Representative survey in five EU member states shows overwhelming opposition citizens to patented plants and crops
No Patents on Seeds! commissioned a representative survey in five EU Member States. Four questions were posed to citizens in France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Poland regarding the patenting of plants and food crops. This issue has come to the forefront in the debate on a new law that would deregulate (ie no safety tests or labeling) of plants obtained from new genetic engineering (or new genomic techniques, NGT). As all NGT products will be covered by patents, many actors including the European Parliament and farmers groups have demanded measures curbing the patentability of deregulated NGT products.
The results clearly show that around 80 percent of EU citizens reject the idea of granting patents on living organisms, e.g. patents on plants or animals. More than 70 percent said no to patents on naturally occurring genes. Even more (more than 90 percent) responded with yes to the statements that diversity in plant breeding and food supply is crucial, and that environmental protection is particularly important when it comes to patents on genetically engineered plants and their market approval.
Please find the results of the survey in the PDFs below.
