So, when the farmers stop farming becauser they can't buy the seed, are the big *head honchos* going to go hungry too?? Seems the only route left open is to "grow yer own" - "they" can't toss everyone in the cooler for having seeds... remember - we are the many - "they" are the few....
----- Original Message ----- From: "Keith Addison" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <biofuel@sustainablelists.org> Sent: Friday, February 16, 2007 9:06 AM Subject: [Biofuel] Seed Companies Want To Ban Farm-saved Seed > New from GRAIN > February 2007 > http://www.grain.org/?nfg=470 > > > SEED COMPANIES WANT TO BAN FARM-SAVED SEED > > A new report from GRAIN reveals the new lobbying offensive from the > global seed industry to make it a crime for farmers to save seeds for > the next year's planting. This briefing traces the recent discussions > within the seed industry and explores what will happen if a plant > variety right becomes virtually indistinguishable from a patent. > > BACKGROUND > > Seed companies already have strong legal support from governments. In > many countries, seed laws require farmers to use only certified seed > of government-approved varieties. That seed is often available only > from commercial seed companies. > > A rapidly increasing number of governments also grant legal monopoly > rights for commercial seed, by means of industrial patents and > so-called plant variety protection (PVP). Until recently, both seed > patents and PVP existed only in developed countries. But since the > World Trade Organisation (WTO) was created in 1994, all member > governments must provide some form of monopoly rights on seeds. There > is now enormous pressure on developing countries to adopt the > developed country models. Many have been persuaded to join the > international PVP system, managed by UPOV (International Union for > the Protection of New Varieties of Plants). In the past ten years, > UPOV has more than doubled its membership. Most new members are > developing countries. > > The UPOV system was originally set up in 1961, in response to many > years of lobbying by the seed industry. What the companies really > wanted was to have industrial patents on seeds. Patents give absolute > rights to control all uses of the seed, both for planting and for > further breeding. But at the time many governments felt that patents > would give industry too much power over farmers. The UPOV PVP was > created as a compromise. From the beginning, it gave seed companies a > monopoly on only the commercial multiplication and the marketing of > seeds. Farmers remained free to save seed from their own harvest to > plant in the following year, and other breeders could freely use any > variety, protected or not, to develop a new one. > > During the 1980s, the development of genetic engineering attracted > large transnational companies from the pharmaceuticals and chemical > sectors into plant breeding. With their much greater lobbying power, > they began a new offensive to strengthen monopoly rights on plant > breeding in developed countries. First, they got industrial patents > on plants bred with genetic engineering (GE) and related techniques. > This meant, in practice, that they got the absolute monopoly that > conventional breeders had been refused two decades earlier. > > Second, the UPOV PVP rights were radically expanded for all plant > varieties, GE or conventional. Since 1991, the PVP monopoly has > applied not only to seed multiplication but also to the harvest and > sometimes the final product as well. The previously unlimited right > for farmers to save seed for the following year's planting has been > changed into an optional exception. Only if the national government > allows it can farm-saved seed still be used, and a royalty has to be > paid to the seed company even for seeds grown on-farm. > > Third, these much stronger monopoly rights are required for > membership in the WTO, as already described. This is the starting > point for the new lobby offensive now being prepared by the global > seed industry. The goal this time is to remove the few remaining > differences between the PVP system and patents, so that companies > will have an absolute monopoly over seeds all over the world, > regardless of which legal system is used, for all crops and all > countries. > > THE REAL TARGET - FARM-SAVED SEED > > Farm-saved seed will be a primary target of this offensive. At least > two-thirds of the global crop area is currently planted with > farm-saved seed every year. In many developing countries, it > represents 80--90 per cent of all seed used, but even in developed > countries it commonly accounts for a large share (30--60 per cent). > If farmers were legally forced to plant all of this area with > commercial seed, it could easily mean a doubling of seed industry > turnover, that is, an extra US$20 billion annually -- all taken out > of farmers' pockets and delivered to transnational giants such as > DuPont, Bayer, Syngenta, and Monsanto. > > Another key industry demand will be to restrict or eliminate the > freedom to use PVP-protected varieties for breeding -- the other > major difference between the UPOV system and patents. The purpose is > simply to block competition. If nobody else is allowed to improve on > a variety until after the term of protection -- 20 years or so -- a > seed company will be able to sell the unimproved variety for a much > longer period, and postpone the cost of new research. The net effect: > increased profits for the PVP owner, higher seed prices and fewer new > varieties for farmers. > > The seed industry has every reason to fear competition from > farm-saved seed and more innovative independent breeders. Even > individual farmers can often match or beat the performance of > commercial varieties by simple on-farm selection. With constantly > stronger monopoly rights and increasing consolidation into a few > giant conglomerates, seed companies have produced fewer and fewer > products of value to farmers. The big strides in yield and resistance > improvement were made early in the 20th century, before any monopoly > rights were available on seeds. And those improvements came mainly > from selecting and crossing the very best of the thousands of farmer > varieties which had been developed over centuries, not from any > industry-sponsored research. > > The failure of commercial plant breeding has left global agriculture > badly prepared for the challenges of the near future, such as climate > change and the need to wean ourselves off dependence on fossil fuels. > It is now time to start rolling back the monopoly privileges of the > seed industry, not to strengthen them further. > > =========================================================== > > GRAIN, The end of farm-saved seed? Industry's wish-list for the next > revision of UPOV, GRAIN Briefing, February 2007, > http://www.grain.org/briefings/?id=202, available in PDF and HTML. > The summary in PDF is also available on this page. Also currently > available in French, and soon in Spanish. > > _______________________________________________ > Biofuel mailing list > Biofuel@sustainablelists.org > http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org > > Biofuel at Journey to Forever: > http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html > > Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): > http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/ > > _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/biofuel_sustainablelists.org Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (50,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/