Both ENDS
Today, almost 90 organisations and networks from around the world, including Both ENDS, sent a letter to the European Commission to urge the EU to stop including UPOV91 in Free Trade Agreements (FTAs). The main objective of UPOV91 is to further erode traditional seeds rights and to regulate local seed markets in the interest of internationally operating seed companies.
This matter is urgent because currently, the EU and Indonesia are negotiating an FTA. Including UPOV91 in this FTA means that Indonesia will have to change its policies, which will take away the farmers' rights to:
- breed, save and exchange all seeds and other planting material
- participate in decisions concerning seed improvement/ breeding, selection, quality standards, pricing, production, distribution and diversity
- customary practice especially in regard to indigenous seed
- be protected from being sold fake and inappropriate seed
- have a true choice between the use of certified and seed from fellow farmer managed seed systems.
- breed, save and exchange all seeds and other planting material
- participate in decisions concerning seed improvement/ breeding, selection, quality standards, pricing, production, distribution and diversity
- customary practice especially in regard to indigenous seed
- be protected from being sold fake and inappropriate seed
- have a true choice between the use of certified and seed from fellow farmer managed seed systems
The joint organisations therefore call upon the Indonesian government to resist the ask of the EU to comply with UPOV 91.
Pesticide Action Network and 430 civil society and indigenous peoples organizations from 69 countries have sent a letter of concern to the 170th session of FAO council about the FAO partnership agreement with CropLife International.
CropLife International is a global trade association whose members are the world's largest agrichemical, pesticide and seed companies: BASF, Bayer Crop Science, Corteva Agriscience, FMC Corporation, Sumitomo Chemical and Syngenta. The UN Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) en CropLife International have started a partnership in 2020 to collaborate on pesticide use. We think that this partnership is incompatible with FAO's obligations to uphold human rights, directly counters any efforts toward progressively banning Highly Hazardous Pesticides, and undercuts the FAO and several Member States' support for agroecology and other transformative practices.
The letter asks the Council to review and end immediately the partnership agreement with CropLife International.
Het buitenlandse handelsbeleid van de Europese Unie (EU) heeft veel gevolgen voor de duurzaamheid van voedselsystemen in ontwikkelingslanden en specifiek voor boeren, veehouders en burgers. De EU dringt op allerlei manieren aan op stevige intellectuele eigendomsrechten op planten en dat heeft impact op voedselsystemen vanaf de basis, namelijk vanaf de zaden die beschikbaar zijn voor boeren om te verbouwen. Binnen de set van intellectuele eigendomsrechten is het belangrijkste instrument dat wordt bepleit door de Europese autoriteiten, de wet van 1991 van het UPOV-verdrag. Dat verdrag verleent exclusieve rechten aan kwekers op het teeltmateriaal van nieuwe plantenrassen, terwijl de rechten van anderen om het materiaal te gebruiken voor verdere veredeling en de rechten van boeren om hun zaden vrijelijk te bewaren, te gebruiken, te ruilen en te verkopen, juist ernstig worden ingeperkt.
