RE: US outlaws seed saving by Iraq farmers

**"Ali Mramor" a*@CivicGardenCenter.org**

We have seen time and time again where Monsanto (along with other
agri-biz transnationals) has done this in order to monopolize the
industry over-seas and create even more dependency on few corporations
run by the "western" strongholds, thus perpetuating neo-colonialism
which then leads to further extinction of culture and the small
traditional farmer (not to mention heirloom varieties, other biomass,
etc.), all the while breeding homogeneity on many levels. 

We have seen this happen here in our own country.  The small farmers are
no match for the big corporations and without the capital to fight it I
think most will unfortunately lose this battle if nothing is done to
give them more power.  It irks me to no end how this war is proving more
and more to be a leverage point to push corporate capitalism.  (sorry to
digress)

I would really like to know who (what organizations, governments, etc.)
is working to fight this and how others can support their efforts.  This
is the very reason I got into this work and often times I lose sight of
the big picture while tending 50'x100' plots in downtown Cincinnati.
This is a sobering reminder.

If anyone has more info on this I'd love to know.  I will continue
researching as well.  Here's one other article I found:
http://www.khilafah.com/home/category.php?DocumentID=10464&TagID=2

Peace.

Ali Mramor
Youth Education Coordinator
Civic Garden Center of Greater Cincinnati
2715 Reading Road
Cincinnati, Ohio 45206
ph. 513.221.0981 x11
fx. 513.221.0961

Visit us on the web: http://www.civicgardencenter.org

CGC - Building Community through Gardening

-----Original Message-----
From: community_garden-admin@mallorn.com
[community_garden-admin@mallorn.com] On Behalf Of
Pat_Elazar@cwb.ca
Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2005 8:38 AM
To: Don Boekelheide
Cc: community_garden@mallorn.com; community_garden-admin@mallorn.com
Subject: Re: [cg] US outlaws seed saving by Iraq farmers

This article is misleading (IMHO). Nowhere does it say that Iraqi
farmers
cant save or plant seed from their own land-race varieties which will be
(again IMHO) far superior to any western franken-seeds for their own
particular conditions.

Eventually, Iraqi scientists freed from developing bio-warfare products,
will breed local varieties to fill the marketplace alongside
"metro-local"
commercial varieties from Saudi Arabia, Egypt & Israel like in all of
the
other agricultural countries in the middle east. They will want to
retain
the profits of their investments as do the Egyptians & Israelis.

                      "Don Boekelheide"

                      <dboekelheide@yahoo.com        To:
community_garden@mallorn.com                      
                      >                              cc:

                      Sent by:                       Subject:  [cg]
Monsanto takes Seminis Seeds: US outlaws     
                      community_garden-admin@         seed saving by
Iraq farmers                                
                      mallorn.com

                      01/25/2005 09:45 PM

Two bits of truly dismal news to go along with today's
report on the reality of global warming,  from Sam
Smith's excellent daily email news service, the
Progressive Review (to subscribe (free - but then send
him support):
prorev-subscribe@topica.com. -DB

US OUTLAWS SAVING SEED BY IRAQI FARMERS

GRAIN - When former Coalition Provisional Authority
administrator L. Paul Bremer III left Baghdad after
the so-called "transfer of sovereignty" in June 2004,
he left behind the 100 orders he enacted as chief of
the occupation authority in Iraq. Among them is Order
81 on "Patent, Industrial Design, Undisclosed
Information, Integrated Circuits and Plant Variety."
This order amends Iraq's original patent law of 1970
and unless and until it is revised or repealed by a
new Iraqi government, it now has the status and force
of a binding law.  With important implications for
farmers and the future of agriculture in Iraq, this
order is yet another important component in the United
States' attempts to radically transform Iraq's
economy.

For generations, small farmers in Iraq operated in an
essentially unregulated, informal seed supply system.
Farm-saved seed and the free innovation with and
exchange of planting materials among farming
communities has long been the basis of agricultural
practice. This has been made illegal under the new
law. The seeds farmers are now allowed to plant -
"protected" crop varieties brought into Iraq by
transnational corporations in the name of agricultural
reconstruction - will be the property of the
corporations. While historically the Iraqi
constitution prohibited private ownership of
biological resources, the new US-imposed patent law
introduces a system of monopoly rights over seeds. . .

The rights granted to plant breeders in this scheme
include the exclusive right to produce, reproduce,
sell, export, import and store the protected
varieties. . . The term of the monopoly is 20 years
for crop varieties and 25 for trees and vines. During
this time the protected variety de facto becomes the
property of the breeder, and nobody can plant or
otherwise use this variety without compensating the
breeder. This new law means that Iraqi farmers can
neither freely legally plant nor save for re-planting
seeds of any plant variety registered under the plant
variety provisions of the new patent law. This
deprives farmers what they and many others worldwide
claim as their inherent right to save and replant
seeds. . .

Iraq is one more arena in a global drive for the
adoption of seed patent laws protecting the monopoly
rights of multinational corporations at the expense of
local farmers. Over the past decade, many countries of
the South have been compelled to adopt seed patent
laws through bilateral treaties. . .

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ACGA's services to community gardeners. To learn more about the ACGA and
to find out how to join, please go to http://www.communitygarden.org

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______________________________________________________
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To post an e-mail to the list:  community_garden@mallorn.com

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