Hi all
I would like to respond to Jane's comments below. First of all companies do 
not pay retailers for space for their products - certainly not in Australia 
anyway - where the product is placed is strictly determined by how well a 
product sells - the higher the turnover the closer to eye level the product 
is placed by the store.
In terms of the Code, placing a product on a shelf with a price ticket is 
allowed under the Code and The MAIF Agreement here is Australia - both were 
developed pre internet and websites and those who work hard to protect 
breastfeeding have been battling to keep up with the incredible rate of 
technological change - the law and Governemnt policies also scramble to keep 
pace! Strictly speaking marketing is not the same as a product on a shelf 
where a product can be purcheased. As someone has already stated, the Medela 
website is purely marketing and not a point of sale.
As to the comment about why the US hasn't signed the Code - this is a very 
good question and has basically nothing to do with 'being told what to do by 
other countries' and everything to do with profit and power - all you have 
to do is look at what has happened in the Phillipines! Medela Asia Pacific 
has committed to abiding by the Code by not marketing its bottle and teat 
feeding systems directly to the public, as I underdstand it this is also the 
case for Europe and other countries as well - I have been told by senior 
Medela Executives that only the 'US tells the US what to do and they are 
quite happy to continue with how they do things'. The question I pose to the 
US is why is this type of behaviour allowed to continue - why aren't all the 
IBCLCs in the US standing up and shouting??? I know a number already are - 
but what about the others? The rest of us a truly perplexed and quite 
frankly down right frustrated
Happy holiday everyone
Jenni James
Melbourne, Australia



Date:    Fri, 21 Dec 2007 13:35:02 -0600
From:    Kershaw Jane <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Code Issues

So if it's not a code violation to sell, just to market, how can you NOT say 
that putting it on a shelf is not marketing? Vendors pay premium prices to 
have their products placed at eye level in the supermarket. Vendors PAY 
stores for the space their product is displayed in.  That's marketing.  How 
can ANY bottles be on the internet - because that is marketing!  When you 
put fat babies on the can and on the box, and implicate it's because of your 
wonderful bottle - that's marketing.  My suggestion to Medela would be to 
make their website inaccessible to the public - only to professionals.  But 
as a professional, if I find a baby needs a bottle or mom needs to give a 
bottle, I will help mom make a good decision based on her baby's ability.  I 
WANT to know flow rates, but I'm also aware that a bottle flows differently 
under controlled situations (x amount of pressure for x amount of minutes) 
versus in a baby's mouth under varied pressures, vacuums, etc. If Medela is 
to make their products readily available in competition with Evenflo, then 
they SHOULD be an alternative to Evenflo.  This is my opinion.  And have you 
ever wondered why the US has NOT signed the CODE?  Could it be that we as a 
country do NOT want the rest of the world telling us how to run our country? 
This is a political game to be played and there's more to it
than we know.
Jane IN Tenn 

             ***********************************************

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]
Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]
COMMANDS:
1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail
2. To start it again: set lactnet mail
3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome