monsanto seed monopoly

[niknik]

Monsanto are now trying to get patents on yet more everyday veg & fruits like cucumbers, melons etc

"
The situation is dire already -- Monsanto alone owns 36% of all tomato, 32% of sweet pepper and 49% of cauliflower varieties registered in the EU. With a simple regulatory change, we could protect our food, our farmers and our planet from corporate control -- and it's up to us to make it happen:"

to try and stop them and read more




http://www.avaaz.org/en/monsanto_vs_mot ... bb&v=24497

its a simple petition, with , a fraction under 2 million signatures in 36 hours, so if you believe in freedom of choice, and anti-gm etc ,please have a read and consider signing

some other info

http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/p ... s-say-MEPs

http://www.no-patents-on-seeds.org/en/i ... nd-animals

http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/ ... ybean-case

http://www.globalagriculture.org/index.php?id=2156

http://www.evb.ch/cm_data/Saatgutmarkt_Juni_2012.pdf

http://www.ip-watch.org/2012/06/13/plan ... tent-case/

http://europolitics.eis-vt-prod-web01.c ... 003-7.html


i think many members here are possibly already aware of this, as Im pretty sure I joined the avaaz mailing list via a link to another petition, mentioned here, but for those who arent members, take a look, have a read, and do some research.

[diggernotdreamer]

There is also something this morning from real seeds,

Urgent Call to Action - new EU law to ban all traditional vegetable varieties!

By forcing registration of all varieties of every crop species that exists, the new law will prohibit old, rare and traditional public-domain farm varieties. This will guarantee huge profits for the seed industry but will be a terrible loss to the people of Europe as our agricultural heritage is outlawed overnight! All you need to do is fire off a quick email.

More details & how to object at www.realseeds.co.uk/seedlaw.html

Is this different to what is already going on, I thought the likes of HSL existed as it is illegal to sell the seeds, but not to give them away (sorry I dont know how to do blue links)

[niknik]

I think it must be a different take on the same issue Digger, but I can open any of the links on the realseeds page!
I just received the email from avaaz this morning, so most likely it is the same issue. Maybe Monsanto are using the issue to try and get their patents, or vice versa

[marshlander]

Monsanto and their wicked patents, Nestle trying to patent 1000s year old native herbal remedies, now trying to make it illegal to grow unapproved seed - I feel desperately sad about the situation From realseeds article "The last draft that we saw says that no seed can be sold or even given for free to anyone anywhere in the EU unless it is registered on the EU Plant List as an 'approved' variety.

Why is this bad?

In order to be registered, each variety must be tested to see if it meets various criteria. These critera have been designed around modern hybrid varieties suitable for industrial agriculture, and in general only industrial hybrid seed will pass the tests. Many of the valuable old varieties currently in use by millions of home gardeners and small farmers will be unregisterable, and therefore outlawed.

Worse, it costs money (lots) to apply for listing and testing, and then an annual fee must be paid every year, forever, to keep the variety on the list. If the annual fee is ever not paid, that vegetable variety is no longer legal.

There are two issues with this: Firstly , because the cost is high (certainly thousands of euros for each variety), it is only affordable to register varieties that will sell in large quantities to industrial farmers. So the vegetables suitable for small-scale home garden and market-farmers will be illegal, and die out. Then when we need these varieties in the future - when we have to grow food again without limitless oil and fertilisers - we will not have them and will be unable to feed ourselves.

Secondly, this is privatisation and appropriation of our public-domain vegetable heritage. We, the people, already own these varieties - the old varieties grown by the majority of gardeners are the result of 11,000 years of selection and breeding by our ancestors, with parents passing on precious seed to their children, generations after generation. Their status is well-known and accepted, for example, they cannot be patented by the seed companies as they are in the public domain. So we should not have to suddenly pay an annual fee to the EU in order to carry on growing and eating them!

But the EU have just released a statement saying it is ok, there will be a way to register 'old varieties' cheaply. Why are we worried?

This tiny concession is a smokescreen. Worried by the public reaction to the law, the last draft we saw offered a once-off, limited-time relaxation, just for a short period when the new laws come in, that any old varieties already commonly on sale can be listed more cheaply and easily.

For some varieties, yes, this will help slightly, though we will still have to pay an annual fee to keep the varieties registered. But it is still outrageous - most old traditional varieties are not on sale: in our seedbank alone there are over 1200 old varieties we have yet to grow out and release to the public. These will all be outlawed overnight. Likewise all family heirlooms - your own special bean you got from your grandmother? Now it will be illegal to give that seed to your daughter to grow when you give up gardening."

[Skippy]

Signed and pasted on to other people.


Pete