[permaculture] The Green Party endorses International Seeds Day on April 26
Brent McMillan
brent at gp.org
Tue Apr 7 12:21:33 EDT 2009
GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org
For Immediate Release:
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Contacts:
Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, cell 202-904-7614,
mclarty at greens.org
Starlene Rankin, Media Coordinator, 916-995-3805, starlene at gp.org
The Green Party endorses International Seeds Day on April 26, calls for
the repeal of Order 81 making Iraqi farmers dependent on US firms
• International Seeds Day http://www.INEAS.org/20090426_PR.pdf
• Green Party Speakers Bureau: Green leaders available to speak on
environmental and international policy http://www.gp.org/speakers
• "The First 100 Days: What Would a Green Administration Look Like?"
(video and text) http://www.gp.org/first100
WASHINGTON, DC -- The Green Party of the United States has endorsed
International Seeds Day (ISD, http://www.INEAS.org/20090426_PR.pdf) on
April 26, which will mark the fifth anniversary of the passage and
signing of Order 81 by Paul Bremer, administrator of the Coalition
Provisional Authority in Iraq.
Order 81 (http://www.trade.gov/static/iraq_memo81.pdf) prohibits Iraqi
farmers from reusing seeds harvested from new varieties introduced in
Iraq and registered under the law. According to the law, farmers are
banned from saving such seeds and required to pay royalties to the
holder of the patent on the seed -- an American corporation. The Iraqi
constitution has historically prohibited ownership of biological resources.
ISD, organized by the Institute of Near Eastern & African Studies
(INEAS, http://www.INEAS.org), will educate the public and media about
the importance of biodiversity and seed saving; the dangers of
genetically modified food and patent seeds; the ruinous effect of Order
81 on Iraqi agriculture; and the growing resistance to the power of
giant agribusinesses over seed resources.
"Order 81 has made farmers in Iraq -- who have planted since 7000 BCE --
dependent on companies like Monsanto. We call on President Obama and
Congress to repeal Order 81 immediately," said Sanda Everette,
permaculture designer and a co-chair of the Green Party of the United
States.
"Monsanto has a record of selling pest-resistant seeds that have been
genetically engineered for sterility to farmers around the world,
rendering the farmers permanently dependent. Order 81 has turned Iraq
into a feeding trough for favored US corporations, just as the Iraqi
hydrocarbon law gives US and British oil companies control over most
Iraqi oil. The US invasion and occupation of Iraq have proven to be an
exercise in death and destruction for the sake of corporate pillage,"
said Ms. Everette.
According to INEAS, "[f]armers in Iraq have operated in a mostly
free-to-little-regulated, informal seed supply system. Farm-saved seeds
and the free exchange of planting materials among farmers have long been
the basis of agricultural practice in Iraq. Yet all of this has become
history.... The purpose of Order 81 is to facilitate the establishment
of a new seed market in Iraq, one in which Iraqi farmers are forced to
make their annual purchase of seeds, including those that are
genetically modified, from transnational corporations."
INEAS notes that Order 81 grants US firms complete control over Iraqi
farmers' seed for 20 years, requiring them to sign an agreement to pay a
'technology fee' and an annual license fee. "Plant Variety Protection
(PVP) made seed reusing and saving illegal as well as 'similar' seed
plantings punishable by severe fines and imprisonment. Agribusiness
wants the same rights everywhere, including in the USA. This will
jeopardize the future of organic and independent farming."
Similar laws have placed many developing countries in Africa and Asia,
including Afghanistan and India, at the mercy of foreign agribusiness
monopolies.
The Green Party supports the right of farmers to save their own seeds
and preserve the heritage that farmers have developed over thousands of
years to sustain human populations. Greens advocate the establishment of
international seed banks such as the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway.
Greens support protection for small farms, farmers' markets, and
organically and locally grown produce in the US and around the world,
all of which have been threatened by agribusinesses like Monsanto,
Archer Daniels Midland, and Tyson. The Green Party opposes genetic
modification of organisms used for food and supports legislation to
protect the public from threats to biodiversity from seed stocks created
by corporations.
MORE INFORMATION
Green Party of the United States http://www.gp.org
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193
• Tally of Green election victories
http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/election-results.html
• Green candidate news http://www.gp.org/2008-elections/candidate-news.php
• Green candidate database for 2008 and other campaign information:
http://www.gp.org/elections.shtml
• Green Party News Center http://www.gp.org/newscenter.shtml
• Green Party Speakers Bureau http://www.gp.org/speakers
• Green Party ballot access page http://www.gp.org/2008-elections
The Institute of Near Eastern & African Studies (INEAS)
1 (617) 86-INEAS (864-6327)
INEAS at aol.com
INEAS_1994 at yahoo.com
The Organic Revolution
Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology
http://www.navdanya.org/organic/index.htm
GM Science Exposed
http://www.i-sis.org.uk/pdf/Papers_on_GM_Hazards.pdf
"The soils of war: The real agenda behind agricultural reconstruction in
Afghanistan and Iraq"
Grain, March 2009
http://www.grain.org/briefings/?id=217
"Order 81 and the plunder of farming"
By Latha Jishnu, April 1, 2009, Business Standard (India)
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/latha-jishnu-order-81the-plunderfarming/353518/
Green Pages, Vol. 13, No. 1
The official publication of record of the Green Party of the United States
http://gp.org/greenpages-blog
~ END ~
Posted by:
Brent McMillan, Steward of Woodhaven
Avilla, IN, USA
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