from The Guardian Weekly 20-4-0205, page 5 Monsanto's chapati patent stirs Indian anger Wheat was 'created by generations of dedicated farmers'
Randeep Ramesh in New Delhi Monsanto, the world's largest genetically modified seed company, has been awarded patents on the wheat used for making chapati - the flat bread staple of northern India.They give the US multinational exclusive ownership over Nap Hal, a strain of wheat whose gene sequence makes it suited for crisp breads. Another patent, filed in Europe, gives Monsanto rights over the use of Nap Hal wheat to make chapatis, which consist of flour, water and salt. Environmentalists claim Nap Hal's qualities are the result of generations of Indian farmers who spent years crossbreeding crops, and collective, not corporate, efforts should be recognised. Monsanto, activists say, is out to make "monopoly profits" from food on which millions depend. Monsanto inherited a patent application after buying the cereals division of the Anglo-Dutch food giant Unilever in 1998, and the patent has been granted to the new owner. Unilever acquired Nap Hal seeds from a publicly funded British plant gene bank. Its scientists identified the wheat's combination of genes and patented them as an "invention". Greenpeace is trying to block Monsanto's patent, accusing the company of "bio-piracy". Dr Christoph Then, Greenpeace's patent expert, said after a meeting with the European Commission in Delhi: "It is theft of the results of the work in cultivation made by Indian farmers. We want the European Patent Office to reverse its decision. Under European law patents cannot be issued on plants that are normally cultivated, but there are loopholes in the legislation." A spokesperson for Monsanto in India denied that it had any plan to exploit the patent, saying that it was pulling out of cereals in some markets. "This patent was Unilever's. We got it when we bought the company. Really this is all academic as we are exiting from the cereal business in the UK and Europe," said Ranjana Smetacek, Monsanto's public affairs director in India. Campaigners in India say there are concerns that people might end up paying royalties to Monsanto for making or selling chapatis. "The commercial interest is that Monsanto can charge people for using the wheat or take a cut from its sale," said Devinder Sharma, who runs the Forum for Biotechnology and Food Security in Delhi. <I> Andrew Osborn adds from Brussels</I> : Green campaigners accused the European Commission of kowtowing to the US last week by approving a variety of modified maize in a bid to dismantle the EU ban on new GM food. The commission approved the sale of canned genetically modified maize produced by the Anglo-Swiss firm Syngenta. EU states have three months to consider the decision. Clare Oxborrow, of Friends of the Earth, said: "The commission has caved in to pressure from the US and big biotech firms. European consumers don't want GM food." -- Visit the proposed Leftlink web site at http://www.leftlink.net/ -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
