29 June 2016, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m.
European Patent Office, Bob van Benthem Platz 1, Munich
European patent laws say that patents cannot be granted on plant and animal varieties or on the conventional breeding of plants and animals. At present, the European Patent Office (EPO) is completely undermining these prohibitions. Within last months, we have collected about 800.000 signatures from people all over Europe on a petition calling for politicians to take action and properly enforce EU law. On 29 June 2016, we will be handing these signatures over to the EPO at the above venue. To emphasise our point and as a visible reminder, we will be carrying our favourite vegetables with us - tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuces, onions, beans, carrots and cabbage and so on .... We will be sending a very clear message: Protect our vegetables from patents held by seed giants such as Bayer and Monsanto!
800.000 signatures and our favourite vegetables are sending out a very clear message: We will not let the big companies take control of our daily food!
The Administrative Council of the EPO will be meeting on 29 June 2016. Its members are the delegates from the 38 contracting states of the European Patent Convention. They can stop the EPO from granting further patents on plants and animals derived from conventional breeding: This is the decision-making body for the interpretation of the current prohibitions in patent law. Please join us! Companies such as Monsanto, Bayer and Syngenta are gaining more and more control of seeds, agriculture and food! We cannot leave a few big companies to decide what can be bred, what farmers can grow, and what we will all eat in future.