Survey shows 80% of citizens in five EU countries oppose patents on seeds

On 18 May the European Parliament is expected to vote on a new law that would exempt food plants obtained from new genetic engineering techniques (NGTs) from existing GMO rules. The deregulation of NGTs will undermine food safety standards and consumers' right to choose, and is also likely to lead to further concentration in the seed sector through the patenting of food crops.

A new article by Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO) and GMWatch shows that industry lobby groups try to allay concerns about the impact of patented crops with shallow and misleading arguments. A new survey shows that most EU citizens oppose patents on plants and animals.

Lobby documents obtained from the European Commission show that:

• Industry lobby groups Euroseeds and CropLife Europe, representing biotech multinationals like Bayer and Syngenta, underplay the problems linked to patents and propose inadequate ‘solutions’. For instance, the voluntary licensing platforms industry has set up do not pro-vide a solution to increased dependence for small- and medium-sized breeding companies, nor to increased concentration in the seed sector.

• Farm lobby Copa-Cogeca issued a strong warning against patents, but later went silent on the issue. Other farm groups like Deutsche Bauern Verband and ECVC remain vocal about their objections to patents.

In the negotiations that were finalised last December, the Parliament’s rapporteur failed to uphold the Parliament’s position, which demanded mandatory consumer labelling and did not allow patents for NGTs that would be deregulated. The provisions on patents that are included in the current text, such as the setting up of an expert group, are insufficient to protect farmers’ and breeders’ interests.

In addition, today the coalition No Patents on Seeds! published a representative survey in five EU countries (France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands and Poland). The results are clear: Around 80% of the citizens reject patents on living organisms such as plants or animals.

Nina Holland, researcher at Corporate Europe Observatory, said: “The only ones profiting from scrapping safety and labelling rules and from patents are a few big seed corporations like Bayer and Syngenta. The Members of the European Parliament have a final chance to protect the interests of consumers, farmers and small- and medium-sized breeding companies”.

Claire Robinson, co-director of GMWatch, said: “The deregulation proposal represents a dangerous grab for power over our seeds and food supply. Decades of experience show that the big agribusiness companies that dominate the patent landscape for new GMOs serve only their own interests and are eager to hound farmers and breeders with allegations of patent infringement. The Parliament must stand up for the people and for a truly sustainable system and reject the proposal in its current form.”

Further information

• The article by Corporate Europe Observatory and GMWatch
• Survey
• Corporate Europe Observatory report, "Derailing EU rules on new GMOs: CRISPR-Files expose lobbying tactics to deregulate new GMOs" 

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