Plants Breeders Right Bill: Farmer Shackling Law

August 12, 2016

Press Release; August 12, 2016

The Standing Committee on National Food Security and Research (NFS&R) on August 9, 2016 approved the ‘Plant Breeders Bill 2016’ which had earlier in the year already been approved by the Senate Standing Committee on Cabinet Division; the draft bill will be now be presented before the National Assembly for approval.

Implementation of the Plant Breeders Rights Bill, like the Amended Seed Act, 2015 is dictated by the World Trade Organization (WTO) under the Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual property rights (TRIPS) Agreement. The TRIPs agreement makes it mandatory for the government to provide intellectual property rights (IPRs) on new varieties of plants and seeds. In essence, the Plant Breeders Right’s Act provides monopolistic control to IPR holders of the new varieties of plants or seed prohibiting their use and sale to all others without permission.

The Plant Breeders Act’s is delivered through an ‘effective’ sui generis system or through patents or a combination of both and thus provides mechanisms for plant variety owner to seek IPRs over their plant varieties in each country where they want commercial use of the variety.

The Plant Breeder Right Act basically takes away a centuries old right of farmers to saving and exchanging seed. With gigantic seed corporations such as Monsanto and Syngenta holding intellectual property rights over seeds, the country will on one hand, face serious food insecurity and on the other, loose its sovereignty allowing transnational corporations to dictate food and agricultural production in the country. The royalties paid for IPRs will result in massive seed prices, and farmers already reeling under the steeply rising production costs will face further impoverishment. There is no doubt that the approval of this Bill is equivalent to pushing farmers out of the agricultural sector, reducing them to the status of beggars, a life of misery and humiliation.

Genetically modified seeds (GMOs) are based on genetic engineering (GE) of living organisms including seed and animals and is against evolution of life in nature; the commodification of nature, environmental pollution and further destruction of biodiversity through GMOs is a threat to the entire humanity and goes far beyond ethical dictates of society. It is due to the above reasons and potential health risks associated to GMOs that many countries across the globe have banned GM seed and crops.

Some members of the Standing Committee on NFS&R have shown strong reservations against the bill. According to them, the while the Bio Safety Committee under the Ministry of Climate Change has been given the responsibility for issuing certification on GMOs but lacks expertise on this matter. Pakistan has not undertaken any research and analysis on GE crops and their impacts, which is absolutely against international law on this issue.

Based on the above, Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreek, an alliance of small and landless farmers and Roots for Equity strongly reject the Plant Breeders Rights Bill demanding first, a complete elimination of the role of foreign seed companies in agricultural production and second, any further decision making in this context to be based on inclusion and decision making role of farmers’ organizations.

Released by Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreek (PKMT)

Dilemma of the amended seed act

Azra Talat Sayeed; July 13, 2015

THE Senate Standing Committee on National Food Security and Research had approved the Seed (Amendment) Bill 2014 last month. And there are reports that the Senate will be meeting shortly to pass it.

However, is it constitutionally possible that the Seed (Amendment) Bill 2014 can be enacted? According to Sindh Secretariat’s legislation director, no resolution from the Sindh Assembly has been passed that would allow the proposed bill to be amended by the National Assembly. As far as it is known, Khyber Pakhtunkwa, Punjab and Balochistan have also not passed any such resolution.

Since the 18th amendment, agriculture has been a provincial subject. It is clear that without such resolutions from the four provincial assemblies, the Seed (Amendment) Bill 2014 cannot be passed by the National Assembly. If the bill is passed, it will be open to legal challenges.

For the activists who are opposing the proposed bill, the future course of action will be to challenge the bill through the legislative process. Another pending bill concerns plant breeders’ rights. In Pakistan, the crux of the new seed legislation is basically to grant intellectual property protection to plant breeders and allow the introduction of genetically engineered (GE) varieties.

Critiques against the pending legislations range from the seed being considered ‘private property’ of the intellectual property right holders to the hazardous impact and environmental pollution from genetically modified plants and animals.

The pro-GMO lobby, which mostly springs from US-trained research institutions, has also provided many reasons for the legal recognition of genetically engineered (GE) seeds and crops. These will, of course, in time also include GE animals.

The crux of the new seed legislation is basically to grant intellectual property protection to plant breeders and to allow the introduction of genetically engineered varieties
Academic institutions and the private sector, especially the agro-chemical and the biotechnology sectors, have consistently claimed that GM technologies are needed to meet the food needs of the rapidly growing global population.

According to them, genetic engineering will also be able to address malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies. And of course, the privatisation debate consistently promises prosperity and profits by the adoption of not only genetic engineering but all corporate agriculture interventions, including GE technologies and automated devices for higher productivity and for fighting climate change.

All of these claims are consistently challenged by environmentalists, development activists, scientists, and most importantly, small and landless farmers.

For those who oppose privatisation and free-market economies, the critical problem is not of science but the capitalist paradigm that is pushing all inventions and innovations for the sake of profit-accumulation.

Science for knowledge and science in the service of the people are not the beacons that are held in our universities or other seats of learning. Therefore, for such a lobby, it is difficult to believe the ‘prosperity’ mantra that the mainstream universities and academia are articulating.

The scepticism is valid when considering the debacle of the green revolution policies in the 1960s, the ensuing pauperisation of small and landless farmers worldwide, and its debilitating impact on the environment, loss of fertility of agricultural land, widespread extinction of animal and plant species, and rising hunger and disease.

The highly expensive agriculture technologies only push the small and marginalised producers more into debt, even though they are often orchestrated for their ability to bring prosperity to the poor. For this, the government policies are often ‘tuned’ to meet the demands of transnational corporations that will earn millions of dollars from capturing new agriculture markets.

For instance, a US Department of Agriculture supported institution — Information Systems for Biotechnology — recently published research on GM beta-carotene-enriched corn for poultry feed. For farmers in Pakistan, such feed, whether efficacious or not, is far too expensive and ends up only in decreasing their incomes.

Farmers in Pakistan and other agrarian economies are contesting GM technologies on various grounds.

First, the seeds come from genetic material that is the collective property of farmers across the world. Corporations have no right to access and use the genetic material that is not theirs.

Second, these technologies are extremely dangerous to the environment. Genetic science, especially in agriculture, is a major source of environmental pollution which could jeopardise many ecosystems that are critical for maintaining life on our beleaguered planet.

Third, these technologies are and will only further increase the pauperisation of our small and landless farmers. The reasons are the very high cost of production and privatisation, as well as the deregulation and trade liberalisation policies that are being pushed on millions of farming communities across the world.

The writer is a social activist working with small and landless farmers

Published in Dawn, Economic & Business ,July 13th, 2015

https://www.dawn.com/news/1194012

Letter to Chairman Senate of Pakistan Against Seed (Amendment) Bill 2014

Honorable Mr. Mian Raza Rabbani
Chairman, Senate of Pakistan
Islamabad, Pakistan

July 1, 2015

Subject: Seed (Amendment) Bill, 2014

Respected Sir:

As you are aware, the Seed (Amendment) Act, 2014 was approved in the National Assembly on March 16, 2015.

As the newly appointed Chairman, Senate, this is to draw your attention to the genuine concerns of both farmers and ordinary citizens on the proposed changes in the existing Seed Act, 1976.

You may recall that the Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreek (PKMT) has already sent you a letter on March 30, 2015 highlighting the likely ill-effects and un-democratic process of passing this Act. Therein, we had requested your kind attention into this important matter. It is very un-fortunate that the Senate Standing committee has approved of this proposed Act. We have apprehensions about the Senate also approving the same very soon.

We want to once again bring to your kind attention that if this Act will be passed by the Senate of Pakistan, it will be un-constitutional since the claim that a “resolution had been passed from each provincial assembly through which provinces had granted National Assembly to do the legislation in this subject matter”. The so-called resolution has been passed since Agriculture is a provincial subject after the 18th Amendment.

Mr. Chairman, please note that we had inquired from Sindh Assembly Secretariat and found that that no such resolution had been passed by the Sindh Assembly. The Director of the Legislation Department of Sindh Assembly confirmed to us when we visited him on June 29, 2015 that the Sindh Assembly did not pass any resolution in this matter.

In the light of the above mentioned argument, as a veteran legislator and constitutional expert and furthermore as someone who pioneered the 18th Amendment, we hope that you will urgently scrutinise this matter. We urge your personal interest since you are known as the real fighter for provincial autonomy.

Mr. Chairman, please also find attached the letter we sent you on March 30, 2015 in which many farmers organizations and social movements in the country had pointed out many social, technical and scientific issues, which compel us to oppose this Act. Since those issues makes it anti-farmer, anti-people and anti-Pakistan. A law on agriculture must not allow multinational corporations to capture our food and agriculture system.

We, urge you once again that in the higher interest of Pakistan this Act should not be passed.

With kind regards,

Wali Haider
Secretary
Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreek (PKMT)
A-1 first floor, Block-2,
Gulshan-e-Iqbal Karachi

Farmers’ or corporate sovereignty

Azra Talat Sayeed; April 13, 2015

Given the new developments that have recently come to light with regards to genetically modified seed, the Senate has much to think about as it debates the Amended Pakistan Seed Act 2014.

The Act was passed by the National Assembly last month, just four days before the new findings by the World Bank’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) stated that glyphosate — a chemical in herbicides that are widely used on genetically modified (GM) crops — is ‘probably carcinogenic to humans’.

Glyphosate is used in Monsanto’s branded herbicide Roundup Ready, which can be sprayed on crops that have been genetically engineered to tolerate glyphosate.

Asif Shuja, former director general of the Pakistan Environment Protection Agency, was recently quoted as saying that the country does not have the expertise to conduct safe trials of GM crops. For the Senate, this news is of critical importance in deciding the fate of the Amended Seed Act 2014. For over two decades, farmer and consumer organisations, as well as many scientists, have been asking governments across the globe to be cautious and adopt new technology only when it has been proven safe.

But gigantic corporations like Monsanto have tended to block moves by governments to follow a more sustainable agriculture policy, especially those that were designed to guard the economic interests of small farmers as opposed to those of corporations.

However, to some extent, genetically engineered crops and seeds and other GM products have been facing mounting pressure from many sides. In January, the European Union authorised individual member-states to decide if they would cultivate GM crops or not. This is owing to the persistent position taken by countries like Germany and France, which consider genetically engineered (GE) foods and crops harmful to human health and the environment.

If such technologically advanced countries are opposing GM crops, it is important for the Pakistani Senate to carefully analyse the issues in such technologies that could harm their own people. The National Biosafety Committee is no more functional and hence there is no legal mechanism for approving new GE seeds in the country. The issue, after the 18th amendment, is now a provincial subject, but the provinces have also not taken any steps in this area.

Asif Shuja, former director general of the Pakistan Environment Protection Agency (Pak-EPA), was recently quoted as saying that the country does not have the expertise to conduct safe trials of GM crops.

Furthermore, the current Pak-EPA Director General, Dr Mohammad Khurshid, has termed GM crops ‘weapons of mass destruction’. A recent statement by the Foreign Office said GM seeds are a matter of national security and trade.

No doubt, this is in context to the Trips Agreement in the World Trade Organisation, which was forced on third world countries to guard the profit-driven interests of industrialised countries.

Many Pakistani NGOs and farmer bodies have taken a principled stand against GE seeds. Recently, many of them sent a letter to the Senate’s chairman, asking him to reject the proposed Seed Act 2014 and enact a bill in its place that protects the seed related sovereign interests of small farmers. The stand is not only based on environmental and health issues — which are the basic concern of European people and Pakistani government officials — but also in the collective right of farmers over their use of seed.

Given the cultural heritage of our country and our farmers, why is the government promoting the interest of profit-driven seed corporations. New technologies are only welcome if they are in the interest of the people and farmers, and if they increase self-reliance, national and people’s sovereignty, and sustainable development.

It is hoped that the Senate will keep these aspirations as their guiding principles when its members sit down to discuss the potential benefit or harm of the draft Amended Seed Act 2014, whose function as a legal tool is to bring prosperity to the country’s most productive force: the small and landless farmers.

The writer is an activist working with landless farmers. She holds a doctorate degree in Social Pharmacy from the University of Minnesota, US.

azra.sayeed@gmail.com

Published in Dawn, Economic & Business, April 13th, 2015

https://www.dawn.com/news/1175542

Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreek vows to continue its fight against the Amended Seed Act 2014

March 24, 2015

Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreek held its Sindh Provincial Assembly in Sukkur, Sindh. After the Assembly, a protest was staged against the Amended Seed Act 2014 which was recently passed by the National Assembly. The protest was attended by farmers from many districts in Sindh including Tando Mohammad Khan and Badin. PKMT’s Alo Bheel provincial coordinator stated that they were determined to fight against the draconian seed bill which against the collective rights of farmers on seeds. Zahoor Joya the Provincial Coordinator, also stressed the need for a collective fight against the seed bill. Raja Mujeeb the National Coordinator PKMT said the Seed Bill not only hold the farmers hostage to foreign corporations and destroy the local seed industry.

Pakistan National Assembly passes the Grotesque Pakistan Amended Seed Act 2014!

March 18, 2015

The Pakistan Amended Seed Act 2014 was approved in the National Assembly on March 16, 2015. This is very unfortunate and extremely tragic news for millions of small and landless farmers of Pakistan. PTV Channel has released the news through its script coverage (trigger) on the bottom of TV screen. No other media news has as yet provided information on the approval of the Pakistan Amended Seed Act 2014.

In 1995, the extremely anti-people, anti-farmer World Trade Organization (WTO) was formed much against the will of the people, globally. A major reason for people protesting against the formation of the WTO was the Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement (TRIPS) which demanded patent rights on seeds as well as all other new technologies.

Today just over 20 years later, Pakistan has amended its seed laws to comply with the monopolistic demands of mega agro-chemical corporations such as Monsanto, Syngenta, Pioneer and others.

The cost of the seed bill will be borne by the small and landless farmers who are already burdened by huge agricultural production costs such as chemical fertilizers, pesticide and other market driven agricultural inputs.

Billions of farmers across the globe suffering from aggressive neo-colonial legislation pounded by the WTO and corporate agriculture monopolistic giants. Policies range from brutal measures adopted for corporate land grab in Pakistan, to aggressive imports of agriculture related technologies ranging from genetic engineering, animal husbandry, green economy (such as solar tube wells, biogasse plants, hydroponics, etc) are all being pushed on poor third world countries.

Pakistan is no exception. From aggressive land grab in many parts of the country to now the approval of the Amended Pakistan Seed Act 2014, the agricultural sector, the life line of the country is under terrible ambush from the capitalist countries.

The Amended Pakistan Seed Act 2014 is the desire of transnational corporations such as Monsanto, Pioneer and Syngenta. The United States Agriculture Department has many times stated the lack of intellectual property to its genetically modified seeds in the country, urging the country to amend its seed and other intellectual property right laws.

The Plant Breeders Rights Act is also pending in the National Assembly and no doubt will soon follow the same path as the Amended Pakistan Seed Act 2014: another blow to the meager livelihood of farmers.

According to DAWN news, the Mr Sikander Bosan Minister for National Food Security and Research, a new seed laws are needed to fulfill the needs of the modern seed industry; of course the modern industry is entirely in the hands of the big corporate giants.

Roots for Equity has been opposing the grotesque corporate agricultural policies being inflicted on Pakistani agriculture and struggling farmers in the country since its inception in 1997. An alliance of small and landless farmers namely, the Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreek formed in 2008 has also stringently rejected the bill and has been demonstrating again the Bill (which has been various shapes in the past years. But the so called democratic system in Pakistan under first the Zardari government and now Nawaz Sharif have obeyed the order of their ‘masters’ in the imperialist countries of the North.

No doubt today, with the passing of the Seed Amendment Bill 2014, the country has lost an important pillar of its sovereignty.

However, history of nations are not written by the signing of laws by oppressive forces but the strength of the peoples determination, voices and actions. It is the peoples’ struggle which will overthrow imperialist powers and put in place genuine peoples democracy in the country!

According to the Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreek, they stand firm against the new Act and will take various actions against the grotesque law, which will intensify pauperization of farmers.

In 1995, the extremely anti-people, anti-farmer World Trade Organization (WTO) was formed much against the will of the people, globally. A major reason for people protesting against the formation of the WTO was the Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement (TRIPS) which demanded patent rights on seeds as well as all other new technologies.

Today just over 20 years later, Pakistan has amended its seed laws to comply with the monopolistic demands of mega agro-chemical corporations such as Monsanto, Syngenta, Pioneer and others.

The cost of the seed bill will be borne by the small and landless farmers who are already burdened by huge agricultural production costs such as chemical fertilizers, pesticide and other market driven agricultural inputs.

Billions of farmers across the globe suffering from aggressive neo-colonial legislation pounded by the WTO and corporate agriculture monopolistic giants. Policies range from brutal measures adopted for corporate land grab in Pakistan, to aggressive imports of agriculture related technologies ranging from genetic engineering, animal husbandry, green economy (such as solar tube wells, biogasse plants, hydroponics, etc) are all being pushed on poor third world countries.

Pakistan is no exception. From aggressive land grab in many parts of the country to now the approval of the Amended Pakistan Seed Act 2014, the agricultural sector, the life line of the country is under terrible ambush from the capitalist countries.

The Amended Pakistan Seed Act 2014 is the desire of transnational corporations such as Monsanto, Pioneer and Syngenta. The United States Agriculture Department has many times stated the lack of intellectual property to its genetically modified seeds in the country, urging the country to amend its seed and other intellectual property right laws.

The Plant Breeders Rights Act is also pending in the National Assembly and no doubt will soon follow the same path as the Amended Pakistan Seed Act 2014: another blow to the meager livelihood of farmers.

According to DAWN news, the Mr Sikander Bosan Minister for National Food Security and Research, a new seed laws are needed to fulfill the needs of the modern seed industry; of course the modern industry is entirely in the hands of the big corporate giants.

Roots for Equity has been opposing the grotesque corporate agricultural policies being inflicted on Pakistani agriculture and struggling farmers in the country since its inception in 1997. An alliance of small and landless farmers namely, the Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreek formed in 2008 has also stringently rejected the bill and has been demonstrating again the Bill (which has been various shapes in the past years. But the so called democratic system in Pakistan under first the Zardari government and now Nawaz Sharif have obeyed the order of their ‘masters’ in the imperialist countries of the North.

No doubt today, with the passing of the Seed Amendment Bill 2014, the country has lost an important pillar of its sovereignty.

However, history of nations are not written by the signing of laws by oppressive forces but the strength of the peoples determination, voices and actions. It is the peoples’ struggle which will overthrow imperialist powers and put in place genuine peoples democracy in the country!

According to the Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreek, they stand firm against the new Act and will take various actions against the grotesque law, which will intensify pauperization of farmers.

Farmers Resistance and Protests Against Seed Act 2014

March 18, 2015

Farmers most affected by new law on seeds

Faiza Ilyas; March 18, 2015

KARACHI: Organisations representing farmers have strongly opposed the Pakistan Amended Seed Act, 2014 that, they said, is a violation of farmers’ fundamental rights and has been passed by the National Assembly at the behest of American multinational seed manufacturing companies.

The act was passed by the National Assembly a day earlier.

“Under this law, farmers would be fined and imprisoned for preserving, selling and exchanging seeds, a tradition that has been in vogue for centuries. It’s a grave injustice to millions of small and landless farmers whose food insecurity would be aggravated by this law,” said Raja Majeed, national coordinator of Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreek, an alliance of small and landless farmers.

The law, he said, made it mandatory for farmers to buy seeds from a licensed company or its agent and that they had to do so every time they cultivated a new crop. This, he said, would create a monopoly of companies and make farmers dependent on them.

According to him, the experience of growing genetically modified (GM) crops, for instance Bt cotton, has been disastrous in the country and the government’s intention to promote them through this law is unfortunate.

“It’s a failure because it a water demanding crop meant for colder areas and is ready for harvest near November. That means we can’t grow wheat on time. Many European countries have banned GM crops because of their severe adverse impact on the environment and we should have done the same,” he said.

Reiterating the farmers’ stance on the matter, he said they stood firm and would take legal action against this new act.

The Joint Director of Roots for Equity, Wali Haider, said how the National Assembly could pass such a law when the subject of agriculture had been passed to provinces.

“The draft of this law was first presented in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly and later in the Punjab Assembly. In both provinces, the governments had to face strong resistance from farmers and it was decided that the matter would be forwarded to the National Assembly,” he said.

Citing newspaper reports, he added that farmers’ resistance forced all provincial assemblies to pass a special resolution authorising the federal government to amend the seed act and retain it as a federal subject.

“In 1995, the extremely anti-people, anti-farmer World Trade Organisation (WTO) was formed much against the will of the people, globally. A major reason for people protesting against the formation of the WTO was the Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights Agreement (TRIPS) which demanded patent rights on seeds as well as all other new technologies.

“Today, just over 20 years later, Pakistan has amended its seed laws to comply with the monopolistic demands of mega agro-chemical corporations such as Monsanto, Syngenta, Pioneer and others,” he explained.

The cost of the seed, he said, would be borne by small and landless farmers who were already burdened by huge agricultural production costs such as of chemical fertilisers, pesticides and other market-driven agricultural inputs.

“Billions of farmers across the globe are suffering from aggressive neo-colonial legislation imposed by the WTO and corporate agriculture monopolistic giants. Policies range from allowing corporate land grab in Pakistan to aggressive imports of agriculture related technologies ranging from genetic engineering, animal husbandry and the so-called green economy,” he said.

Mr Wali believed that the legislation had been enacted to appease the US whose agriculture department had been complaining about the lack of intellectual property rights for its genetically modified seeds in the country and had urged the government to amend its seed and other intellectual property rights laws.

“No doubt today, with the passing of the seed amendment act, the country has lost an important pillar of its sovereignty. The Plant Breeders’ Rights Act is also pending in the National Assembly and it appears that it would also be passed by the house,” he regretted.

Expressing similar reservations, Nasir Aziz, a policy officer on sustainable livelihood with ActionAid Pakistan said that it was strange that the government had given a free hand to companies under the law while farmers had been threatened with fines and imprisonment if they were found to have seeds.

“Farmers’ right to conserve, sale and exchange seeds has been taken away under this law. It is silent on guarantees on seed germination and has no mechanism for taking legal action against a company if its seeds fail to produce desired results,” he said, raising questions over the law’s implementation in provinces.

Upon contact, Mehmood Nawaz of the Sindh Abadgar Board expressed ignorance over the recent enactment of the law and said the government couldn’t deprive farmers of their fundamental rights.

Published in Dawn, March 18th, 2015

https://www.dawn.com/news/1170209

Farmers Reject the Draft National Seed Act!

November 21, 2014
Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreek (PKMT) and Roots for Equity strongly condemns the recent move by the federal government to give control of the seed sector to the multinational companies.

The proposed Seed Amendment Bill 2014 was tabled in the National Assembly on August 8, 2014 introduced by Minister for National Food Security and Research Sikandar Hayat Bosan. According to the minister “the amendment to the Seed Act 1976 was required as the act in its present form does not fulfill the requirement of modern seed industry.”

In other words, the earlier Act does not fulfill the wishes of the multinational corporations. The proposed Seed Amendment Bill 2014 in essence hands over food sovereignty to transnational agrochemical corporations. It is important to point out that the 18th Amendment made Agriculture a provincial subject based on which earlier in the year the KPK and the Punjab government moved a provincial Seed Bills in their respective assemblies; In July through a special resolution the provinces authorized the federal government to be responsible for the enacting legislation on the Seed Act. The provinces got their provincial autonomy after long hard fight, so why did they hand over a critical part of this right to the federal government? Further, the KPK government, which in essence is challenging the federal government in every aspect, has willingly handed over the Seed Act to them. It is clear that the elitist political parties really have no interest in guarding the most oppressed.

The draft seed act is a prime example of obedience of our governments, federal and provincial, to rich countries and their transnational corporations. In this case, the dictation of agro-chemical corporations such as Monsanto, Pioneer, and Syngenta is responsible for the draft Seed Act 2014. The US State Department, in a 2013 statement, has said that Pakistan has made “no tangible progress” in protecting agricultural intellectual property rights (IPRs), (which is needed under the World Trade Organization, TRIPs agreement). It also does not enforce IPRs for genetically modified organisms (GMOs). This, it said “deterred US seed companies from entering the Pakistani Market.”

The proposed amended seed bill, which is in compliance with TRIPs, guarantees the private sector taking control over the livelihood of small farmers and is one of the most anti-farmer international law in third world countries such as Pakistan. Such a disastrous step will certainly worsen food insecurity in Pakistan.

The draft seed act states “the genetically modified variety shall have no adverse effect on the environment, human, animal or plant life or health.” If that is the case, why have France and Germany been the most prominent EU countries that have put restrictions on GMOs? Both these countries are one of the most scientifically advanced countries in the world. Russia and China have also banned various forms of GMOs.

The people of Pakistan, particularly small and landless farmers demand the same protection of their livelihood, health and food as the more advanced nations of the world. Farmers in Pakistan are being forced to become pawns of the corporate seed sector. This is imperialism is at its best! Farmers will never allow corporations to control our seeds, the basis of our livelihood.”

Press Release by Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreek (PKMT)

50 NGOs urge Senate to block bill on seeds

Faiza Ilyas; April 05, 2015

KARACHI: Fifty non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from across the country have urged the Senate not to pass an important bill the National Assembly quietly passed last month.

The NGOs insist that the draft of the Seed (Amendment) Act, 2014 had been developed without seeking input from key stakeholders, such as farmers, and was passed by the assembly without any debate.

“The text of the bill was neither made public nor comments sought from relevant stakeholders, despite the fact that the bill was linked to many contentious issues and, if turned into a law, would have far-reaching implications, especially on farmers,” says a recent letter signed by 50 NGOs and faxed to the chairman of the Senate, where the bill now awaits approval.

The bill seeking changes in the existing Seed Act, 1976 was approved by the lower house on March 16.

According to the letter, the bill takes away the most fundamental right of farmers to conserve, sell and exchange seed and it must be rejected by the upper house.

“The bill allows intellectual property rights (IPR) on seeds, which goes against the very ethos, social practices and seed cultures of Pakistan’s farming communities. The IPR in the seed sector has only gained recognition after the formation of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 1995, and its IPR agreement — Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Propriety Rights (TRIPS).

“Pakistan is a founder member of the WTO. Like any other WTO member, it has the legitimate right to use the flexibilities in TRIPS when it considers a WTO-compliant domestic legislation,” the letter says.

The TRIPS, it says, allows WTO member countries to develop a sui generis system for the protection of plant varieties, suited to their realities.

“Pakistan should not fulfil the monopolistic demands of multinational seed corporations, who were incidentally also involved in the drafting of TRIPS,” the letter reads.

It accuses the government of adopting an anti-farmer legislation on the directions of the United States. “The Seed (Amendment) legislation has been enacted to appease the United States whose agriculture department and trade negotiators have been consistently pointing out the supposed lack of IPR protection for its proprietary agricultural technologies, such as genetically engineered seeds, which it would like to market in the country and across the Asian region.

“A full-fledged legislation on IPR — the draft of the Plant Breeders’ Rights Act has been in the pipeline since 2007 and is pending in the National Assembly. There are reports that it would also be passed by the lower house. This too requires serious deliberation,” the letter states.

Violation of farmers’ right

Highlighting concerns over genetic engineering (GE) in the seed sector, the letter says it has barely been adopted in 30 countries worldwide, that too under pressure from the US and the biotech companies it fosters.

“GE crops have lacked acceptance by both the people and countries of the European Union, as they fear the adverse impact of such unnatural technology on human health, the ecological systems while having other socio-economic ramifications.

“In Pakistan, Monsanto, a US transnational corporation who holds patent rights on a GE cotton seed, namely Bt cotton, is a major player in demanding IPR protection. In addition, GE maize (also of Monsanto) is going through field trials in the country,” it says.

The new law, the letter says, will make the farmers dependent on the foreign companies and it will be a great hurdle in the development and sovereignty of the nation.

“The law if changed as per the current amendments will open the floodgates of hybrids and GE crop varieties, from countries like India where the international seed industry has been consolidating itself. In the past GE Bt cotton has been exported by seed multinational companies from India to Pakistan,” it states.

Under the yet-to-be approved law, famers will be bound to buy seeds from a licensed company or its agents and they have to do so every time they cultivate in a new season that would add to financial hardships of farmers that often rely on seeds they conserve.

“It is extremely tragic that farmers’ right to conserve, sell and exchange seeds has been taken away under this law. It may be mentioned here that farmers exchange 75 to 80 per cent of seeds among themselves,” the letter says.

The bill, according to the letter, is silent on guarantees on seed germination and has no mechanism for taking legal action against a company, if its seeds fail to produce desired results.

“On the other hand, farmers have been threatened under the bill by heavy fines and imprisonment for preserving, selling and exchanging seeds, a grave injustice to the right of small and landless farmers.

“These stipulations under the new law will only aggravate food insecurity in the country. The increase in the cost of the seed will also be borne by small and landless farmers who are already burdened by huge agricultural products cost such as chemical fertilisers, pesticides and other market driven agricultural inputs. However, encouraging the production of seeds within the country by our farmers themselves will not also secure sources for locally adaptive seeds but would also help tackle the climate crisis,” the letter says.

It also questions as why the National Assembly passed a bill that should have been deliberated by provincial assemblies as agriculture is now a provincial subject under the 18th constitutional amendment.

“We demand that this act that violates farmers’ fundamental freedoms should be effectively blocked in the interest of the people of Pakistan and the seed and food future of the country,” the NGOs demand, requesting the Senate chairman to provide them an opportunity for personal hearing.

The letter signatories include Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreek, Pakistan Roots for Equity, Sindh, Sustainable Action Agriculture Group, Islamabad, ASR Resource Centre, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan Kissan Ittehad Network, Balochistan , Sungi Development Foundation, Abbottabad, Roshani Taraqiyati Tanzeem, Ghotki, Sindh, Peoples Peace Alliance, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan Kissan Ittehad Network, Sindh and Health & Rural Development, Balochistan.

Published in Dawn, April 5th, 2015

https://www.dawn.com/news/1173928

PKMT Rejects the Draft Seed Act 2014

December 7, 2014

Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreek (PKMT) rejects the Draft Seed Bill 2014 that was tabled on August 18, 2014 by the Federal Minster for National Food Security and Research. The Minister has stated that a more modern seed law is required for modern realities in the country and the laws that are present at the moment are backward.

It would not be incorrect to state that the new seeds that are being introduced in the market are ‘owned’ by mega seed and biotechnology corporations, and seed laws are being promoted to protect their profits. Corporations like Monsanto and Syngenta have captured the global seed market that is worth millions of dollars. Only Monsanto controls 87% of the genetic seed market. PKMT fully believes that the draft Seed Act 2014 is being pushed to protect the interests of these corporations so that they have absolute freedom to sell genetically engineered (GE) seeds, crops and foods in Pakistan. It is worth noting that Europe is vehemently opposing GE products. Prince Charles of England has stated that GE crops are the biggest environmental disaster of all times. Countries like Germany and France that are at the height of technological development refuse to produce and consume GE crops and foods.

China has also refused production of GE rice and corn. Russian Prime Minister has clearly stated that they will not allow GE crops in Russian. It is clear that the biggest production of GE crops and products are in the US and that is of course because they have the biggest biotechnology firms such as Monsanto. These corporations with full cooperation of the US government have forced US citizens to eat GE foods. There are 64 countries globally that have laws for labeling genetic foods but not in the US. The GE product market is suffering a setback in the industrialized world and hence seed corporations are increasing their attention on third world countries like Pakistan. New seed laws are being pushed in many countries in Asia and Africa. Various US government agencies such as US AID and USDA are also pushing governments to adopt laws that provide market access to their seed corporations. According to them, adoption of new GE seeds would allow combating hunger and food security for the increasing population, as well increase the economic well-being of nations. It is clear that the government of Pakistan is also following the advice promoted by the US.

PKMT clearly considers that the draft Seed Act 2014 as an imperialist imposition. We can only strengthen our economy by adopting principles of sovereignty. If we want to increase food production for the Pakistani people, provide decent livelihood for our workers, than the first action is equitable distribution of land in the country. No doubt, based on sustainable development and the seed sovereignty as a principle the use and multiplication of traditional seeds is the best course of action.

PKMT demands that the government of Pakistan, instead of safe guarding the interests and profits of the mega transnational corporate seed sector it should protect and promote the rights of small and landless farmers that constitute the back bone of our economy.


Press Release by Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreek (PKMT)

Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreek Demands Farmers’ Collective Rights over Seed and Genetic Resources!

March 26, 2015

Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreek (PKMT) held a protest against the Amended Seed Act 2014 which was passed by the National Assembly on March 16, 2015. The protest was staged at the national capital, Islamabad in front of the National Press Club on March 24, 2015. Their demand was to the Pakistan Senate to stop all further progress on the draft Seed Act, and in its place start processes for a farmer-friendly Seed Law which upholds the collective right of farmers on seed and genetic resources.

Cropping up: Farmers take to the streets against proposed legislation

By Our Correspondent: January 17, 2015

“The act will hegemonise the seed industry and transfer control to multinationals,” PMKT district coordinator Fiaz Ahmed.

HARIPUR: The farming community in Haripur protested against the proposed Seed Act 2014 on Friday and termed the legislation tantamount to a sacrifice of national interests.

Organised by Pakistan Mazdoor Kissan Tehreek (PMKT), the rally started from Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Hall and culminated at Panian Chowk, GT Road. Farmers from different areas of the district joined the march and chanted slogans in favour of their demands.

Addressing the participants, PMKT district coordinator Fiaz Ahmed condemned the proposed legislation, which he said was formulated “in light of foreign interests”. Ahmed said for centuries farmers of the region have been using seeds preserved with traditional methods and the new legislation will deprive them of their cultural practices. He said the act will hegemonise the seed industry and transfer control to multinational companies.

Ahmed said dependence on genetically-engineered seeds provided by multinationals will result in exploitation.

Rehm Nawaz, an agriculturist, said developed countries have forbidden the use of genetically-engineered seeds owing to their devastating impact on land fertility and living organisms. Nawaz claimed world powers are pressing third world countries to adopt such laws in order to break their agro-based economies apart.

He said the available seed technology is sufficient for generations to come and the government should instead provide incentives to local farmers for adopting organic methods of farming that are both environment and health-friendly.

Protesters warned the government not to jeopardise the interests of the sector. They threatened to continue demonstrating until the government rolls the proposed law back.

In October 2014, the Standing Committee on National Food Security and Research (NFSR) approved the proposed bill which, once implemented, will replace the existing Seed Act 1976. The bill, in line for approval from the house for several years, will extend public sector involvement in production, multiplication and distribution of seeds.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 17th, 2015.

https://tribune.com.pk/story/822867/cropping-up-farmers-take-to-the-streets-against-proposed-legislation/

Farmers Reject the Draft National Seed Act!

November 21, 2014

Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreek (PKMT) and Roots for Equity strongly condemns the recent move by the federal government to give control of the seed sector to the multinational companies.

The proposed Seed Amendment Bill 2014 was tabled in the National Assembly on August 8, 2014 introduced by Minister for National Food Security and Research Sikandar Hayat Bosan. According to the minister “the amendment to the Seed Act 1976 was required as the act in its present form does not fulfill the requirement of modern seed industry.”

In other words, the earlier Act does not fulfill the wishes of the multinational corporations. The proposed Seed Amendment Bill 2014 in essence hands over food sovereignty to transnational agrochemical corporations. It is important to point out that the 18th Amendment made Agriculture a provincial subject based on which earlier in the year the KPK and the Punjab government moved a provincial Seed Bills in their respective assemblies; In July through a special resolution the provinces authorized the federal government to be responsible for the enacting legislation on the Seed Act. The provinces got their provincial autonomy after long hard fight, so why did they hand over a critical part of this right to the federal government? Further, the KPK government, which in essence is challenging the federal government in every aspect, has willingly handed over the Seed Act to them. It is clear that the elitist political parties really have no interest in guarding the most oppressed.

The draft seed act is a prime example of obedience of our governments, federal and provincial, to rich countries and their transnational corporations. In this case, the dictation of agro-chemical corporations such as Monsanto, Pioneer, and Syngenta is responsible for the draft Seed Act 2014. The US State Department, in a 2013 statement, has said that Pakistan has made “no tangible progress” in protecting agricultural intellectual property rights (IPRs), (which is needed under the World Trade Organization, TRIPs agreement). It also does not enforce IPRs for genetically modified organisms (GMOs). This, it said “deterred US seed companies from entering the Pakistani Market.”

The proposed amended seed bill, which is in compliance with TRIPs, guarantees the private sector taking control over the livelihood of small farmers and is one of the most anti-farmer international law in third world countries such as Pakistan. Such a disastrous step will certainly worsen food insecurity in Pakistan.

The draft seed act states “the genetically modified variety shall have no adverse effect on the environment, human, animal or plant life or health.” If that is the case, why have France and Germany been the most prominent EU countries that have put restrictions on GMOs? Both these countries are one of the most scientifically advanced countries in the world. Russia and China have also banned various forms of GMOs.

The people of Pakistan, particularly small and landless farmers demand the same protection of their livelihood, health and food as the more advanced nations of the world. Farmers in Pakistan are being forced to become pawns of the corporate seed sector. This is imperialism is at its best! Farmers will never allow corporations to control our seeds, the basis of our livelihood.”

Press Release by Pakistan Kissan Mazdoor Tehreek (PKMT)

Peasants reject Seed Amendment Bill

The Newspaper’s Correspondent August 14, 2014

TIMERGARA: Pakistan Kisan Mazdoor Tehreek (PKMT) on Wednesday announced that farmers and peasants across the country would resist any move by the federal government to pass the Seed Amendment Bill 2014, already tabled in the National Assembly.

Speaking at an awareness session arranged for local farmers at Chakdara Press Club, PKMT central secretary Wali Haidar and member Asif Khan said that after the passage of 18th amendment it was the responsibility of the provinces to take control of the matters related to the agriculture department.

“Unfortunately, the provinces through unanimously passed resolutions in their respective assemblies authorised the federal government to bring changes to the agriculture and seed policy and table the proposed bill in the National Assembly,” Mr Haidar said. He wondered that the PTI-led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had also handed over the matter to PML-N-led federal government.

He said that Federal Minister for National Food Security and Research Sikandar Hayat Bosan, who had tabled the bill, was of the view that the amendment to the Seed Act 1976 was required as it did not fulfill the requirements of modern seed industries.

Says farmers should have the right to produce, store and sell seeds

The PKMT leaders termed the bill anti-peasants because under the proposed bill no unregistered person or institution would be allowed to sell seeds without official permission. He said that peasants were the actual owners of seeds and farm production and they should have the right to sell seeds.

The PKMT leaders said that the draft Seed Act was based on the demands of agro-chemical transnational corporations.

They said the farmers had been producing their own seeds for centuries and instead of encouraging them the government was snatching their rights to produce, exchange, buy and sell seeds.

They said that farmers would never allow corporations to control their important input. They demanded of the government to enact legislation for protecting the rights of small farmers.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1125247

A seedy bill: Farmers cry foul over ‘corporate conspiracy’ to control agro sector

February 25, 2014

PESHAWAR: The Pakistan Kisan Mazdoor Tehreek (PKMT), a farmers’ representative body, and Roots for Equity, an NGO, have opposed the proposed Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Seeds Act, 2014, currently with the provincial assembly. This was stated at a news conference at Peshawar Press Club on Monday.

The proposed act was tabled in the K-P Assembly on January 15 and aims to regulate the agricultural seeds market of the province.

PKMT Coordinator Tariq Mehmood said under the proposed act, no unregistered person or institution will be allowed to sell seeds without official permission and the sale of unauthorised hybrid and semi-hybrid seeds will be banned. He added there will also be a ban on rebranding seeds and then selling them.

The bill is the reintroduction of the proposed federal seeds act which dangled over the heads of farmers for many years until the passage of the 18th Amendment.

“The proposed act is aimed at fulfilling the wishes of multinational companies dealing in the agriculture sector,” claimed Mehmood. “Without the act, these companies face problems in investing in the country and controlling the seed market.”

He accused the companies of wanting to control the sector. “This will snatch the right of poor farmers to produce their own indigenous seeds, exchange them and so create jobs,” said the PKMT coordinator.

Roots for Equity Executive Director Azra Nasir Saeed said it is better for agriculturists to produce their own seeds than to be made dependent on multinational companies.

Abdullah, a farmer and seed producer from Charsadda, had come to attend the news conference. He explained, “We have been producing and sowing our own seeds for decades. Instead of encouraging us, the provincial government is snatching our right of pursuing the business of seed production and sales.”

Farmers will never allow multinationals to control their agriculture methods and source of livelihood, concluded Abdullah.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 25th, 2014.

https://tribune.com.pk/story/675587/a-seedy-bill-farmers-cry-foul-over-corporate-conspiracy-to-control-agro-sector/