http://www.dailytexanonline.com/news/2004/11/18/Opinion...ola.Oil-809084.shtml
and
http://www.vegsource.com/articles2/iraq_seeds.htm
Very scary.
I was doing some news research on genetically modified organisms and found that almost without exception the American media glossed over the problems with GMO's and patenting seeds, as well as "terminator technology" that produces crops with sterile seeds.

By far the most open stories about this were from European sources or so-called extreme leftist media. A conservative American media source referred to the above linked incidents as "donations of seed to Iraqi farmers" or something warm and fuzzy like that. Another American artitcle attempted to play down the problems by saying "70% of food in this country" was from GMO's. That sure didn't make me feel good about it.

If it weren't for the extremely high prices in organic food stores i would buy all my groceries there. Sadly, the organic food stores in our area sell mostly supplements and not much actual food, anyway.

Another thread in club Og forum debunked your article as pure bunk already.

Actually, I thought the stories about Iraqi farmers not being able to save seed was bunk, too, until I heard a report on NPR. It seems that the laws being put in don't just apply to genetically engineered seeds, but to any patented variety. These laws go farther than the European Union and U.S. laws and are supposedly needed in order to make an environment where business investors feel secure that their patents will be protected, at least thats what the Iraqi government representative said.

IS there something wrong making farmers follow international patent laws relating to seeds.I think not
as long as the company with patent developed the variety in question legally and did not steal the strain from
third world country.

From what I understood, in the US and Europe, farmers are allowed to save seed from the varieties that they are not going to be allowed to save seed from in Iraq. Whatever the rule is, it should be applied uniformly

please provide your source for this supposed fact.

"From what I understood, in the US and Europe, farmers are allowed to save seed from the varieties that they are not going to be allowed to save seed from in Iraq."

I heard this in a report on NPR, it might have been on Marketplace or on All Things Considered. If I have time, I will search their web-site. They did have the Iraqui official speaking directly and representatives of the parties in the story: the US officials, the European Union official and various others and presented different points of view on why it was being done. I doubt they were faking the story. You might check it out yourself if you are interested. I am building rooms in the basement and don't get on the computer as much as I would like.

I don't have any of the facts of this story, but just the fact that it is being discussed here suggests to me that governments (note the plural) are going above and beyond the call of duty - again. It seems to me that farmers anywhere in the world should be allowed to mind their own business, as long as the crop is safe for consumption.Love, Jackie

OK. I went to the NPR website http://www.npr.com and found the story was on Morning Edition, November 24,2004, reporter Dan Charles, although I believe I heard the story in the afternoon and that version was a bit longer. The story was that the Coalition Provisional Authority was passing a broad spectrum of laws to govern the New Iraq. Linda Lurie (who spoke), a lawyer from the US Patent and Trademark office, helped write the laws and tailored them to be in line with the rules of the World Trade Organization. The WTO rules give plant variety protection to any new variety developed by a plant breeder or company. The Iraqi rules prohibit farmers from saving seed from "any variety a plant breeder claims as their own". In the US, farmers are exempt from this and can save and use for replanting a part of their crops from new varieties. In Iraq, farmers will only be allowed to save seed they already have from varieties which have been in their families for centuries. Philip Pardee, a professor at the University of Minnesota said that this is stricter than US or WTO laws/rules. Ms. Lurie said the Iraquis requested the law in order to encourage investment. A spokesperson for the organization GRAIN, Ms. Boutani, said that this encourages private control over plant varieties and interferes with development and research based on free exchange. I can't vouch for the spelling of anyone's name, but you could go to the website to listen to the story.
I am curious about the farmers on this site. Do you save your own seed? Would you object to the Iraqi rules being in effect here? Remember, they apply to all new varieties, not just genetically engineered ones.

Now I've got it. To hear the story go to

Abigail, 8 kids grown, 1 ripening and 8 grandkids- what a harvest!