[this article exists only in Dutch so far] Op 3 februari heeft Bionext samen met LTO en 32 andere organisaties uit 27 Europese landen bezwaar ingediend bij het Europees Octrooi Bureau (EOB) … verder lezen
Monsanto gets European patent on screening biodiversity in soybean plants for climate adaption. European Patent Office support Monsanto again with a bio-piracy patent on a non-gm crop. On February 26 2014 the … verder lezen
On November 24, 2013, a meeting of representatives of farmers‘ organisations, gardeners, smallholders, plant conservation, plant breeders and members of the European civil society agreed on the Declaration of Vienna. You can … verder lezen
Letter to the Permanent Parliamentary Commission for Economic Affairs in advance of the debate regarding the European proposals. In may 2013 the European Commission brought forward proposals for new European seed legislation. … verder lezen
On May 6 2013 the European Commission presented, after months of lobby work, discussions and negotiations, the official proposal for a regulation on seeds and propagating material (S & PM). The previous … verder lezen
On Saturday May 25th 2012 four Marches Against Monsanto took place in the Netherlands. In Amsterdam and Wageningen there were about 3000 and 2500 protesters. In Den Haag around 500 and in … verder lezen
There is urgent action needed to avoid damage by the upcoming new EU regulation of seed marketing. The new regulation will de facto ban old and rare varieties and farmers varieties and … verder lezen
PRESS RELEASE 2 May 2013
Amsterdam/Nijmegen – On Monday 6 May, the European Commission will vote on a proposal by the Directorate General for Health and Consumers (DG SANCO) for new seed regulations. Large seed companies have long pushed for these regulations in order to further strengthen their market positions. The new rules will mean that farmers and independent breeders will be forbidden to use old and rare seeds if they are not on the European varieties list. This threatens the exchange and sale of many currently available varieties, and thus also the cultivation of these crops. The regulations will cause a serious decline in agrobiodiversity. ASEED Europe, Platform Aarde Boer Consument, Stichting Zaadgoed and Cityplot, together with many other civil society organizations in Europe, are calling upon European Commissioner Neelie Kroes and all other commissioners with an international petition (1) to vote against the proposal.
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ASEED is against patents on seeds and for the accessibility of seeds for farmers and gardeners. As part of our campaign work we promote alternative networks that save and exchange the seeds and protect and maintain the agricultural diversity. But we really appreciate it that other organisations are following the developments with the European legislation in detail. Below you can read a press release from ‘No Patents on Seeds’ about the way the role of the European Court of Justice in patent cases is decimated and about the weakening of the breeders rights. Another alarming developments is that the procedures become so expensive that only corporations will be able to interfere in the process. For civil society organisations and farmers it will become almost impossible to react on proposed legislation in an official way.
Andreas Riekeberg from the campaign for seed-sovereignty says: „It is an annoying judgment far from the reality. The court solely has reconfirmed the current EU legislation without taking into account the detailed … verder lezen