Grassroots Effort Has Already Made an Impact
WASHINGTON – The Natural Products Association (NPA) renewed its call for health and wellness advocates to lobby Congress to reject the Durbin-Braun proposal to require premarket approval for dietary supplements and weaken critical provisions of the Bioterrorism Act.
“Tens of thousands of health and wellness advocates have already made their voices heard on this critical issue, and Congress is getting the message. But this fight has just begun and it is essential that we continue to use our united voice in opposing legislation that will raise prices, cripple innovation and leave consumers and industry stakeholders vulnerable,” said Dr. Daniel Fabricant, president and CEO of Natural Products Association.
“Those who support this bill, including Senator Durbin, Senator Braun, and trade organizations, can’t answer basic questions about its merits and more importantly the harm it would do. Such as, ‘What if, a company submitted a listing for a product containing CBD, which FDA still does not consider a legal dietary ingredient, would that automatically be stopped? Would this, in one fell swoop, make all CBD-hemp supplements ‘misbranded?’” And “Why does any of this information need to be in a ‘publicly accessible’ electronic database, when similar information about other foods is protected from FOIA disclosure under the Bioterrorism Act? Why should we not be concerned about the need for additional security and added insurance costs that we will face if our product and manufacturing information is available online to anyone, including bioterrorists and corporate spies?’ This should be concerning to all.”
“We fully expect that Senators Durbin and Braun will use every mechanism available to jam their legislation into consumers’ supplement cabinets. But with more emails, letters, and phone calls hitting congressional offices, we are confident that our combined approach will help persuade Congress to reject this wrongheaded and unnecessary proposal for pre-market approval for dietary supplements.”
NPA has been the leading trade association working with Congress to understand the implications of the Durbin-Braun bill. NPA is urging all health and wellness advocates to visit the NPA Action Center, here, to write their members of Congress, urging their opposition to the Durbin-Braun bill.
