May 20, 1994
ACTION NEEDED
to
Protect Farmer's Rights
Under U.S. Plant Variety Protection Act
Hearings on H.R. 2927, Amendments to the Plant Variety
Protection Act, will be held on Tuesday, May 24th, before the
House Agriculture Subcommittee on Department Operations and
Nutrition. Though seemingly innocuous, this bill threatens to
eliminate the U.S. farmer's traditional right to save and sell
proprietary seed, jeopardizes conservation and exchange of
biological resources, and exasperates problems of crop genetic
erosion.
Letters and/or phone calls to members of the House Agriculture
Committee are needed now!
The seed industry, now dominated by chemical and pharmaceutical
corporations, wants to take away the farmer's right to save and
sell limited quantities of proprietary seed. Here's the
American Seed Trade Association's official position:
Farmers should have restrictions on their ability to save and
plant saved seed of varieties protected by PVP and varieties
which contain patented genetic components. The "right to save
seed" exemption for farmers under the PVP Act must be
significantly tightened to prevent abuses which now
substantially undermine breeders rights, and farmers rights to
sell seed for reproductive purposes should be eliminated.(see
note 1)
% Let your Congressional representative know that you oppose
greater monopoly control over seeds!
% Urge members of Congress to preserve the farmer's exemption
under PVPA. No action should be taken to eliminate the farmer's
right to save proprietary seed for re-planting on his/her own
holdings or to sell limited quantities of seed to his/her
neighbor.
% Ask them to decline to ratify the 1991 UPOV Convention,
pending further study and a comprehensive policy review of the
social and economic impacts of plant breeders' rights and other
forms of intellectual property rights on farmers, plant
breeding and germplasm activities, and future access to and
exchange of plant genetic resources, both domestically and
internationally.
*What is the Plant Variety Protection Act?*
As an alternative to the industrial patent system, the Plant
Variety Protection Act (PVPA) was established in 1970 to
provide breeders with limited monopoly rights over the
production, marketing and sale of new, sexually reproduced
(open-pollintated) plant varieties for 18 years. The "farmers'
exemption" has always been a prominent feature of the Plant
Variety Protection Act. It permits farmers to save and re-plant
proprietary seed from their harvest, and to sell limited
quantities of harvested seed for reproductive purposes without
having to pay royalties or ask permission.
H.R. 2927 seeks to restrict the farmer's exemption by making it
illegal for a farmer to sell limited quantities of proprietary
seed to his/her neighbor. This would give the seed industry
virtual monopoly control over protected varieties, and will
ultimately lead to a ban on farmer-saved seed.
Letters and Phone Calls to Members of Congress Needed Hearings
on H.R. 2927 will be held on May 24 before the Ag. Subcommittee
on Dept. Operations and Nutrition. The bill was introduced by
Chairman of the Agriculture Committee, Kika de la Garza (D-
Texas), George Brown (D-California) and Pat Roberts (R-Kansas).
The following members of Congress need to know that Amendments
to the Plant Variety Protection Act are controversial, with
negative implications for farmers, U.S. agriculture and world
food security.
Members of the House Agriculture Subcommittee on Dept.
Operations and Nutrition
Charles Stenholm (D-TX) Robert Smith (R-OR) George Brown
(D-CA) Bill Emerson (R-MO) Bill Sarpalius (D-TX) Steve
Gunderson (R-WI) Calvin Dooley (D-CA) Wayne Allard (R-CO)
Jay Inslee (D-WA) Bill Barrett (R-NE) Glenn English (D-
OK) Tom Ewing (R-IL) Dan Glickman (D-KS) Jack Kingston
(R-GA) Tim Johnson (D-SD) Charles Canady (R-FL) Cynthia
McKinney (D-GA) Sanford Bishop (D-GA) Harold Volkmer (D-
MO) Eva Clayton (D-NC) Tim Holden (D-PA) Charlie Rose (D-
NC)
Address: US House of Representatives, Washington, DC
20515
If you have questions, or need more information, please contact
Hope Shand at RAFI-USA, P.O. Box 655, Pittsboro, NC 27312;
phone (919) 542- 1396; fax (919) 542-2460; email
rafiusa@igc.apc.org.
1 American Seed Trade Association, "ASTA Position Statement on
Intellectual Property Rights for the Seed Industry." Approved
by the ASTA Board of Directors, June 29, 1990.
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