I'm visiting my friends Ralph & Kathy. The Fucetolas have been known in libertarian circles from way back (see mentions in "It Usually Begins With Ayn Rand" and "Alongside Night"), and Ralph currently offers legal advice to people in the dietary supplements biz -- http://vitaminlawyer.com . Last night we were discussing CAFTA and I was telling them I thought their analysis and that of others in the movement on this subject was wrong. As I pointed out here, the measures in question provide that no product can be kept out of trade between signatory nations if it would be allowed in commerce according to the domestic (i.e. internal) regs of the importing country, and CAFTA adopts Codex Alimentarius (the international food code) in that no country may have stricter regs than it poses. Looks like it's pro-freedom to me.
Ralph & Kathy countered to the effect that this is an example wherein a ceiling of regs becomes a floor. They say that the practical effect is to have countries adopt Codex even where it's STRICTER than their current regs (resulting in limits on vitamin dosage units, in some cases making supplements into ethical drugs), even though no signatory country is bound to do so. They also say that the big companies have already limited their products in response to Codex, and that the smaller companies won't be able to beat them out by reintroducing such products because insurance companies won't issue liability policies for products that don't conform, even though no law requires them to do so. So what are we to think? Can anyone think of other examples wherein the application of a gov't measure is supposed to limit regulations and increase choices, but wherein the voluntary actions of either signatory nations or private businesses in response is to act as if certain new regs were coming come into force? In Your Sly Tribe, Robert _______________________________________________ Libnw mailing list Libnw@immosys.com List info and subscriber options: http://immosys.com/mailman/listinfo/libnw Archives: http://immosys.com/mailman//pipermail/libnw
