On 27 and 28 October, in Lecce, the second Italian stage of the development education campaign named Sblocchiamoli: cibo, salute e saperi senza brevetti, was held. The campaign is co-funded by the EU Commission under the Knowledge Health and Food for All project and aims both at drawing the attention of public opinion to the promotion of a more sustainable application of intellectual property rights and at mobilising the institutions of the countries involved (not only Italy, but also Spain, Ecuador, Bolivia and India).
The campaign is in response to the wishes to stop the recent trend set by major food manufacturers of transforming common goods, such as seeds, in private goods protected by patents. Article 4 of the Directive on the legal protection of biotechnological inventions (98/44/EC) precludes patenting on reproduction, if it is “essentially biological”, and on “plant variety” as well. Article 53b of the Convention for the European patent follows this same path. However, a part of the jurisprudence of the Appeal Court of the European Patent Office, whose seat is in Munich, is contrary to these norms and this is the reason why, for instance, patents on broccoli (EP10698199) and tomato have been granted (EP1211926).
In other words, this means that any farmer wishing to use such seeds for his or her cultivations will have to pay a royalty to the patentee. And this may have very strong repercussions. In Italy, for instance, 10% of agricultural products derive from seeds purchased, while 90% derive from seeds collected and accurately selected over the years by those who work the land. Moreover, by preventing farmers from using freely an increasingly higher number of seeds, biodiversity is dramatically reduced.
The arguments supporting the creation of legal monopolies on seeds are not very convincing. They rely on the premise that the success of agriculture and the end of poverty depend on technological development and that the expenses for this purpose should be compensated through the introduction of property rights. But this premise does not consider that, in order to solve the problems related to poverty, hunger and climate change, agriculture has to be able to improve producers’ life conditions, their knowledge and self-sufficiency, and it is quite difficult to imagine that this goal may be achieved imposing royalties.
On the inside: