FLUORIDE opponents around Queensland have been handed a new weapon in their fight to reverse the Bligh Government’s mass medication program.

The European Court has ruled that fluoridated water must be treated as a medicine and cannot be used in the manufacture of consumable products.

While the immediate impact is on Continental manufacturers it will also apply to Australian companies which supply Europe with goods.

To gain entry they will have to prove their product was made with water that was not fluoridated.

The trade impact is being assessed by Austrade. and a spokesman said further information was being sought from its London and Frankfurt offices in a bid to assess the Australian implications.

“But it would appear the law seems to be interpreted in a new way which suggests that fluoride should be classified as medicine,” he said. “That means it cannot be added to food or liquor products.”

Queenslanders for Safe Water spokesman Angus MacQueen said the ruling could “bust this whole issue wide open”.

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Note from Fluoride Action Network

See EU ruling:

German Court Decision (pdf): 9 June, 2005: Orthica BC v Federal Republic of Germany, JUDGMENT OF THE COURT OF JUSTICE (First Chamber). (Free movement of goods – Distinction between medicinal products and food additives – Product marketed as a food additive in the Member State of origin but treated as a medicinal product in the Member State of import – Marketing authorisation)

And Interpretation by Doug Cross of the UK Councils Against Fluoridation of the court decision http://www.ukcaf.org/european_court_ruling_spells_an_end_to_fluoridatio.html

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