Brussels, 03/05/2013 (Agence Europe) - Farmers are worried about the European Commission's plans for seeds, to be revealed on Monday 6 May. It is feared that it wants to ban farmers from exchanging seed.
The European Coordination Via Campesina organisation calls on European Commissioners to do a number of things. 1) Recognise and protect the right of farmers and gardeners to freely exchange their seeds. These exchanges are essential to farmers' selection of varieties that guarantees the constant renewal of crop biodiversity. 2) Allow marketing without geographic or quantitative restrictions of farmers', organic, local or traditional seeds resulting from this selection (such marketing is currently banned) and protect these seeds against biopiracy and fraud. 3) Resist the demands of the multinational seed companies which want to take advantage of the fresh discussions on transatlantic free-trade agreements to invade the European market with patented seeds and GMOs. 4) Ensure that trade or sanitary regulations are not used for the benefit of holders of patents and of plant variety certificates who want to ban farmers from using seeds saved from their own harvest, or extort the payment of royalties from them.
On Monday 6 May, the Commission will unveil draft legislation to change regulations on official controls, animal and plant health and plant reproductive material to make the food chain safer.
Via Campesina says: “The current European legislation allows only seeds selected for growing with large amounts of chemicals. This affects the preservation of agricultural biodiversity, consumers' health, the environment and farmers' independence. Patented seeds are a threat that could destroy Europeans right to food, in the name of financial gain of a few multinationals. On the contrary, the reform that is urgently needed, is one that would protect organic and farmers seeds”.
At the third AGM of the European Mobile Seed Association (EMSA), seed processors from Belgium, France, Germany, Denmark and the United Kingdom said that, despite the pressure applied by plant breeders and biotech multinationals, farm seeds had to be ensured of their rightful place at the heart of the European farming model.
Seed processors say that, in Europe, farmers' seed is the dominant model. EMSA president Nigel Day said that more than half of the 57 million hectares of arable crops are grown from farm seeds with “auto-production” value equivalent to more than €500 million in a seed market worth €1.5 billion. The industry accuses the Commission of introducing a single type of farming and standardised methods “solely for the benefit of plant breeders and biotech companies” and urges the Commission to examine the question of resowing hybrid varieties which is technically possible but is banned under EU Regulation 2100/94. This ban gives multinational hybrid breeders a sort of monopoly and penalises both farmers and European seed processors working on such varieties. Equally it does little to boost competitiveness in European farming. (LC/transl.fl)