Canadian Supreme Court Tramples Farmers' Rights

[Guest guest]

>ETC Group

>News Release

>Friday, May 21, 2004

>www.etcgroup.org

>

>Canadian Supreme Court Tramples Farmers' Rights - Affirms Corporate

>Monopoly On Higher Life Forms

>

>Civil society and farmers' organizations worldwide reacted with outrage to

>today's 5-4 decision by the Canadian Supreme Court, affirming Monsanto's

>right to prosecute farmers who are found to have GM crops growing on their

>land - whether they wanted them or not. Gene Giant Monsanto accused

>Saskatchewan farmers Percy and Louise Schmeiser of violating the company's

>patent on genetically modified canola (oilseed rape). Percy and Louise did

>not want Monsanto's GM canola seeds that invaded their property, and they

>did not try to benefit from the herbicide-tolerant trait in the GM seed

>(that is, they didn't spray Roundup weedkiller), but still Monsanto

>prosecuted them for patent infringement and demanded a portion of their

>income. The Schmeisers waged a courageous, 7-year battle against Monsanto

>that went all the way to the Supreme Court.

>

>"The good news is that the Schmeisers don't have to pay a penny to

>Monsanto [reversing the lower courts' ruling], but the decision has grave

>implications for farmers and society everywhere the Gene Giants do

>business," said Pat Mooney, Executive Director of ETC Group, one of the

>interveners in the case. Monsanto's GM seed technology accounted for over

>90% of the global area planted in GM seeds last year.

>

>"The decision not only undermines the rights of farmers worldwide, but

>also global food security and biological diversity. Ironically, the

>United Nations has declared tomorrow to be International Biodiversity Day.

>We should all be wearing black," lamented Mooney.

>

>Inflatable Patent: The Canadian Supreme Court decision effectively

>nullifies the Court's 2002 decision, which held that higher life forms,

>including plants, are not patentable subject matter. According to today's

>decision, a patent on a gene or cell can be infringed by a farmer's use of

>a plant or seed into which the patented material has been incorporated.

>

>"Monsanto has won an inflatable patent today. They can now say that their

>rights extend to anything its genes get into, whether plant, animal or

>human," said Pat Mooney. The Canadian Court goes even further than

>notoriously monopoly-friendly US patent law because it finds that a gene

>patent extends to any higher organism that contains the patented gene.

>"Under this ruling spreading GM pollution appears to be recognized as a

>viable corporate ownership strategy," said Mooney.

>

>The Court's ruling means that if a farmer is in possession of seeds or

>plants containing a patented gene, the burden is on the farmer to prove

>that s/he is not infringing the company's monopoly patent. "In Monsanto's

>world, we're all criminals unless a court rules otherwise," observes

>Silvia Ribeiro of ETC Group's Mexico office. "This will come as shocking

>news to indigenous farmers in Mexico, whose maize fields have been

>contaminated with DNA from genetically modified plants, and to farmers

>everywhere who are fighting to prevent genetically modified organisms from

>trespassing in their fields," said Ribeiro. Monsanto's newspaper ads in

>Chiapas, Mexico are already warning peasants that if they are found using

>GM seed illegally, they risk fines and even prison.

>

>"No doubt Monsanto will say this is a victory for their stockholders, but

>its victory will be short lived. As always, Monsanto's hot air is the wind

>beneath our wings," said Pat Mooney. "This ruling will unite farmers and

>others opposed to corporate control of food and life, and galvanize civil

>society to take the issue out of the courts and back to politicians," said

>Mooney.

>

>One of civil society's first major responses in North America will be

>expressed during the "Reclaim the Commons" meeting in San Francisco in

>about two weeks (June 5-10). This international activist gathering

>parallels the annual meeting of the Biotechnology Industry Organization

>(BIO) also in San Francisco.

>

>Tell Monsanto Where to Go! ETC Group and others have initiated a

>letter-writing campaign. Anyone (rural or urban based) who fears that

>Monsanto's GM seeds have blown onto their property - as happened to the

>Schmeisers - can notify Monsanto that the company's uninvited genes may be

>trespassing.

>

>Go here to take action: http://www.etcgroup.org/article.asp?newsid=450

>

>Go here to view the text of the Canadian Supreme Court's judgement:

>http://www.lexum.umontreal.ca/csc-scc/en/index.html

>

>For further information:

>

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

>Hope Shand and Kathy Jo Wetter, 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