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Seed Laws That Criminalise Farmers Resistance and Fightback

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Seed Laws That Criminalise Farmers Resistance and Fightback Seed laws that criminalise farmers Resistance and fightback March 2015 La Via Campesina International Peasant Movement International Secretariat: Stand No 197A, Smuts Road Prospect Waterfalls – Harare – Zimbabwe Email: [email protected] Website: www.viacampesina.org and tv.viacampesina.org GRAIN Girona 25 pral., 08010 Barcelona, Spain Tel: +34 93 301 1381 Fax: +34 93 301 16 27 Email: [email protected] Website: www.grain.org Editorial design: www.mareavacia.com Cover picture: Tineke d’Haese – Oxfam Table of contents Acronyms 3 Introduction 4 1. How seed laws make farmers’ seeds illegal 7 2. African seeds: A treasure under threat 14 3. The Americas: Massive resistance against “Monsanto laws” 22 4. Asia: The struggle against a new wave of industrial seeds 30 5. Europe: Farmers strive to rescue agricultural diversity 35 Conclusion 44 Glossary 45 Accompanying web resources (for download only or online consultation: www.grain.org/e/5175 and viacampesina.org/es/index.php/publicaciones-mainmenu-30) • Seed laws by country – Online map published by GRAIN • Trade agreements that privatise seeds – Publication by GRAIN • Take action! – poster published by GRAIN and La Via Campesina • Additional country experiences: published by GRAIN and La Via Campesina • Going further Acronyms ARIPO: African Regional Intellectual Property Organisaton CAFTA: Central America Free Trade Agreement CFA: name of two currencies used in Africa, the West African CFA franc and the Central Africa CFA franc (in French – Franc des Communautés financières d’Afrique) COMESA: Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa DUS: Distinct, Uniform and Stable FAO: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations FTA: Free Trade Agreement GMO: Genetically Modified Organisms ITPGRFA: International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture MCC: Millennium Challenge Corporation OAPI: African Intellectual Property Organisation (in French – Organisation Africaine de la propriété intellectuelle) PVP: Plant Variety Protection SADC: Southern African Development Community TRIPS: Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights UPOV: Union for the Protection of New Plant Varieties (in French – Union pour la protection des obtentions végétales) USAID: United States Agency for International Development WTO: World Trade Organization 3 Introduction Intro eeds are one of the irreplaceable pillars of global commodity chains, and the mas- of food production. Farmers all over the sive expansion of export agriculture and S world have been acutely aware of this agribusiness. Most farmers and indigenous throughout the centuries. It is one of peoples have resisted and continue to resist the most universal and basic unders- this takeover in different ways. tandings that all farmers share. Except in those cases where they have suffered exter- Today, the corporate sector is trying to nal aggressions or extreme circumstances, stamp out this rebellion through a global almost all farming communities know how legal offensive. Ever since the establish- to save, store and share seeds. Millions of ment of the World Trade Organisation, families and farming communities have and almost without exception, all coun- worked to create hundreds of crops and tries of the world have passed laws giving thousands of varieties of these crops. The corporations ownership over life forms. regular exchange of seeds among communi- Whether through patents or so-called plant ties and peoples has allowed crops to adapt breeders’ rights or plant variety protection to different conditions, climates and topo- laws, it is now possible to privatise micro- graphies. This is what has allowed farming organisms, genes, cells, plants, seeds and to spread and grow and feed the world with animals. a diversified diet. Social movements worldwide, especially But seeds have also been the basis of pro- peasant farmers organisations, have ductive, social and cultural processes that resisted and mobilised to prevent such have given rural people the resolute ability laws being passed. In many parts of the to maintain some degree of autonomy and world, the resistance continues and can to refuse to be completely controlled by big even count some victories. To strengthen business and big money. From the point of this movement, it is very important that view of corporate interests that are striving as many people as possible, especially in to take control of land, farming, food and the the villages and rural communities that huge market that these factors represent, are most affected, understand these laws, this independence is an obstacle. their impacts and objectives, as well as the capacity of social movements to replace Ever since the Green Revolution, corpora- them with laws that protect peasants’ rights. tions have deployed a range of strategies to get this control: agricultural research and Today’s seed laws promoted by the industry extension programmes, the development are characterised by the following: 4 Introduction “No to seed privatisa- tion... For a better world!” – Demonstration in Guatemala in defence of biodiversity and against control of seeds by industrial agriculture. (Photo: Raúl Zamora) a. They are constantly evolving and c. In strengthening privatisation, becoming more aggressive. Through these laws have been disregarding new waves of political and economic basic principles of justice and freedom pressure - especially through so-called and directly violating the Universal free trade agreements, bilateral invest- Declaration of Human Rights. These ment treaties and regional integra- seed laws have imposed the rule that tion initiatives - all the ‘soft’ forms anyone accused of not respecting of ownership rights over seeds were property rights over seeds is assumed hardened and continue to be made to be guilty, thus violating the prin- more restrictive at a faster pace. Seed ciple that people are innocent until laws and plant variety rights are being proven guilty. In some cases, meas- revised again and again to adapt to the ures can be taken against accused new demands of the seed and biotech- wrongdoers without their being nology industry. informed of the charges. These seed laws are even making it an obligation b. Laws that grant property rights to report alleged transgressors; they over seeds have been reinforced by are legalising searches and seizures of other regulations that are supposed seeds on grounds of mere suspicion to ensure seed quality, market trans- (even without a warrant) and allow- parency, prevention of counterfeits, ing private agencies to conduct such etc. These regulations include seed checks. certification, marketing and sanitary rules. By means of these regulations, it d. These laws are being drafted in becomes mandatory, for instance, for vague, incomprehensible and contra- farmers to purchase or use only com- dictory language, leaving much room mercial seeds tailored for industrial for interpretation. In most cases, the farming. Or the regulations make it laws are being moved through legisla- a crime to give seeds to your son or tive chambers in secrecy or by means exchange them with a neighbour. As of international agreements that can- a result, seed fairs and exchanges - a not be debated nationally or locally. growing form of resistance to control over seeds - are becoming illegal in Experience shows that people do not want more and more countries. these laws, once the misinformation and 5 Introduction secrecy used to push the laws through have common agreements on this in a way that been countered by information campaigns would allow the different interests to co- and mobilisation on the part of social organ- exist peacefully. The corporate agenda is to isations. Most people reject the idea that a make it impossible for farmers to save seeds company can take ownership of a plant vari- and to make them dependent on purchased ety and prohibit farmers from reproducing seeds. their seeds. They find it completely absurd. People also generally do not agree that Similarly, experience shows that it is pos- the work that farmers do to feed the world sible to resist and dismantle these attacks. should suddenly become a crime. Wherever But doing so requires informative tools that resistance has been strong enough, the legal can be widely shared, in order to blow away plunder embodied in these laws has been the smoke of false promises and nice words, stopped. so that people can see what really lies behind seed laws. This booklet aims to help Experience also shows that those who want to make this work possible. to privatise, monopolise and control seeds on behalf of large transnational corpora- tions have no limits. There is no possibility to negotiate, make concessions, or reach 6 How seed laws make farmers’ seeds illegal 1 he displacement of peasant seeds is a for such use to be regulated. But once the process that has been gaining ground seeds are commercialised on a large scale T and speed around the world over the by companies who produce them with past decades. In the 20th century, unknown methods and in unknown loca- when plant breeding and seed produc- tions, often beyond national borders, then tion became activities separate from farming laws become necessary in order to combat itself, peasant varieties were gradually fraud, counterfeiting, bad quality seeds that replaced by industrial varieties. In Europe do not germinate or that carry diseases, as and North America, this happened over well as to regulate GMOs. Laws are also several decades, spurred by new
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