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More Information:
info [at] seed-sovereignty.org

Campaign for Seed-Sovereignty

Seeds must remain part of the Commons!


Evropski poslanci kritizirajo predlagano novo zakonodajo EU o semenih

Kampanja za semensko neodvisnost je zaznala kritiko predlagane uredbe EU o semenih, ki so jo izrazili nekateri poslanci v kmetijskem odboru Parlamenta EU.
Na svojem
sestanku v ponedeljek, 30. septembera so Martin Häusling (Zeleni / EFA, Nemčija), Ulrike RODUST (S&D [socialni demokrati], Nemčija), Britta Reimers (ALDE, Nemčija) in Karin KADENBACH (S&D, Avstrija) v svojih nagovorih kritizirali krepitev koncentracije na trgu semen in velikega števila delegiranih aktov. Zahtevali so deregulacijo malih proizvajalcev in preglednost načinov vzreje .
John Stuart Agnew (EFD, UK) je poudaril potrebo po izključitvi fizičnih oseb iz področja uporabe uredbe. Marc Tarabella (SD, Belgija) je predlagala ureditev, ki omogoča brezplačno izmenjavo semen med kmeti. Georg Lyon (ALDE , UK) je vprašal ali nova uredba resnično pomeni poenostavitev.
Read more
Močni pomisleki glede predloga
Ni edino trgovanje s semeni pod drobnogledom evropskega semenskega pravnega reda, temveč je potencialno vključeno tudi področje proizvodnje semen. Posledica takšnega koncepta bi bila, da bi bili kmetije in vrtičkarji, ki proizvajajo semena zase in za izmenjavo s svojimi sosedi dolžni v skladu z uredbo voditi podatke o mnogih dejavnostih (odstavki 6-8 predloga). To bi pomenilo težko dodatno nepotrebno breme, zlasti za samooskrbno kmetijstvo v vzhodni in južni Evropi. Zelo pomembno za vse kmete je, da imajo možnost gojitve lastnih semen, brez pravnih ovir in upravnega bremena.
Poleg tega bi uredba imala veliko večji vpliv kot sedanje direktive. Evropska uredba ne pušča prostora za lokalne razlage ali izvajanja, tako da ni mogoče, da ga v državah članicah sprejmejo z upoštevanjem posebnih zahtev njihovih kmetijskih struktur.
V nadaljevanju lahko omenimo še, da je osnovna težava reforme evropske zakonodaje o semenih v tem, da prednostno obravnava zelo homogen in zelo stabilen sistem standardov (DUS - distinctness, uniformity, stability / razločljivost, izenačenost, stabilnost). Ti standardi so bili sprejeti za ureditev agrokemičnih ukrepov in pogojev predelave v živilski industriji , ki zahteva enotne pogoje za skladiščenje in transport produktov, kar povzroča le nadaljnje zmanjševanje biotske raznovrstnosti v evropskem kmetijstvu.

Seedy Sunday Brighton (UK)


Brighton Corn Exchange
February 3, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
WebTwitter

Recaim the Seeds Meeting (NL)
March 2-3

by A Seed NL et. al.
Den Bosch, Netherlands

Bonn (D)
9. März 2013, 11-17 Uhr

Saatgut ist Kulturgut: Festival des Vereins zur Erhaltung der Nutzpflanzenvielfalt

Thurauen (CH)
23./24. März 2013

Internationale Saatgut-Tauschbörse von Longo Mai und Pro Specie Rara

Peliti International Seed Festival (HE)
May 11 - 13

Paranesti, Greece

Ogrožena raznovrstnost semen -
proti uredbi EU o semenih v korist semenarske industrije

Spoštovani člani Komisije,
spoštovani člani Parlamenta,
spoštovani člani Sveta!

Trenutno v Bruslju pripravljajo osnutek nove uredbe EU o semenih. Če se bodo načrti Generalnega direktorata za varno hrano in zdravje ter zaščito potrošnikov uresničili, potem bo še več redkih in starih sort sadja, zelenjave in žit izgnilo s tržišča. Na te pestre sorte in sorte, prilagojene ekološkemu kmetovanju se bo zgrnila birokracija, medtem ko se bo moč agro industrije še naprej krepila.
Trenutno dostopni osnutki nove uredbe EU o semenskem materialu spodbujajo koncentracijo trga s semeni v rokah majhnega števila koncernov semenarske industrije. To je nesprejemljivo. Nova uredba EU o semenih mora zagotavljati pestrost sort in pogoje za ekstenzivno kmetovanje in ekološko žlahtnjenje. Raznolike sorte morajo biti dostopne ne samo v genskih bankah, temveč tudi na tržišču, brez kakršnih koli birokratskih omejitev.
Zato zahtevamo: nobene obveze registracije sort! Poleg tega je potrebno zmanjšati sedaj veljavne kriterije registracije sort, ustreznih za ekološko kmetovanje, v oziru njihove genske pestrosti, da naše kmetijstvo ohrani sposobnost prilagajanja klimatskim spremembam, novim škodljivcem in boleznim ter nenazadnje okolju prijaznim življenjskim slogom.
Teh zahtev ne izpolnjujejo niti obstoječi zakoni EU o rastlinskem razmnoževalnem materialu niti trenutno dostopni neformalno predloženi osnutki spremembe zakona. Nasprotno, le-ti ogrožajo pestrost semen in kot taki skupno kmetijsko dediščino človeštva. Obenem ogrožajo trajnostno naravnane prehranske sisteme in služijo zgolj namenom agrokemične industrije.
Pozivamo vas – člane Evropske komisije, Evropskega parlamenta in Sveta EU, da zavrnete vsak predlog nove uredbe o rastlinskem razmnoževalnem materialu, ki ne izpolnjuje zgoraj navedenih zahtev!
Nobenega nadaljnjega uničevanja kmetijske in hortikulturne pestrosti v Evropi več!
Več informacij lahko najdete na strani pobudnikov in pobudnic peticije ter drugih:
- Kampanja za neodvisnost semen: www.saatgutkampagne.org / www.seed-sovereignty.org/SL/index.html
- Nemška krovna organizacija za raznolikost kulturnih rastlin in pasem živali: www.kulturpflanzen-nutztiervielfalt.org/
- Blog Patricka Wieba: www.bifurcatedcarrots.eu/
- Varuhi semen, Društvo za ohranjanje biotske pestrosti kulturnih rastlin: www.semenska.org/domov.html

Utemeljitev:
Dosedanji pravni predpisi EU o rastlinskem razmnoževalnem materialu izvirajo iz časa, v katerem so bili varovanje okolja, narave in biotske raznolikosti podcenjeni. Obstajala so številna žlahtnjiteljska podjetja, ki so trg bogatila s pestrostjo sort. Večino teh sort je bilo mogoče po žetvi ponovno zasajati, kar je tehnika pridelave semen skozi tisočletja kmetijske zgodovine.
V 80 letih prejšnjega stoletja je bilo treba poiskati dva nova pojma, za to, kar je bila poprej splošna praksa: prvič, »pravice kmetov«, in drugič, »tujeprašne« sorte. Do tega je prišlo, ker se je trg s semeni izredno spremenil. Danes deset največjih ponudnikov semen obvladuje tri četrtine svetovnega trga s semeni in več kot polovica globalnega trga izvira iz kemične industrije.
Večina sort je podvržena pravnim in tehničnim omejitvam, ki spodkopavajo ponovno zasajanje semen, ki jih hranijo pridelovalci sami. Uvedena je bila uradna odobritev za trženje rastlinskega razmnoževalnega materiala sort, s kriteriji prilagojenimi industrijskim sortam. Tovrsten razvoj se je upravičevalo s produktivnostjo in naraščanjem števila svetovnega prebivalstva. Obsežno poročilo Organizacije za mednarodno oceno kmetijskega znanja, znanosti in tehnologije za razvoj (IAASTD) ponazarja nestabilnost tega pristopa.
Raznolikost kulturnih rastlin je v veliki meri izginila s tržišča. To zadeva predvsem pestrost neregistriranih sort – z njimi trguje tisoče neustrašnih državljanov in državljank v Evropi brez zahtevane registracije. Danes smo odvisni od obsežnega strokovnega znanja teh ljudi in k tej aktivnosti bi morali spodbujati naraščajoče število ljudi, ne le kot ljubiteljski dejavnosti, temveč kot viru zaslužka in preživetja.
Drugi pomemben vidik je, da se ni žlahtnilo skoraj nobenih sort, ustreznih posebej za ekološko kmetovanje na osnovi njihove pestrosti. Ekološko kmetijstvo potrebuje rastline, ki so produktivne brez spodbude kemičnih sredstev. Slednje pa je moč doseči le z velikim genskim bazenom. Tovrstne stare sorte po veljavnih kriterijih rutinsko obravnavajo kot neustrezne za uspešno registracijo.


Sign up the petition!

Hello everyone who cares about our seeds and our freedom to use, exchange and sell them!
Take action in the legislative process of EU-Seed regulation!

There is urgent action needed to avoid damage by the upcoming new EU regulation of seed marketing. The new regulation will de facto ban old and rare varieties and farmers varieties and threaten the exchange and selling of seeds of diversity.
DG SANCO (the General Direction of the EU for Sanitary and Consumer affairs) has been working on a proposal for a new regulation since years. On Monday, the 6th of May they will present their proposal to the conference of commissioners. They could not get a consensus of the two other affected DGs, DG AGRI (agricultural affairs) and DG ENVI (environmental affairs). Both opposed the last draft of the proposal, and DG SANCO is not looking for a consensus.
The new regulation has mainly been drafted by Isabelle Clement-Nissou, an employee of GNIS, the French lobby of the Seed Industry. Madame Clement-Nissou was sent as a national expert to Brussels by the French government and is supposed to „support“ DG SANCO. The drafts for the proposal became worse from the first to the second draft; and it is expected that the final proposal is going into the same direction.
Since there is no consensus between the three DGs, the commissioners have to vote on the proposal. If a majority of commissioners votes against the proposal, it should be stopped. If they vote in favour, it will be given to the EU Parliament and to the Council.
The seed industry is pushing the legislation, because they’ve spent a lot of money to influence the seed legislation. Furthermore, they don't want it to be postponed after the election of a new parliament in May 2014. They take the risk that the commissioners vote against it – and we think: the commissioners should do so! There is only a little chance to get a majority of commissioners to vote against the current proposal, but we still should try.
Each country of the EU has one commissioner in Brussels, so we need 14 votes against the proposal. The commissioners of DG AGRI and DG ENVI should vote against, so we need 12 more.
Please write to the commissioner of your country and convince him/her to vote „NO“ on the proposal of DG SANCO on 6th of May.
The Austrian seed saving organisation “Arche Noah” prepared a draft letter that you could use as
template, if needed. Or write a better one!
You can find the members of the current commission
here.

Try to make a link from his/her department to the seed issue, and try to make clear to him/her that the proposal for a new EU seed legislation will affect the cultural and biodiversity heritage of your country and the freedom of farmers to use the seeds and the varieties they want to.
NO PROHIBITION OF SEEDS OF DIVERSITY!
Please write to your commissioner in Brussels immediatelz. He/she has to make a statement on the proposal from 24th of April on, the sooner, the better. On the 6th of May, we must obtain at least 14 objections, otherwise this proposal will become the official proposal
In order to coordinate the action, please tell us if you are going to approach your commissioner!

The Latest in the Battle to Reform EU Seed Laws (2013-02-24)

ALERT: Bad new EU-seed law ahead!
The DG SANCO (Directorate General for Health and Consumers) of the EU-Commission is working on a revision of the EU Seed Laws, currently a series of directives interpreted under national law, to be replaced by a single regulation that will come into force directly in all the 27 EU member states without local interpretation. This would suit the needs of seed multinationals which want uniform laws in all their markets, but would harm the diverse structures of agriculture and the diverse use and production of seeds. If you want to act on behalf of seed-sovereignty, for farmers and seed-savers, you have to become active in the coming months!
Diversity under attack!
The current draft of the proposed regula­tion, from Nov. 2012, contains some draconian measures for farm-based production seeds, and diversity of plant varieties. Farmers as seed producers would be subject to the same obligations of registration and regula­tion as multina­tional seed company operators. Varieties of diver­sity and old varieties would be endanger­ed, and the free exchange of seeds and other propaga­tion material could effectively be forbidden. If varieties have to be registered and to pass extensive testing, this would put up unreasonably high barriers for farmers, consumers and the diversity in agriculture and horticulture.
The European Seed Association, lobby organisation of the seed multinationals, has two main aims. First to control the niche markets and make them unattractive, and second to register all producers of farm saved seed in order to collect royalties from them. They are also trying to combine the testing and evaluation for plant variety protection (PVP) and the licensing for marketing, and to privatize the entire process. This would hit the small companies and farmers, who would face increasing and unreasonable testing and evaluation costs, for each single variety of seed they wish to use.
What‘s next?
The current draft regulation was written by DG SANCO. Before it becomes an official proposal of the EU-Commission, DG AGRI (Directorate General of Agriculture and Rural Development) and the DG ENVI (Directorate General for the Environment) have to agree to it‘s contents. At the moment there are several points of disagreement.
This opens a window we should use to struggle for more diversity, for open pollinated varieties (versus ”hybrid” varieties), and for more diverse seeds in the hands of farmers, gardeners and seed savers.

Our demands for a new EU seed law:

No regulation of seed exchange by seed savers and farmers!

No mandatory registration or certification for open pollinated varieties!

No discrimination against organic varieties by standards for registra­tion, certification and plant health!

Transparency on breeding meth­ods and intellectual property rights (patents and/or plant variety protection) of registered varieties!

New definition of varieties: not only homogeneous and stable varieties, but also open pollinated, selected from populations!

No privatization of registration and certification!

From seed to seed” -
An educational film on the production of seeds

The film is intended for all those interested in seed production - beginners, amateur gardeners, farmers, vocational colleges, children, those who wish to contribute to the conservation of plant diversity, those for whom it is urgent to grow their own seeds in order to adapt to different climate conditions or for food security
read more...

Resilient Seed
On the seed industry, EU seed laws and the engagement for seed-sovereignty

Resilient Seed“ - the film

Resilient Seed“ - the booklet
chap. 1.: Get informed and take action!
chap. 2.: The power of seed and agrochemical companies
chap. 3.: Seed marketing law
chap. 4.; Seed law in 2012 at a crossroads
chap. 5.: Plant variety protection (PVP) and UPOV
chap. 6.: Patents on plants
chap. 7.: How to organise a seed swap

Commission of the EU released drafts for new seed law

In the first weeks of November the Commission of the EU has released drafts for new regulations of the seed sector:
- „
Draft on plant reproductive materials”
- „
Draft paper on plant health”
- „
Draft paper on a proposal on official controls”

Resilient Seed
On the seed industry, EU seed laws and the engagement for seed-sovereignty

Resilient Seed“ - the film

Resilient Seed“ - the booklet
chap. 1.: Get informed and take action!
chap. 2.: The power of seed and agrochemical companies
chap. 3.: Seed law = seed marketing law
chap. 4.; Seed law in 2012 at a crossroads
chap. 5.: Plant variety protection (PVP) and UPOV
chap. 6.: Patents on plants
chap. 7.: How to organise a seed swap

Call to Action for Seed Sovereignty on 16 October 2012:
We need seed sovereignty
to be able to achieve food sovereignty!

Our demands are:

  • open access to fertile and diverse seeds free of any form of legal protection or patenting;

  • the right for farmers and gardeners to obtain seeds from their harvest, to re-sow, distribute and sell them;

  • a new model of agriculture based on local, small-scale food webs rather than monocultures requiring high inputs;

  • new agricultural and trade policies promoting production for local needs and not global “free” trade, dominated by transnational corporations;

  • policies that favour the needs of farmers and consumers, health and the environment instead of profits for big business.

Complete call for action

The European Court of Justice's decision reconfirms the interdiction of seed trade:
Diversity of Cultivated Varieties still endangered

The European Court of Justice stated the validity of current EU legislation on seed commerce by its judgement on 12th of July. Thereby it rejected the fundamental critics uttered beforehand by Advocate General Kokott. Accordingly, the existing trade embargo for seeds from non-registered varieties remains untouched. This is a defeat for the agricultural biodiversity and the ones who dedicate themselves to self-determined agriculture and gardening.

Andreas Riekeberg from the campaign for seed-sovereignty says: „It is an annoying judgement far from the reality. The court solely has reconfirmed the current EU legislation without taking into account the detailed critic by Advocate General Kokott, which pointed out the ongoing destruction of biodiversity on the fields and in the gardens driven by the respective directives. This is a slap in the face of those concerned with agricultural diversity. The judgement keeps going on promoting the seed industry and their uniform varieties which only grow with the help of chemical inputs, be it pesticides or fertilizers.“

Jürgen Holzapfel lives on the farm Ulenkrug in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. He is a cultivator of old cereal varieties and saves his own seeds. He says: „I would have to tell the authorities about all the varieties of seeds which I save, even if I use them just for myself. To commercialize them, I would need to register them as conservation varieties, pay the fees and bear in mind not to exceed a certain quantity. I would even have to arrange with other farmers not to exceed the maximum threshold for a specific variety in a specific region. The court claims in the official press release to ensure the protection of plant genetic resources by this provision. This is just not true.“

The objectives of the campaign for seed-sovereignty are described by Anne Schweigler: „We will continue to struggle for the common right of all farmers and gardeners to decide for themselves which variety to cultivate. We will keep on organizing seed swaps and enhancing regional and international networks. The production of food and our alimentation have to be self-determined and must not be controlled by the agro-industry.“

The campaign for seed-sovereignty criticizes the policy of conserving the biodiversity stretched into a dwarfish frame by the EU directive. This in turn shall impede the emergence of a market of regional farm-saved seeds, e. g. for vegetables, cereals and seed oil as an alternative to the industrial market. Today, the European Court of Justice follows the legislative in its attempt to; „ … preventing the emergence of a parallel market for such seed, which was likely to constitute an impediment to the internal market for seed of vegetable varieties “. As written in the court's press release. It could have interfered with the business of the market-dominating corporations.

The campaign for seed-sovereignty is in line with the majority of seed saving initiatives in Europe, saying that the conservation directive is an impediment to the sustainment of biodiversity, which is luckily hardly applicable in reality. However, seed savers can be subject to prosecution when their work is disturbing the corporations.

The legal dispute between the seed saving initiative Kokopelli and the corporation Graines Beaumaux challenged the validity of current EU law and was brought to the European Court of Justice. The opinion of Advocate General Kokott on January 1st 2012 gave rise to hope that the restrictive EU directives could be dismissed.

Principally, only registered seeds may be traded within the EU. What was once meant to guarantee their quality, has evolved into a strong limitation of the diversity of seeds. Many old varieties have disappeared from the gardens and the shelves in the stores, either because they do not meet the catalogues constraints or their registration cannot be afforded by small farmers or initiatives.

Within the last 30 years a tremendous concentration on the seed market has been observed. A few transnational corporations comprise 65% to 80% of the share, depending on the crop and the region of the world. This was crucial to the accelerated destruction of biodiversity. Not until recent years (2008 - 2010), has the EU adopted three directives on conservation varieties. However, the activity of seed saving farmers and gardeners is limited due to the admission procedure and the restrictions of produced quantity.

Opinion of the Advocate General (19.01.2012):
http://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?text=&docid=118143&pageIndex=0&doclang=EN&mode=req&dir=&occ=first&part=1&cid=66802

Press release of the European Court of Justice (12.07.2012): http://curia.europa.eu/jcms/jcms/P_89305/

Decision C-59/11 of the EJC: http://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?text=&docid=125002&pageIndex=0&doclang=EN&mode=lst&dir=&occ=first&part=1&cid=43979

(Translation of the press release of the Campaign for Seed Sovereignty from 12.07.2012)

other statements:

Kampagne fü Saatgut-Souveränität (auf Deutsch, 12/072012)

Kokopelli (en Française, 12/07/2012)

Reseau de Semences Paysannes (en Française, 17/07/2012)

Red de Semillas (en Castellano, 23/07/2012)