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Politics : Actual left/right wing discussion -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: TimF who wrote (736)	9/13/2006 1:24:39 PM
From: Wharf Rat	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10087

"Iraq will have to respect American patents but a seed that is not new and has been used for centuries doesn't meet the requirements under patent law." Now, under U.S. decree, to patent varieties of seed, all that is necessary is to be the first to "describe" or "characterize" them. Even though technically, the Iraqi farmer is not being stopped from saving and sharing seed from traditional crops at this time, nevertheless there is now also nothing stopping Monsanto, Cargill, Dow, Syngenta, Bayer and other multinationals from "describing" or "characterizing" those traditional seeds, and thereby patenting those seeds in the future. ibid