Terminator Seeds.....Voices can be heard! (long!)

Subj:	 Re: Terminator update:your chance to be heard/long
Date:	10/1/98 7:39:16 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From:	Bazillions@aol.com
Reply-to:	<A HREF="s*@eskimo.com">seeds-list@eskimo.com</A>
To:	seeds-list@eskimo.com

Subj:	 re terminator technology and your last chance to act 
Date:	9/30/98 2:08:44 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From:	coneh@uswest.net (Connie Hoy)
Reply-to:	seeds-list@eskimo.com
To:	seeds-list@eskimo.com (seeds-list@eskimo.com), veggie-list@eskimo.com
(veglist)

Times running out and you might want to let your voice be heard..The
website below will enable you to do this.Monsanto is currently
concluding their transaction with the USDA..While these plants dont set
viable seed they DO produce viable pollens and that is a matter of great
concern with possible crossing to related plants,adjacent crops.. Please
read then decide what should be done ..Perhaps at the minimum adequate
testing to affirm safety on all fronts.

Connie Hoy



http://www.rafi.org/usda.html



--------------------

<A HREF="http://www.rafi.org/usda.html">Times running out and you mightwant
tolet your voice be heard..The website below will enable you to
dothis.Monsantois currently concluding their transaction with the
USDA..Whilethese plantsdont set viable seed they DO produce viable pollens and
thatis a matter ofgreat concern with possible crossing to related
plants,adjacentcrops.. Pleaseread then decide what should be done ..Perhaps at
the minimumadequate testingto affirm safety on all fronts.</A>


<A HREF="http://www.rafi.org/usda.html">Connie Hoy</A>

&nbsp;
&nbsp;
<A HREF="http://www.rafi.org/usda.html">http://www.rafi.org/usda.html</A>
&nbsp;
&nbsp;

Subj:	 Re: Terminator update:your chance to be heard/long
Date:	9/30/98 2:22:03 PM Eastern Daylight Time
From:	coneh@uswest.net (Connie Hoy)
Reply-to:	seeds-list@eskimo.com
To:	veggie-list@eskimo.com (veglist), seeds-list@eskimo.com (seeds-
list@eskimo.com)
MORE BELOW - scroll down:


Apologize for the previous attachments..Here is in its entirety.
Connie Hoy

>        Help Stop the Terminator
> Jump to: http://www.rafi.org/usda.html
> --------------------------------------
>
> Monsanto in Closed Negotiations with the US Department of Agriculture to
> Finalize Control of Terminator Technology
>
>         --------------------------------------------------------
>         Monsanto is moving swiftly to finalize its control over
>         the Terminator technology.  The company may extract an
>         exclusive license from the US Department of Agriculture
>         (USDA) within weeks.   RAFI is initiating an urgent
>         internet-based international campaign to stop the USDA -
>         Monsanto negotiations before it's too late.  A special
>         WWW page has been set up at http://www.rafi.org/usda.html
>         to enable anyone with internet access to send a customized
>         message to the USDA asking it to cease negotiations and
>         bury this anti-farmer, anti-biodiversity technology.
>         Additional contact details are provided below.
>         ----------------------------------------------------------
>
> A Monsanto subsidiary, Delta & Pine Land (D&PL),  is currently negotiating
> with the USDA to exclusively license the US Government's interest in the
> controversial Terminator technology patent, a genetic technique that
> renders farm-saved seed sterile. The seed-sterilizing technology -
> developed with US taxpayer dollars - will prevent farmers from saving seed
> from their harvest, forcing them to return to the commercial seed market
> every year.
>
> The Terminator patent (US # 5,723,765) is jointly owned by D&PL and the
> USDA.  Under US law, since D&PL worked with USDA to develop the technology,
> the company has the option to negotiate an exclusive license.  Hoping to
> find a gullible international public, Monsanto's PR machine in Brussels,
> New Delhi, Harare, St. Louis, and points in between, are massaging jittery
> governments and publicly trying to distance the company from the Terminator
> technology by referring to it as "conceptual" and "not yet proven."   But
> the company's move to negotiate an exclusive license with USDA confirms
> that Monsanto is eager to commercialize Terminator seeds.
>
> Despite international controversy boiling over in at least two UN agencies
> rather than engage in public dialog, a leaked internal memo by Deputy
> Administrator K. Darwin Murrell reveals that USDA hopes to quietly manage
> controversy over the patent.    The memo warns USDA employees that
> Terminator research is "a sensitive issue that requires an extra level of
> review" to help "avoid potential political and legal pitfalls." But the
> USDA insists that the Terminator is a beneficial technology and confirms
> that its scientists are themselves interested in developing the seed
> sterilizing technique as platform to host a package of "stacked" traits in
> genetically engineered plants.
>
> SAY NO TO TERMINATOR!
>
> RAFI invites you to join an international e-mail campaign being initiated
> today to protest the licensing and commercial development of the Terminator
> technology.  RAFI has set up a special web page
> (http://www.rafi.org/usda.html) that automatically sends a customized
> e-mail to US Secretary of Agriculture Dan Glickman (also see address
> information below).  We urge you to write to US Department of Agriculture
> officials to demand that USDA cease licensing negotiations and abandon all
> international patent applications on a dangerous and immoral technology
> that should never see the commercial light of day.
>
> RAFI is urging government institutions to hold public inquiries on the
> alarming rate of seed industry consolidation, and to take steps to
> safeguard - not eliminate - the fundamental right of farmers to save seed
> and breed crops.
>
> RAFI is also calling for protest over the fact that public research funds
> were used to develop a technology that will bring no agronomic benefit to
> farmers, and no benefits to consumers.  The Terminator technology is
> designed simply to increase seed industry profits by forcing farmers to
> return to the commercial seed market every year.
>
> Global Issue
>
> The potential impact of the Terminator technology goes far beyond US
> borders. It is an international issue, with global implications. Delta &
> Pine Land says that it will target the use of Terminator seeds in the
> South, where over 1.4 billion people - primarily poor farmers - depend on
> farm-saved seed as their primary seed source. Monsanto, which recently
> merged with American Home Products, is the world's second largest seed
> corporation and the number one agrochemical corporation.
>
> The owners of the Terminator patent have indicated that they will apply for
> patents in 87 countries worldwide. The patent is pending at the European
> Patent Office, in Canada, Australia, Japan and South Africa. USDA should be
> asked to abandon all international patent applications, and to revoke
> Terminator patents that have already issued, on the basis of public
> morality as provided in Article 27(2) of GATT TRIPS.
>
> The Terminator technology is the subject of controversy and debate
> worldwide. For example:
>
> … In May, the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological
> Diversity (COP IV) recommended that the precautionary principle be applied
> to the Terminator technology. COP IV also directed its scientific body to
> examine the technology's impact on farmers and biodiversity.  In light of
> the Biodiversity Convention's ongoing assessment, USDA should cease
> negotiations that will lead to its commercial development.
>
> … India's agriculture minister Som Pal told the Indian parliament in August
> that he has banned the import of seeds containing the terminator gene
> because of the potential harm to Indian agriculture.
>
> … By majority vote, the Dutch Parliament recently moved to oppose the
> European Patent Directive by appealing to the European Court of Justice.
> The Terminator patent is one of the key issues that prompted the Dutch to
> renew objections to the Patent Directive that was passed by the European
> Parliament earier this year.
>
> Negotiations between USDA and Monsanto are now underway, it is important to
> act now! Stop Monsanto's bid to license and control the dangerous
> Terminator technology. E-mail messages and/or faxes should be sent to the
> following USDA officials and members of Congress. To see sample letters,
> and automatic sending options, go to RAFI's web site:
> http://www.rafi.org/usda.html
>
> -----
>
> The Honorable Dan Glickman,
> Secretary of Agriculture
> United States Department of Agriculture
> 200-A Whitten Bldg.
> 1400 Independence Ave., SW
> Washington  DC  20250
> a*@usda.gov
> tel: 202 720-3631
> fax: 202 720-2166
>
> Dr. Floyd P. Horn, Administrator
> USDA Agricultural Research Service
> 302-A Whitten Building
> 1400 Independence Ave., SW
> Washington  DC  20250
> a*@ars.usda.gov
> Tel: 202 720-3656
> Fax: 202 720-5427
>
> The Honorable Robert F. Smith, Chair
> House Agriculture Committee
> 1126 Longworth Bldg.
> Washington  DC  20515-3702
> B*@mail.house.gov
> Tel: 202 225-6730
> Fax: 202 225-0917
>
> The Honorable Richard G. Lugar, Chair
> Senate Agriculture Committee
> 306 Hart Senate Office Bldg.
> Washington  DC  20510-1401
> s*@lugar.senate.gov
> Tel: 202 224-4814
> Fax: 202 224-1725
>



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