23.04.2024, 16:50
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The Initiative Unverblümt has submitted the petition to the EU Commission and asked for a handover date.
We have not even received a confirmation of receipt. Despite many phone calls and emails, there has been no response from the Commission.
The Plant Health Regulation is still in force and is being evaluated. Nothing seems to be moving there.
In the meantime, however, the EU bodies are working diligently elsewhere on the subject of seeds and seed dissemination.
--> THERE IS A NEW PROPOSAL FOR AN EU-WIDE UNIFORM SEED REGULATION.
We realize that things are not looking good at all. The free exchange of seeds and the existence of free varieties are acutely endangered!
Almost all stakeholders agree that the last seed resources should be made available for the free market. The seed industry, farmers' association, but also organic farmers, NGOs, Demeter breeders, etc. are only arguing about how this should look in detail and who gets the biggest share of the cake.
This is detrimental to the preservation of biodiversity because it encourages the misappropriation of varieties and thus the expropriation of those who preserve them.
Natural resources are one of those things. Either they belong to all of us, in which case we speak of common property. Or the state claims them for itself, in which case they are nationalized.
What is not possible is for someone who does not own them to make them available to profiteers. But this is exactly what the Commission is currently intending to do.
We stand by our position: THE RIGHT TO SEEDS IS A HUMAN RIGHT! A HUMAN RIGHT IS NOT NEGOTIABLE AND IS NOT AN EXCEPTION; BUT THE RULE
Please forward the appeal of the Initiative Unverblümt to as many friends as possible! See below or at www.archemitzukunft.net
Important texts, case studies and a tool for practical implementation in the garden:
THE UNVERBLÜMT VARIETY GUIDE, 2nd edition order now
With best regards,
Florian Walter, Initiative Unverblümt
gemeinsam@archemitzukunft.net
___
21.4.2024
Dear Members of the European Parliament!
Caution!
Seed and planting material regulations are based on false assumptions!
In the Unverblümt initiative and the “Unverblümte Sortenfibel” association, people have set themselves the task of preserving and further developing cultivated plant varieties in their gardens and on their farms. We ourselves are active as seed savers of a wide range of different cultivated plant varieties; we are farmers, gardeners and home gardeners.
The EU Commission has presented a draft for a common seed and planting material regulation, which will be submitted to you for approval in the next few days. Despite our many efforts, it still contains a fundamental flaw, a false assumption:
The regulation allows unilateral appropriation of “genetic resources” by individuals for exclusive use. The regulation thus makes the basic assumption that unregistered varieties do not belong to anyone.
- So-called “genetic resources” are not just lying around on the street. They are maintained, propagated and further developed by conservators. The provisions set out in the regulation fundamentally interfere with the right of conservators to dispose of the varieties they have painstakingly preserved over the years. The appropriation of these varieties by individuals is tantamount to legalized bio-piracy.
- The Convention on Biological Diversity expressly requires the prior informed consent of the “giver” (Art. 15.5) and a mutual agreement on the conditions of transfer (Art. 15.4). This is not provided for in the present draft regulation.
(...) The many regional types, varieties and origins of cultivated plants that have been and are maintained by seed savers represent the genetic treasure of cultivated plant biodiversity. This treasure belongs to all of us, it is common property.
The present draft (...) would result in many seed savers ceasing their activities - an irretrievable loss for diversity. The countless amendments (...) create an almost unmanageable confusion that has obviously lost sight of the essentials: the people who deal with seeds and agro-biodiversity. In other words, those who have no lobby and no economic interests, but who are of the highest social interest.
“You should only sign what you have read and understood.”
We hope you have enough information to be able to assess the consequences of the Seed and Seedlings Ordinance. If this is not the case, please do not agree to this draft regulation!
With best regards
(abridged, full letter www.archemitzukunft.net )
Florian Walter, Initiative Unverblümt
24.05.2022, 00:55
Petition verlängert,weil in letzter Zeit noch viele internationale Unterschriften eingegangen sind.
still many new signatures in the last days, so we decided to give us time some more time
all the best Florian
Neues Zeichnungsende: 08.06.2022
Unterschriften zum Zeitpunkt der Änderung: 3388
09.06.2021, 13:49
english link von ssaatgutkampagne hinzugefügt - keine inhaltliche änderung
Neuer Petitionstext:
EU Plant Passport obligation („EU-Pflanzenpasspflicht“) endangers the preservation of traditional fruit and vegetable varieties.
Therefore, we demand an exception from the Plant Passport obligation for all those sustaining the diversity of cultivated plants. For centuries we – gardeners and farmers – have preserved the diversity of cultivated plants by gathering seeds and other reproductive material of old and rare cultivars, sending it to interested people. Our conservation work is at risk because of Regulation 2016/2031/EU, which forces us to issue a plant passport for sharing our seeds. Before being able to issue a plant passport, one has complete a costly authorization process, first.
We fear that many won’t go through this procedure and give up their valuable work of conservation.
Access to free seeds and the right to pass on our seeds must not be restricted.
In the course of the evaluation of Article 79 of Regulation 2016/2031 EU, we are calling for exemptions from the obligation to issue plant passport:
· We call for a general exception for people and organizations involved in the preservation and distribution of cultivated plant diversity in horticulture and agriculture.
All those who produce seeds themselves and share small quantities of these seeds with others, should be exempt from having to issue plant passports.
· We demand that the exception should also apply to so-called "distance selling" (mailing).
The crossing of national borders must not play a role in the definition of distance selling, since this is inconsistent with the principle of free movement of goods in the EU.
· We demand: No registration obligation for guardians of cultivated plant diversity! Also, passed-on seeds that are not multiplied in a commercial way must be exempt from the plant passport obligation.
The culturally important conservation work and the quality of this work should be promoted by the state through various types of incentives. Under no circumstances should it be restricted by bureaucratic or financial hurdles.
By preserving and increasing biodiversity in the area of cultivated plants, we prevent the spread of plant pests. Small-scale cultivation of different plant species/varieties and regular crop rotation provide natural barriers against the spread of plant pests.
We note: Plant pests are especially a problem of monoculture cultivation on an industrial scale; this problem must not be treated at the expense of diversity and the preservers.
We therefore ask that you support our petition and take our concerns forward.
ArchemitZukunft & “unverblümt”, www.archemitzukunft.net
campaign for seed sovereignty, www.saatgutkampagne.org
www.seed-sovereignty.org/EN/index.html
ÖBV Via Campesina Austria, www.viacampesina.at
URKORN TIROL, www.urkorn.tirol
contact: gemeinsam@archemitzukunft.net
Unterschriften zum Zeitpunkt der Änderung: 539
09.06.2021, 13:21
link zu UNDROP auf englisch statt auf deutsch ausgebessert
keine inhaltliche veränderung
Neue Begründung:
Justification
The UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas (UNDROP) recognizes the right to seeds as a human right and, at the same time, obliges the international community to recognize this right and to guarantee free access to seeds. ("The right to save, use, exchange and sell their farm-saved seed or propagating material." Art. 19)
Official German-language version of UNDROP: www.un.org/depts/german/gv-73/band1/ar73165.pdf:digitallibrary.un.org/record/1650694
Illustrated brochure:
www.viacampesina.at/undrop-illustrierte-ausgabe_lvc-final/
The state and supranational phytosanitary regulations of the supply of seeds and planting material must also observe and recognize these rights in accordance with Article 19 UNDROP. Phytosanitary regulations must not restrict the right to seeds.
Who are the “Sustainers of Diversity”?
Sustainers produce seeds and plant materials that are ordered and forwarded according to seed sovereignty for sustainable and permanent use, for further propagation, for testing the adaptability to the location, as part of the continuation of the craft of traditional seed nursery and rural conservation breeding. Many, but not all, sustainers are organized in networks or associations.
The proceeds from the work hardly cover the costs incurred. There are narrow limits to the commercialization of conservation work, as the recipients of the seeds and plant materials continue to propagate the varieties themselves and therefore will not order every year.
The work of the conservationists and their associations, which is geared towards the common good in many respects, and their previous role in the containment of plant pests, must be recognized in the plant health legislation. No further economic or bureaucratic obstacles must be placed in the way of the sustainers and their associations.
EU regulation 2016/2021 on plant health: eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A32016R2031
AGES - information on plant passport requirements: www.pflanzenschutzdienst.at/binnenhandel-neu/faqs-plant-pass-new/
Thank you for your support. Florian Walter, Pöls AUSTRIA
Unterschriften zum Zeitpunkt der Änderung: 539
