One million against Monsanto patents in 36 hours!

Dear Avaazers,

But we can stop them from buying up Mother Earth. Companies like Monsanto
have found loopholes in European law to have exclusive rights over conventional
seeds, so we just need to close them shut before they set a dangerous global
precedent. And to do that, we need key countries like Germany, France and
the Netherlands — where opposition is already growing — to call for a vote to
stop Monsanto’s greedy plans. The Avaaz community has shifted governments
before, and we can do it again.

Many farmers and politicians are already against this — we just need to
bring in people power to pressure these countries to keep Monsanto’s hands
off our food. Sign now and share with everyone to help build the biggest
food defense call ever:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/monsanto_vs_mother_earth_rb/?bBbiodb&v=24076

Once a patent exists in one country, trade agreements and negotiations often
push other countries to honour it as well. That’s why patents change
everything about how our food chain works: for thousands of years, farmers
could choose which seeds they’d use without worrying about getting sued for
violating intellectual property rights. But now, biotech companies are getting
patents on the seeds and then charging farmers exorbitant royalty fees. And
farmers can’t even save patented seeds for replanting the next season –
Monsanto has sued hundreds of them for practicing the age-old art of
seed-saving and plant breeding. Monsanto and Co. claim that patents drive
innovation — but in fact they create a corporate monopoly of our food.

But luckily, the European Patent Office is controlled by 38 member states
who, with one vote, can end dangerous patents on food that is bred using
conventional methods. Even the European Parliament has issued a statement
objecting to these kinds of destructive patents. Now, a massive wave of public
outcry could push them to ban the patenting of our everyday food for good.

The situation is dire already — Monsanto alone owns 36% of all tomato, 32%
of sweet pepper and 49% of cauliflower varieties registered in the EU. With
a simple regulatory change, we could protect our food, our farmers and our
planet from corporate control — and it’s up to us to make it happen:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/monsanto_vs_mother_earth_rb/?bBbiodb&v=24076

The Avaaz community has never been afraid to stand up to corporate capture of
our institutions, from pushing back the Rupert Murdoch mafia, to helping ensure
that telecoms keep their hands off our Internet. Now it’s time to defend our
food supply from this corporate takeover.

With hope and determination,

Jeremy, Michelle, Oli, Dalia, Pascal, Ricken, Diego and the whole Avaaz team

PS – Many Avaaz campaigns are started by members of our community! Start
yours now and win on any issue – local, national or global: http://www.avaaz.org/en/petition/start_a_petition/?bgMYedb&v=23917

SOURCES:

Conventionally-bred plants or animals should be exempt from patents, say MEPs
(EU Parliament)
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/en/pressroom/content/20120509IPR44733/html/Conventionally-bred-plants-or-animals-should-be-exempt-from-patents-say-MEPs

President of the European Patent Office gives green light for patents on plants
and animals (No Patents on Seeds)
http://www.no-patents-on-seeds.org/en/information/background/green-light-for-patents-on-plants-and-animals

Monsanto: All Your Seeds Belong to Us (Mother Jones)
http://www.motherjones.com/blue-marble/2013/02/scotus-hears-monsanto-soybean-case

Seeds and Patents on Life (World Agriculture Report)
http://www.globalagriculture.org/index.php?id=2156

Structures and developments of the swiss and international seed markets through
the a case study on certain vegetables varieties (Berne decleration, Swissaid
and others) (German only)
http://www.evb.ch/cm_data/Saatgutmarkt_Juni_2012.pdf

Plant Patentability Questions Deepen In EPO Tomato Patent Case (IP Watch)
http://www.ip-watch.org/2012/06/13/plant-patentability-questions-deepen-in-epo-tomato-patent-case/

Tomato patent back before EPO’s Enlarged Board of Appeal (Europolitics)
http://europolitics.eis-vt-prod-web01.cyberadm.net/business-competitiveness/tomato-patent-back-before-epo-s-enlarged-board-of-appeal-art336003-7.html

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2013-04-13 15:47:56

Source: http://nesaranews.blogspot.com/2013/04/one-million-against-monsanto-patents-in.html