04/23/2024, 16:52
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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
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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
