NO PATENTS ON SEEDS AND ANIMALS

Stop the expropriation of farmers and breeders

The continuing patenting of seeds, conventional plant varieties andanimal species leads to far-reaching expropriations of farmers andbreeders: farmers are deprived of their rights to save their harvestedseeds, and breeders are under strong limitations to use the patented seedsfreely for further breeding.

The European Patent Office (EPO) has repeatedly broadened the scope ofpatentability and undermined existing restrictions, in the interest ofmultinational companies. Our food security is increasingly dependent ona few transnational chemical and biotechnological companies.

Now the European Patent Office deals with the basic question: Patents on conventional plants and animals!

The Enlarged Board of Appeal of the EPO will use apatent on broccoli (EP 1069819) for a fundamental ruling, on whether ornot conventional plants are patentable. The decission of the EnlargedBoard of Appeal (case T 0083/05) will be binding for all other pendingpatent applications and even for animals and their offspring. [ Read more ]

 A joint letter to the Enlarged Board ofAppeal (The Global Appeal ) was signed by more than 50 farmer's organisations, more than 100 NGOs and over 55.000 individuals from around the world, and was handed over to the EPO.

ACT NOW: SIGN THE ALERT AGAINST MONSANTISIZING OUR FOOD ! Click here !