IRTA�s Ron Whitney Clears Up Barter Confusion With Press Release

The executive director of the International Reciprocal Trade Association, Ron Whitney, recently sent out the following press release to inform the business community about trade exchanges and how they differ from a recent case in North Carolina that has caused some confusion about barter:

�Trade Dollars used in modern trade and barter transactions among businesses participating in barter exchanges are a legal and robust form of commerce in America," said Ron Whitney, Executive Director of the International Reciprocal Trade Association (IRTA).

�Recent news stories suggesting that the Liberty Dollars verdict is a signal that the U.S. Government is against private barter currencies are categorically incorrect and ignore the facts of the case.�

The U.S. organized barter industry was officially sanctioned by the Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act (TEFRA) of 1982 and signed by President Reagan.

Recent media reports about Bernard vonNotHaus, who is awaiting federal sentencing in North Carolina, seem to have caused confusion about barter. VonNotHaus, was recently found guilty of making coins resembling and similar to United States coins; of issuing, passing, selling, and possessing Liberty Dollar coins; of issuing and passing Liberty Dollar coins intended for use as current money; and of conspiracy against the United States.

Numerous organizations have experimented with local currency, but federal laws restrict them from resembling U.S. bills or from being passed off as money printed by the federal government, which vonNotHaus� coinage resembled.

Charlotte-based lawyer Aaron Michel, who is appealing the conviction, attempted in Federal District Court to portray vonNotHaus� private coinage as a form of private voluntary barter currency. He argued Liberty Dollars were a means to help keep currency in local communities by creating networks of merchants and consumers who used the money.

�Recent news stories suggesting that the Liberty Dollars verdict is a signal that the government is against private barter currencies are categorically incorrect and ignore the facts of the case,� explained Whitney. �The government rejected any comparison of vonNotHaus counterfeiting activities with legitimate barter currencies.�

As the government stated in its U.S. District Court Brief of April 7, 2011, �The defendant was not operating a private currency barter system, rather he was counterfeiting United States coins and using deceptive means to inject them into the flow of current money to defraud the public.� These arguments clearly substantiate the legality and validity of the modern trade and barter industry.

For more information go to www.irta.com or phone Ron Whitney at 757-393-2292.