28/04/2013 3:19

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Neuer Petitionstext: Esteemed Members of the Commission,
Esteemed Members of the Parliament,
Esteemed Members of the Council!

New seed regulations are currently being drafted in Brussels. If the Directorate General for Health and Consumers’ plans become a reality, more old and rare varieties of fruits, vegetables and grains will disappear from the market. These diverse varieties and varieties adapted to organic agriculture are to be hampered by bureaucracy, while the power of corporate agriculture is further strengthened.

The currently available texts for the new EU seed regulation will promote a concentration of the seed market into the hands of a small number of seed industry corporations. This is unacceptable. A new EU seed regulation must allow diversity varieties, varieties for small-scale farming and ecologically adapted breeding. Diverse varieties must be available not only in gene banks, but on the open market too, without any bureaucratic restrictions.

Therefore we demand: no obligation for registration! Besides this, the current registration criteria must be lowered for varieties suitable for organic farming by virtue of their diversity, so our agriculture remains adaptable to climate change, new pests and diseases, as well as more environmentally friendly lifestyles.

Neither the current EU seed law nor the presently available informally submitted drafts for legal changes to the law fulfil these requirements. They threaten seed diversity and thereby mankind’s common agricultural heritage. They also threaten sustainable food systems and exist only to serve the agrochemical industry.

We urge you, EU Commission, Parliament and Council members, to reject any proposal that does not fulfil the above mentioned criteria!
No more destruction of agricultural and horticultural seed diversity in Europe!

For more information visit:

Campaign for Seed-Sovereignty www.seed-sovereignty.org

German umbrella organisation for crop and livestock diversity („Dachverband Kulturpflanzen- und Nutztiervielfalt e.V.“):
www.kulturpflanzen-nutztiervielfalt.org/node/29

German Association for the conservation of crop plants („Verein zur Erhaltung der Nutzpflanzenvielfalt e.V.“):
www.nutzpflanzenvielfalt.de

Patrick Wiebe’s Blog: www.bifurcatedcarrots.eu/