ETC: Tell Monsanto Where to Go!

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ETC group

ETC: Tell Monsanto Where to Go!

 

ETC Group

News Release:

Thursday, May 20, 2004

www.etcgroup.org

 

 

Canada's Supreme Court Rules on 'David & Goliath' Tomorrow

 

Tell Monsanto Where To Go!

Letter warnings for Monsanto: There are 5 million Percy Schmeisers.

 

Bees, beetles and blowing prairie winds can carry Monsanto's

genetically-modified canola a good 26 km - and a whole lot farther if the

transgenic seed or pollen hitches a ride on passing trucks, trains or trousers.

After eight summers in Canada's West, GM canola has earned the dubious status of

a major weed - a common sight in fields, boulevards and cemeteries - and even

backyard gardens. " Canola can winter over for 8 years, " says ETC Group's Pat

Mooney in the NGO's Winnipeg headquarters, " meaning GM pollen has probably

travelled a minimum of 200 km since Monsanto first commercialized its patented

seed in 1996. " Which is why, Mooney reasons, just about everyone on the prairies

has a direct, personal interest in the May 21st Supreme Court decision. Gene

Giant Monsanto has accused Saskatchewan farmers Percy and Louise Schmeiser of

illegally growing the company's canola. " It's not just farmers, " insists Mooney.

" There are about 5 million Percy Schmeisers out here [roughly the population

of Canada's three prairie provinces]. For all any of us know, we could have

Monsanto's canola in our window boxes. "

 

Canada's Supreme Court decision will set a global precedent that will be studied

closely by farmers, jurists, and corporations around the world. Although Canada

doesn't allow patents on higher-order life forms such as plants and animals,

Monsanto believes that its patent on transgenic material gives it a de facto

patent on anything its genes get into. If the Court agrees, the right of farmers

to save seed - a right that has been upheld for 12 thousand years - will be

imperiled and the 1.4 billion people on this planet who depend on farm-saved

seed for their food security will be still more food-insecure. And the burden

with coping with GM contamination will be placed on the farmer rather than the

corporate polluter. If the Court finds for Monsanto, however, it could still

conclude that the Schmeisers did nothing to benefit from the GM seed that blew

onto their property and agree that the corporation is not entitled to damages.

This would not only be a great relief to the embattled

family but it would also be a sharp setback for Monsanto. " With hundreds of

other lawsuits pending, the company's lawyers will be hard-pressed to show that

their GM seeds benefit anybody, " Mooney suggests.

 

What to do? Monsanto claims that anyone who thinks they might have the company's

GM canola without Monsanto's permission must notify the company in order not to

infringe Monsanto's patent. Solution: ETC Group and partner organizations around

the world are asking concerned people to send Monsanto CEO, Hugh Grant, a letter

advising him that Monsanto's seeds may be squatting on their property. " That

puts the ball back in Monsanto's court, " Hope Shand of ETC Group's North

Carolina office adds. " It's up to Monsanto to contact the letter-writer and make

amends. " " But the form letter doesn't invite Monsanto to do what they did to the

Schmeisers, " Mooney stresses. " Monsanto's seeds are trespassing and the company

may have to accept a 'Trespasser Abuser Agreement' making Monsanto responsible

for any damages. "

 

The form letter will be posted on numerous websites around the world over the

next few days. You can print out the letter and send it yourself or click on

" submit " to send the letter by email to Monsanto. ETC Group will send all the

letters to Monsanto by registered mail. Like ETC Group, Monsanto's Canadian

headquarters are in Winnipeg - within easy pollen reach of one another. The form

letter (and cartoons) can be seen at:

http://www.etcgroup.org/takeaction.asp

 

For further information:

 

Pat Mooney, ETC Group (Canada) etc: 204-453-5259

Hope Shand, ETC Group (USA) hope: 919 960-5223

Silvia Ribeiro, ETC Group (Mexico) siliva: 52 55 55 632 664

Jim Thomas, ETC Group (UK) jim: 44 (0)7752 106806 (cell)

 

The Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration, formerly RAFI, is an

international civil society organization headquartered in Canada. The ETC group

is dedicated to the advancement of cultural and ecological diversity and human

rights. www.etcgroup.org. The ETC group is also a member of the Community

Biodiversity Development and Conservation Programme (CBDC). The CBDC is a

collaborative experimental initiative involving civil society organizations and

public research institutions in 14 countries. The CBDC is dedicated to the

exploration of community-directed programmes to strengthen the conservation and

enhancement of agricultural biodiversity. The CBDC website is

www.cbdcprogram.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

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