistakenly look to the U.S. for globalleadership.

�

The U.S. Delegation at the Codex Meeting in Rome

Allof theWesternHemispherewas sewnupsolid in thepro-ractopaminecourt, fromCanadadowntoArgenDnaandChile.Andtothesurpriseofmany,amongthebiggestandmostvocalsupportersof ractopaminewere the anD-American countries of Venezuela and Cuba. Since the previous CodexCommissionmeeDng,andprobablywithU.S.andothers’threatsandpromisessDllringingintheirears,all ofAfricahaddefected to the ractopamine camp (except for staunchKenya, Egypt, Zimbabwe, andLibya).

I wish I had been a fly on the wall during the many discussions the U.S. had had with theundecidedCodexdelegates.Onecanonlyspeculateastothepromisesand/orimpliedthreatsthatweremade to such postage-stamp naDons as Tonga (pop. 104,000) and St. Ki^s and Nevis (pop. 53,000,soppingwet) forthemtocometo Italy,eatpizza,andvotetheAmericanway. WhenyourealizethatTongaandSt.Ki^sandNeviseachhavethesamevoDngpowerasChinaandIndia,youstarttoseetheabsurdity of the pro-ractopamine delegates’ calls for "voDng." This is not democracy in acDon, this ispure Theatre of the Absurd. Why, a back-alleymarket in Beijing hasmore people than St. Ki^s andNevis! ThepoliDcalblowbackontheU.S.anditssidekickCanadafromthistravestywillbeenormous-perhapssoonerratherthanlater.

AndjustwhenwecouldnotimaginetheU.S.becominganymoreoverbearing,ithappened.Thenightbeforethefinalvote,theU.S.AmbassadorinRomereportedlyspenthisDmefrom9:00p.m.unDl9:00 a.m. the nextmorning calling Codex delegates to lobby for their support. In some cases – oursourcesreport–he,orsomeone,instructedcountries(suchasGeorgia)tovotetheU.S.wayorelse.

TheUglyAmericanturnedfromficDontorealityatCodex./ ButDarthVaderandhertroops12

werenottheonlyvillainsinthistragi-comedy. TheSpecialVillainsforpushingthisGreedodrugontheWorld also include Canada, Brazil, Costa Rica, Panama, Cuba,Ghana,Nigeria, Japan, ArgenDna, Chile,Mexico, the Philippines, andWHO. I only hope that their children and grandchildrenwill be healthyenoughtoforgivethemallforpurngmoneybeforehealth.

TheVoteandA7ermath

Asalreadyknown, thevotewas takenand the ractopaminestandardwasadoptedbya razor-thinmargin. If only one vote had changed sides, then the standard would have lost and not beenadopted. Yet, ironically, itwouldsDllhave livedontobedebatedatnextyear’sCommissionmeeDng.Yes,that’sright:Inthisriggedgame,ifractopaminewonthisyear,thenthestandardisadopted. Haditlost, then the fight to get it adoptedwould just conDnue unDl the anD-ractopamine forces areworndown,boughtout,orsimplyout-voted. InthewarpeduniverseofCodexwhatpassesfordemocracyisnothingmore thananobsessivedeathwish topass food standards–healthyorunhealthy, it doesn’tma^er–atallcostssoastopreserveCodex“credibility.”

Thosewhovotedforractopaminewerehardlyprofilesincourage–infactnotevenprofilesatall.ThedisgusDngexchangeof“thumbsup”signalsbetweenDarthVaderandtheIsraelidelegate,whichIwitnessed, asthela^erarrivedandslitheredintoherseatattheverylastminuteinDmetovotefortheadopDonofthestandardisjustoneexampleofsuchunprincipledacDonthatweek.

�

The delegates filed in one at a time to vote on ractopamine

The true profiles in courage were those who spoke out strongly against the ill-health thatractopaminerepresentsandwhochallengedthe“holy”wordofJECFA,whichhadalreadypromotedtheractopamine standard to sainthood. Those individuals are too numerous to menDon here; but EllaStrickland and Eva Zamora,who led the EU delegaDon, deserve specialmenDon since theywere thefulcrum aroundwhich all opposiDonwas balanced and they so o1en spoke true and from the heartaboutthehealthdangersposedbyractopamine.

A1erthevotewasannounced,andChinaandNorwayhadexpressedtheirstrongestobjecDonand disappointment with the vote, Ms. Strickland spoke for the EU, calmly saying, “The EU hasrepeatedly stated that there is no jusDficaDon for ractopamine. Let me be clear, the EU’s currentlegislaDonwill remain inplace. FurtherseriousreflecDon iswarrantedhere,andCodexwasnotwell-servedherebythisvoDng.”

Inturn,theU.S.delegatesaid,“WearepleasedthattheCommissioncouldmoveforwardbutwetakenopleasureinhowitwasaccomplished. Wethankthedelegatesforusingallofthetoolsthatwehaveherewhenthereisnoconsensus.Wewantdecisionsonfood-safetyscience.”

Others–Kenya,Egypt,Turkey,CroaDa,Iran,Switzerland,Russia,andZimbabwe–registeredtheirstrongest reservaDons about and disgust with the outcome of the vote. In all my many years ofparDcipaDnginCodexmeeDngs,Ihaveneverseenasharperdivideamongthedelegatesonanissue.

TheDeathStaronStaRon

Withtheractopaminestandardinplaceandtwootherbadonesontheway,/ thefoodmarkets13

oftheWorldlookprimedforchange.MostoftheWorldisnothappyandtheywillresistwhathappenedatCodexthatsenselessweek.

ThenarrowvotereflectstheabsurdityandvulnerabilityofCodex.Wehavelessthan30%oftheWorld’spork-consumingcountriesdictaDngstandardstotheother70%plusoftheWorld.TheEuropeanUnion, Norway, Switzerland, Turkey, Russia, Kenya, and China correctly argued throughout that thescience on Ractopaminewas not se^led, that this standardwas not about health but about pushingcommercial profits instead, and that Codex would be damaged by the adopDon of this unhealthystandard.Infact,thatisexactlywhatwillunfoldasaresultoftheCommission’sdecision:Codexhaslostwhatever scienDfic credibility it ever had, even amongst thosewhohave been its biggest supporters.DespiteespeciallytheEUrepresentaDves’herculeanefforts–andtheyaretrulytheunsungheroinesoftheday–badscienceandill-healthprevailed,andtheWorldisaworseplaceforit.

NHF predicts that today’s adopDon of a standard for Ractopamine MRLs will lead to tradechallengesby theUnitedStatesagainstChinaandbyBrazilagainst theEuropeanUniontocrackopenthoseconsumermarketstoRactopamine-dopedmeatproducts. ThevictoryoftheUnitedStatestodayinpushingthewishesofitscommercialmasters–andcertainlynotthoseofitsciDzens,mostofwhomopposeRactopamine-dopedfoods–mayverywellbackfireonthatcountryand itsminionsasachainreacDonofeventsunfold,thefullscopeofwhichnoonehereyetknows.Ractopamineisasteroid-likevetdrug,theresiduesofwhichremainintheslaughteredanimaltothenbe1

consumedbymeat-eaters

“Greedo,”withitsdoublemeaning,isprobablythebestnametogivethisdrug.GreedowastheStarWarsbounty2

hunterwho tried to kill Han Solo at theMos Eisley CanDna, butwas killed instead. At the sameDme, greedyfarmersusingthisdrugexpectanetreturnof$2.00-3.00perpigsold,api^ancecomparedtotheharmdonetoanimalsandhumansfromthistoxin.

The14-pagele^erreadinperDnentpart:“OurrepresentaDvesrequestedacompleteandaccuratelistofallyour3

GLP [GoodLaboratoryPracDces] studies involvingPaylean® (Ractopaminehydrochloride), including their currentstatusaswellasthenamesoftherespecDvestudymonitors.Inresponse,yourfirmsuppliedtoourrepresentaDvesmulDplelistswhichdifferedinthenamesofthestudiesandtheirstatus.InaddiDon,yourfirmcouldnotlocateoridenDfy documents pertaining to some of the studies. This situaDon was somewhat confusing and createdunneededdelaysforourrepresentaDves.”Moreover,thele^erasks:WherewasmenDonofthefarmerphonecallstoElancoreporDng,"hyperacDvity,""dyinganimals,""downerpigs"and"tyingup"and"stress"syndromes.Wherewasthelogofphonecallsthatincludedfarmerssaying,"animalsaredownandshaking,"and"pigvomiDnga1ereaDngfeedwithPaylean"?

TheEFSAJournal (2009)1041,1-52,ath^p://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/scdocs/doc/1041.pdf,accessedAugust1,4

2012.

Asmuchas20%ofPaylean(giventopigsfortheirlast28days),Optaflexx(giventoca^letheirlast28to42days),5

andTomax(giventoturkeystheirlastsevento14days),remainsinconsumermeat,saysauthorandwell-knownveterinarianMichaelW.Fox.(Seeh^p://www.alternet.org/story/145503/,accessedAugust1,2012.)

Seeh^p://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-12/08/content_12612575.htm,accessedAugust1,2012.6

JECFA is theacronym for the Joint FAO/WHOExpertCommi^eeonFoodAddiDves, and is theCodex-spawned7

expertgroupuponwhichCodexCommi^eesrelyforexpertscienDficopinionsinformingCodexstandards.

JECFA’s risk assessments were undertaken in 2004, 2006, and 2010 and provided its recommendedMRLs for8

Ractopamine(Ractopaminehydrochloride)inthetargetDssues(muscle,fat,liver,andkidney)forca^leandpigs.

FartoomanyCodexdelegatesblindlyworshipatthefalsealtarofJECFAscience,believingthatJECFA,likesome9

ancientGreekoracle,infalliblyproclaimsthetruth.ThisreligiousadulaDonofJECFAamongstdelegatessupposedlytrainedinscienceisoneofthemostincongruentaspectsofCodexthiswriterhaseverencountered.

This facilitated session followed the one-day facilitated session chaired by CAC Chairman Dave (pronounced10

“Dah-vey”) inParis, FranceonApril5,2012,duringabreak in themeeDngof theCodexCommi^eeonGeneralPrinciples. NHF a^ended thatmeeDng andmade a strong statement against the adopDon of the ractopaminestandard.

ItisimportanttonotethatwhenEFSAhadpointedoutthefatalflawsintheJECFAReportonractopamine,JECFA11

simplydeclaredthatEFSAhadnotpresentedany“newdata”andEFSA’sconcernsweresummarilyrejected.ThatisnothowscienDficreviewanddebateisconductedintherealworld.IntherealscienDficworld,JECFAwouldhavehadtorespondand/orcorrecttheflaws,regardlessofwhetherEFSA’scriDquepresentedany“newdata”ornot.

One example of u^er perness stems from Darth Vader not liking a parDcular response that the FAO Legal12

CounselDavidByronhadgivenatthemeeDng(whenshehadaskedwhat“holdingRactopamineatStep8pendingfurtheracDonbyCodex”meant). Hehadresponded, inapolitetoneandmanner, that itsimplymeantthat,aswithallCodexstandardsheldatStep8,theCommissioncouldthentakeacDonatalaterdate.Offended,shethencomplainedtoMr.Byron’sbossabouthiscomment.

AtthissameCodexmeeDng,theCommissionagreedovermanystrenuousobjecDonstoreviveandputbackon13

trackthestandardforrecombinantBovineSomatotrophin(bST)aswellascommencereviewofastandardforZilpaterolhydrochloride.Thela^erisanothersteroidvetdrugthatmakesractopaminelooktamebycomparison.TheNHFspokeoutagainstbothofthesedrugs.©2012Sco^C.Tips