Monsanto takes your Wheat - Patents it - and sells it back to you
Munich/New Delhi/Mumbai, 27 January 2004: Greenpeace today filed
legal opposition (1) against Monsanto's controversial patent on a
wheat strain that the agro-science multinational claims to have
invented for baking purpose, at the European Patent Office,
today.
According to Greenpeace, wheat with these specific baking
characteristics was originally developed in India and has been
cultivated, bred and processed for bread (chapati) by Indian
farmers for years. The patent that Monsanto now holds means it has
the monopoly on the farming, breeding and processing of this type
of wheat. The patent (EP445929) was granted on May 21, 2003.
"Our investigations show that the examiners at the EU patents
Office knew that the wheat involved is cultivated entirely normally
and that it is not an invention. Monsanto employed all kinds of
tricks and deception to conceal this fact, though the truth is
amply clear on proper examination. This case shows again that only
a clear prohibition of patents on plants and seeds can stop the
ongoing abuse of modern patent law." Said Christoph Then, patent
expert of Greenpeace German office from Munich.
"The patent is a blatant example of biopiracy as it is
tantamount to the theft of the results of the breeding efforts of
Indian farmers who have nurtured and developed wheat varieties that
are a part of our countries rich heritage. Unless we are able to
successfully subvert the attempts of multinational corporations,
Indian farmers and scientists could end up paying royalties to
foreign corporations for using tradional knowledge that their own
communities have developed." Said Dr. Ashesh Tayal of Greenpeace
India from Munich.
According to the European Patents Convention, patents cannot be
issued on plants that are normally cultivated, any more than they
are allowed to be issued on their seeds. In case of the Monsanto
wheat patent, the European Patents Office has clearly disregarded
rules and laws of current patent law.
"The case has been at the center of vehement protests in India,"
Dr. Krishen Bir Chowdhary of Bharat Krishak Samaj, " We call on
Europe and the German government to see that seeds, plants and
animals are not allowed to be patented. If such patents continue to
be issued, a few international corporations can gain worldwide
control over the base of the world's food supply and prevent
farmers from working freely. They will soon lose the right to
exchange knowledge, cultivate the varieties best suited to them, or
even exchange seeds with other farmers. This is bound to have a
dramatic impact on food security and we will not tolerate it." he
added.
Notes to the Editors: 1- Grounds for opposition -The patent is
opposed on the basis of the European Patent Convention (EPC), on
account of it not being a new invention (Art 54, EPC), not
involving an inventive step (Art 56, EPC), being incompletely and
in part incorrectly described (Art 83, EPC), on account of the ban
on the patenting of plant varieties (Art 53, EPC) and the ban on
patenting essentially biological processes to cultivate plant
varieties (Art 53b, EPC), and through violating ethical limits and
being biopiracy (Art 53a, EPC).
For more information :www.greenpeaceindia.org,
Munich - Dr. Ashesh Tayal, Scientific Advisor, Greenpeace India
- +919845535404,
New Delhi - Divya Raghunandan, GE campaigner, Greenpeace India -
+919845535406,
Mumbai - Shailendra Yashwant, Campaigns Director, Greenpeace
India - +919823042490