[Pil-pc-oceania] seeds

[Martin Naylor]

Any one know the current situation in Aust regarding ownership of seeds
  martin
   
  Seed Savers Legal Blow
08 Feb 08 - Sloweb
http://slowfood.com/sloweb/eng/dettaglio.lasso?cod=3E6E345B0514819523pYl30
0409C

The Kokopelli association, one of the Slow Food Terra Madre food
communities, has been dealt a harsh legal blow. The French seed-saving
organization which preserves seeds from heirloom vegetable and fruit
varieties, was accused by the seed industry of selling their products
without registering them.

According to French law seeds must be registered in a catalogue before
 they
can be sold at the cost of 1,500 Euro ($2,174 US) for each variety.
 This
week the French government ruled that Kokopelli had in fact broken the
 law.

A spokesperson for Kokopelli says the non-profit organization has 2,500
varieties and cannot afford to pay to register all of their seeds.

Founded in 1999, Kokopelli has close to 30 organic-seed producers who
 are
based in Alès, in Languedoc. They work along with a network of
 volunteer
associates who sell the seeds at fairs throughout France.

The association believes that access to open-pollinated seeds is the
 only
way to alleviate hunger and to promote food security in a sustainable
 way.
It also believes in the free circulation of seeds and the protection of
biodiversity in vegetable matter. An important part of their work is
 the
gifting of seed varieties to low income countries, especially India and
parts of Africa. Kokopelli has training programs and seed collection
centers in these countries.

Source: Il Manifesto



  

 


       
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