[Pil-pc-oceania] seeds

[Robyn Williamson]

I don't know Martin, but I would be very interested in finding out  
since you-know-who got us into the free trade agreement with the US.   
According to GRAIN www.grain.org (I think - don't have a direct link)  
bilateral free trade agreements are making sure that it is deemed  
illegal for farmers to save their own seeds.  I clearly recall this  
happening in Iraq a couple of years ago but I've been too busy  
recently to keep track of it all.

Robyn



On 12/02/2008, at 9:10 AM, Martin Naylor wrote:

> 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
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Get the name you always wanted with the new y7mail email address.
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