The International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants, or UPOV (and colloquially known as “The Monsanto Law” in South America), was initially established in 1961 and was originally intended as a means of imposing common rules for recognizing and protecting the ownership of new plant varieties by plant breeders. The act was revised in 1972, 1978 and 1991. So far, 70 countries have accepted the conditions set by UPOV. In all cases individual farmers were given no consideration or say concerning the implementation of the rules, and in fact some trade agreements forced governments to accede to the provisions. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) between the U.S., Canada and Mexico, for instance, obliged Mexico to join UPOV 91. That agreement directly restricted seed saving. UPOV 91 has evolved into a trade agreement system that benefits the multinational corporations in the global North while threatening food security in the South.
Three lobbying organizations, The International Seed Federation, The International Community of Breeders of Asexually Ornamental Fruit Plants and CropLife International, represent Monsanto, DowAgroSciences, Syngenta, Bayer and DuPont Pioneer. These groups have proposed further conditions to UPOV member countries that would force them to accept a single registered plant variety chosen by the breeder. Member countries would then be held responsible for the implementation of the proposed rules established by the multinational corporations. According to the Institute of Science in Society, the lobbyists’ proposals “will compromise the right of UPOV member states to control the processing and examination of plant variety protection applications, and hence their national right to control their own food system in accordance with local climactic and ecological conditions that can decide the success or failure of a crop.”
Indeed, protests among indigenous farmers in a few Latin American countries are beginning to have an effect. Last year in Chile, Secretary General Ximena Rincon, who has led an effort to oppose the passage of the new UPOV restrictions on the use of local seeds, succeeded in causing the Chilean government to withdraw support for implementation of the new bill. Lucia Sepulveda of the Alliance for a Better Quality of Life/Pesticide Action Network of Chile, explained that “The Monsanto Law…would allow companies to register patents for the vast majority of seeds in Chile, and require small and medium producers to pay those companies for the right to use similar seeds. This…would create a barrier for small and medium producers to use strains of seeds that have been developed and used by farmers and indigenous communities for generations. Producers would be faced with renewing their seed rights every year for a high price, or leaving agriculture altogether.” Another concern of the Chilean government is that the multinationals generally produce exclusively for export, leaving the Chilean population with less access to quality produce as well as causing a decline in small scale agriculture.
Colombian farmers, too, have successfully managed to force the government to at least put a moratorium on a resolution passed by the Colombian Institute for Livestock and Agriculture (ICA) in response to the passage of a free trade agreement between the U.S. and Colombia that was signed into law in 2011 by President Obama. The resolution was labeled 9.70 and resulted in a raid conducted by the ICA and riot police that “led to the destruction of 4,271 tons of seeds of rice, potatoes, corn, and other vegetable products.” “Legal actions were also taken against [the farmers] for breaking the law.” Victoria Solano released a documentary called 9.70, which revealed the destruction and the farmers went on strike.
The revised UPOV conditions are also meeting large scale resistance in Argentina. In 2012, the Minister of Agriculture Norberto Yahuar and Pablo Vaqueros, President of Monsanto Argentina, announced plans to incorporate the provisions of UPOV 91 into law. The National Indigenous Peasant Movement released a document which garnered huge support among civil groups and individuals. In part, the document stated that “this paves the way to further expropriation and privatization of agriculture and wild biodiversity in Argentina. The bill makes possible the greater privatization of Argentina’s genetic resources and native biodiversity by expanding so-called plant breeders’ rights. In addition, it makes illegal or gravely restricts practices that have existed since the beginning of agriculture: seed selection, breeding, improvement, saving, reproduction, and exchange based on the previous harvest.”
The cultivation of GM crops for food production, counter to the duplicitous claims of Big Ag, is an unsustainable use of resources. GM crops feed approximately 30% of the world’s population while using 80% of the world’s arable land and 70% of the world’s water resources. Small scale agriculture, on the other hand, feeds 70% of the world’s population while using fewer resources. We ignore these facts while continuing to push forward damaging trade agreements that favor multinational corporations above all other considerations. Currently, the U.S., under President Obama’s pressure, is aggressively seeking to pass the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP) which is not only pushing for the full implementation of UPOV 91 but is also seeking to extend patenting to animals. Indigenous people, however, are awakening to the reality that their ability to feed themselves and others is being eroded by corporate interests; perhaps they will eventually prevail.
Recipe of the Week
This “salad” makes an exceptional sandwich. It can be vegan or you can add cheese.
Olive and Marinated Veggie Salad
2 cups mixed kalamata and green olives
1 small jar of pimientos
1/2 cup marinated mushrooms
1/2 cup marinated artichoke hearts
1/2 cup minced red onion
3 cloves minced garlic
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
1/2 cup spicy peppers
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/2 pound provolone
Mix all ingredients. Taste for vinegar. I hollowed out a loaf of French bread, added the ingredients, wrapped the whole thing in foil and weighed it down with a cast iron frying pan for a few hours. Not necessary, but it helped incorporate the flavors into the bread.