Seeding starvation in Iraq

In 2004, when L. Paul Bremer III left his position as Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) administrator to “transfer sovereignty,” he also left behind 100 deadly orders to govern Iraq. Order 81, which included “Patent, Industrial Design, Integrated Circuits and Plant Variety,” prohibited Iraqis from reusing seeds of “new” plant varieties patented under the law. Think about that for a second . . .

What that order means is that seeds from those “new” varieties cannot be saved for reuse, at least not without paying a royalty to its “manufacturer,” whether it’s Monsanto, Dow, Dupont, or any of the other genetically-modifying seed giants. This could easily bankrupt farmers and contribute vastly to massive food shortages and starvation.

This law amended Iraq’s original patent law of 1970. Until it is revised or cancelled by a new Iraqi government, it is legally binding under the hawkish wing of the colonizing CPA. Historically, the Iraqi constitution prohibited private ownership of biological resources. Yet this US-stamped patent law does just that. It introduces a plan for monopoly rights over seeds, if you can believe it.

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New potatoes, markets eyed

Rapid growth in developing countries, says Joe Guenthner, University of Idaho economist.

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Fury as genetically modified potatoes given go-ahead in UK

Ministers have been accused of ignoring consumers and risking contamination of the countryside after giving the green light for genetically modified potatoes to be grown in the UK.

The Government granted permission for the GM variety to be cultivated at two trial sites, prompting claims that they are stealthily trying to reintroduce the technology after previously being forced to back away from it by public opposition.

Plans to grow Britain's first commercial GM crop - a bioengineered maize - were abandoned two-and-a-half years ago in the face of consumer protests.

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