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biodiversity | biopiracy

Seed wars: how UK trade deals threaten global south farmers
1-Aug-2024 Fair Planet
Seed laws, often influenced by corporate interests, criminalize traditional farming practices and threaten food security. Farmers worldwide are increasingly restricted from saving and exchanging seeds, leading to a decline in agricultural biodiversity. While international agreements like UPOV and trade deals solidify corporate control including UK trade deals.
Saving Japan’s seed heritage from “free trade”
7-Mar-2019 Local Futures
Former Japanese minister Yamada joined forces with 150 lawyers that have challenged as unconstitutional both the TPP agreement and the government’s decision to abolish the seed protection law.
Asia trade deal RCEP will undercut farmers’ control over seeds
25-May-2016 International Press Syndicate
According to the latest leaked draft of the RCEP agreement, the negotiating countries fall into two camps when it comes to legal rights over biodiversity and traditional knowledge useful for food production and medicine.
Guatemalan court suspends "Monsanto Law"
2-Sep-2014 La Voz
Guatemala’s Constitutional Court has provisionally suspended the entry into force of the controversial "Monsanto Law" required by CAFTA to legalise property rights over plant varieties
Guatemala: People reject "Monsanto Law" for threatening food security
29-Aug-2014 Servindi
Guatemalan civil society has strongly rejected the country’s new plant breeders’ rights law imposed through the free trade agreement with the US (CAFTA).
National farmers and social strike gets seeds control law 970 suspended
18-Sep-2013 RNN
In Colombia after 21 days of a nationwide strike by thousands of farmers, blocking more than 40 roads nationwide, protesting farmers forced the Colombian government to negotiate the rejection of a farm bill and the release of detained protesters. Report from Real News Network.
’970’ asks why Colombia is confiscating farmers’ rice and dumping it in the garbage
30-Aug-2013 NTN24
In the midst of a nationwide agrarian strike, a documentary about a new law criminalizing farmers for the centuries old practice of saving the best seeds and using them for the next crop is igniting debate about the treatment of the country’s farmers.
Planting rights over seeds
25-Aug-2013 IPA
The government of India is planning another sell out of farmers’ interest at the altar of the proposed India-EU Bilateral Trade and Investment Agreement, writes Ashok B Sharma.
Jeju produce under threat by FTA
24-Feb-2012 Jeju Weekly
Mandarin farmers should be worried over KORUS FTA, says JNU professor
Arias government knew how the Constitutional Court would vote on the FTA
3-Mar-2011 La Nación
The government of Oscar Arias knew, in advance, when and how the Constitutional Court would vote on the bill to implement CAFTA, after being challenged in a first review by the judges, according to Wikileaks
Notes on the Association Agreements with the European Union
17-May-2010
The EU proposes that the parties be empowered to collaborate on the practical implementation of domestic rules regulating access to genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge, innovations, and practices on their territories, so as to guarantee compliance with those provisions. This is a case of interference with national sovereignty, unquestionably for the benefit of European pharmaceutical corporations.
Biodiversity in the FTAs with the USA and Europe: the crisis of the Andean integration process
17-May-2010 Revista Semillas
While the Andean countries initially called for a balance to be struck between IPRs and the Andean countries’ interests – in particular education, culture, research, access to medicines, public health, food security, environmental protection, access to information, and technology transfer – Europe has insisted on measures to further entrench the intellectual property protection aspects of regional integration.
EU: Negotiations between the EU, Central America and the Andean countries concerning patents
12-Dec-2009 EP
According to Latin American trade unions and organisations, patenting has had devastating consequences for biological diversity in several Latin American countries. Yet neither the patent rules proposed in the association agreement between the EU and Central America nor the bilateral trade negotiations taking place between the EU and Colombia and Peru have taken account of such criticism.
FTAs could hurt farmers, too
11-Dec-2009 DNA India
After generic drugmakers, it’s the farmers who are feeling the heat of the intellectual property (IP) regime.
Thai rice gene patent ’sends wrong signal’
8-Jul-2009 BKK Post
The recent patenting of a Thai rice gene will pave the way for overseas firms to obtain copyrights of Thai biological and genetic resources, intellectual property rights experts and farmer advocates warn.
Peru: Amazonian indigenous people rise up
3-May-2009 GLW
“Since April 9, an uprising has been occurring in the Peruvian countryside involving the Amazonian indigenous peoples from 1350 communities and a diversity of ethnicities”, said legendary peasant leader, Hugo Blanco in an important message. A translation of Blanco’s appeal for solidarity with this so-far mostly unreported struggle is printed below.
EU-Central America Association Agreement: Rejection by social movements of EU FTAs
12-Apr-2009 Via Campesina
With Nicaragua leaving the negotiation table, the 7th round of negotiations between the EU and Central America has been suspended. With this, the aggressive policies of he EU have been brought to a halt for the time being.
FTAs facilitates biopiracy: The case of Peru
25-Feb-2009 Ground Reality
The United States has done it, and done it again. As part of the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with Peru, the US has managed to wrest an amendment in the existing Intellectual Property laws that virtually ’facilitates biopiracy and hamper Peru’s position as a protector of traditional knowledge,’ reports SciDev.net
EU-ASEAN proposals on intellectual property too sweeping, say consumers
23-Feb-2009 Bangkok Post
The proposed EU-Asean free trade policy on intellectual property rights protection is too sweeping, says a consumer group.
Asean urged to reject EU piracy pact
23-Feb-2009 Bangkok Post
A consumers’ group on Saturday urged the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) to turn down the EU-Asean free trade policy on intellectual property rights protection which, if ratified, could affect the Asean agriculture, biodiversity and public health access.