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6 April

Now here's an interesting bit of news that hasn't had much coverage. Last week, a new international agreement, with the typically dull name of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (OK, this may explain the lack of news coverage) was ratified by the European Union. This means that the agreement, more commonly known as the International Seed Treaty, will become law in June.

Don't go away: this could be a big deal. Proposed and put together by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation, the International Seed Treaty aims to ensure that seeds - the very basis of human civilisation - are protected for future generations. It's intended to conserve the diversity of seeds and seed crops and, most importantly, ensure that major seeds cannot be patented by private interests.

It's this last bit that really matters. Recent years have seen an explosion in 'biopiracy' - the practice of a private corporation patenting seeds or plant varieties that have been held in common for millennia by rural communities. Once the patent is granted, ownership of that variety essentially passes to the company; meaning that they can profit from it, and the communities who originally developed it are denied its use.

This is a vicious and deeply immoral corporate crime. It's also, along with the development of GM crops, the basis of the biotechnology industry, the aim of which is to acquire ownership of the world's common food resources. Private property, of course, is the basis of capitalism. The expansion of corporate agribusiness thus requires the privatisation of that currently held in common - land, rural knowledge, and seeds themselves. In the last few years we've seen patents taken out by multinationals on soya beans, wheat used to make Indian chapattis, corn used to make Mexican tortillas, and a strain of basmati rice.

In theory, this treaty should make all that a lot more difficult - though as ever, much will depend on its interpretation. It will be interesting to see how it pans out. Read more here.

Posted by paul at April 6, 2004 01:40 PM

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