From khiltsley@iatp.org Mon May 18 09:12:43 1998 Received: from mxu2.u.washington.edu (mxu2.u.washington.edu [140.142.32.9]) by lists.u.washington.edu (8.8.4+UW97.07/8.8.4+UW97.05) with ESMTP id JAA49274 for ; Mon, 18 May 1998 09:12:43 -0700 Received: from mail.iatp.org (iatp-2.InnovSoftD.com [208.141.36.66]) by mxu2.u.washington.edu (8.8.4+UW97.07/8.8.4+UW97.09) with ESMTP id JAA10869 for ; Mon, 18 May 1998 09:12:41 -0700 Received: from Kathybert.iatp.org ([208.141.36.84]) by mail.iatp.org (Netscape Messaging Server 3.52) with SMTP id 393; Mon, 18 May 1998 11:21:14 -0500 Message-Id: <3.0.5.32.19980518111635.008279c0@iatp.org> X-Sender: khiltsley@iatp.org X-Mailer: QUALCOMM Windows Eudora Pro Version 3.0.5 (32) Date: Mon, 18 May 1998 11:16:35 -0500 To: kathy@iatp.org From: "Kathleen Hiltsley" Subject: No Patents on Rice, No Patents on Life Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/enriched; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Circulate/sign "No Patent on Rice! No Patents on Life!"=20 =20 From: MASIPAG < NO PATENTS ON RICE! NO PATENTS ON LIFE! Statement from Peoples' Movements & NGOs in Southeast Asia to the World Trade Organization May 1998 Rice is life in Southeast and other parts of Asia. It has been the cornerstone of our food, our languages, our cultures - in short, our life - for thousands of years. Over the centuries, farming communities throughout the region have developed, nurtured and conserved over a hundred thousand distinct varieties of rice to suit different tastes and needs. The Green Revolution spearheaded by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the 1960s resulted the loss of this diversity from farmers' fields and the spread of wholly unsustainable farming systems which require high energy inputs such as pesticides, fertilizers, so-called 'high-yielding' seeds, irrigation systems and supervised credit schemes. In this process, farmers lost control of their own seeds, their own knowledge and their own self-confidence. Today, people are struggling throughout the region to rebuild more sustainable agriculture systems hinged on farmers' control of genetic resources and local knowledge. In the past, the whole cycle of the rice economy was under the control of farmers themselves, from production through distribution. Today, global corporations are taking over the rice sector. With the expansion of industrial farming, global corporations - and their local subsidiaries=20 - established their predominance in the rice sector through research programs, interference in policy-making, and their exports of farm machinery, pesticides and fertilizers. Now, through the use of genetic engineering, they are increasing their control over our rice cultures. The kinds of rice that we are promised through this technology threaten the environment and public health. For example, herbicide tolerant rice=20 will lead to increased pesticide use. Rice incorporating Bacillus thuringiensis genes will disrupt ecological balances. Both of these are unsafe for consumers and will lead to allergic reactions, increased antibiotic resistance and other health hazards. New hybrids - such as those based on the so-called 'Terminator Technology' - will force farmers to buy rice seed every planting season from transnational corporations. The extension of the patent system through the WTO Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) gives global corporations the 'right' to claim monopoly ownership over rice - and life - itself. Companies in the industrialized world have already started to claim intellectual property rights (IPR) on rice. A derivative of IR-8,=20 IRRI's 'miracle rice', was monopolised through IPR in the United States already in the 1980s. Recently, RiceTec, a company in Texas, has taken out a patent on basmati rice. This is biopiracy against India and Pakistan. The same company and many others in the US are now marketing what they label as Jasmine rice. This is not only intellectual and cultural theft, it also directly threatens farm communities in Southeast Asia. Jasmine rice comes from Thailand, where it is grown today by over five million resource-poor farmers who are trying to develop ecological alternatives for Jasmine rice production and marketing. We have to strengthen local groups to assert farmers' and community rights to counter these trends in the region. For this reason, we make the following demands: 1. WTO memberstates must recognise that farmers' and community rights have precedence over intellectual property rights and that IPRs destroy biodiversity. Many initiatives to develop and implement farmers' and community rights are underway in Southeast Asia, and must be supported and strengthened. 2. We encourage the memberstates of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to support the initiatives of India and the=20 Organisation for African Unity to resist the extension of IPR systems and to develop community rights at the local and national levels. 3. Genetic engineering of rice and other foods should be prohibited. 4. Agriculture and biodiversity must be taken out of the WTO regime, especially the TRIPS Agreement. 5. No patents on rice! No patents on life! PHILIPPINES 1. MASIPAG (Farmer/Scientist Partnership for Development) 3346 Aguila St., Rhoda's Subd., Anos Los Ba=F1os, Laguna 4030 PHILIPPINES Tel. (63-49) 536-5549 or 4205 Fax: (63-49) 536 55 26 E-mail: masipag@mozcom.com=20 2. CEC (Center for Environmental Concerns) 175-B Kamias Road Ext., Quezon City or PO Box 1212-1152 Quezon City Post Office PHILIPPINES Tel (63-2)920-90-99, 928-97-25 Fax (63-2) 921-15-31 Cell: (0912) 3574364 E-mail: cec@psdn.org.ph 3. PDG (Paghida-et sa Kauswagan Dev't Group) Mojon, Binicuil, Kabankalan, Negros Occidental or Tel./Fax : (34) 471-2573 E-mail: pdg@lasaltech.com 4. MAPISAN c/o CERC Office Kabankalan Catholic College=20 Kabankalan, Negros Occidental 6111 PHILIPPINES Tel (63-34) 471-2574 5. HAYUMA Unit 4, Aurora Apts, Pearl St., Umali Subd. College, Laguna 4031 PHILIPPINES Tel. (63-49) 536-3987 Fax: (63-49) 536 55 26 E-mail: gville@mozcom.com or hayuma@mozcom.com 6. Assisi Foundation 3/F Unit C, Strata 200 Bldg. Emerald Ave. Ortigas Complex, Pasig City PHILIPPINES E-mail: assis198@info.com.ph 7. Philippine Greens=20 # 108 V. Luna Road Ext. Sikatuna Village, Quezon City PHILIPPINES Tel (63-2) 921-5165 Fax (63-2) 433-1133 E-mail: rverzola@phil.gn.apc.org 8. Dr Oscar Zamora, University of the Philippines Los Banos Department of Agronomy University of Philippines Los Ba=F1os College, Laguna 4031 PHILIPPINES Tel: (63-49) 536 24 66 or 536 22 17 or 536 24 68 Fax: (63-49) 536 24 68 Email: obz@mozcom.com 9. Dr Romy Quijano, University of the Philippines College of Medicine UP-College of Medicine Dept. of Pharmacology 547 Pedro Gil St., Ermita, Manila Taft Ave., Manila PHILIPPINES E-mail: romyq@ phil.gn.apc.org or pidiong@yahoo.com 10. S.A. Center (Sustainable Agriculture Center) Manresa Hts., Xavier University College of Agriculture Cagayan de Oro City PHILIPPINES Tel: (63-8822) 724096 Tel/Fax: (63-8822) 727464 or 722994 Cellular: (097) 3382105 E-mail: sacenter@xu.edu.ph or vitagupa@xu.edu.ph=20 11. SIBAT (Sibol ng Agham at Teknolohiya) No. 10 Alley 13 Road 3, Project 6 Quezon City PHILIPPINES Tel (63-2) 9291140=20 Tel/Fax (63-2) 9293220 E-mail: sibat@ phil.gn.apc.org 12. Environmental Legal Assistance Center (ELAC) Cebu Office Door 2 Rodriguez Apt. Escario cor. G. Garcia Sts., Cebu City Philippines Tel. No.: +6332-53678 Tel./Fax: +6332-2545091 E-mail: elaccebu@gsilink.com 13. GRAIN Los Ba=F1os Aurora Apts., Unit 2 Pearl St., Umali Sbd. College, Laguna 4031 PHILIPPINES Tel: (63-49) 536 39 79 Fax: (63-49) 536 55 26 Email: grain@baylink.mozcom.com 14. CACP (Citizens' Alliance for Consumer Protection) Casal Bldg., 15 Anonas Road, Quirino District, Quezon City Tel: 433-3073 Email: cacp@phil.gn.apc.org THAILAND 1. TREE (Technology for Rural and Ecological Enrichment) 21 SOI 2 Nane-Kaew Road, Muang District Suphanburi 72000 THAILAND=20 Tel Suphanburi: (66-35) 52 18 83 or 50 0803 Tel Bangkok: (66-2) 883 81 13 Fax: (66-35) 52 18 03=20 Email: daycha@loxinfo.co.th 2. Mr. Witoon Lianchamroon =09 Lokdulyapav / BIOTHAI (Thai Network on Biodiversity and Community Rights) 87/11 PingAmPorn, Pattaranives Samakkee Rd., Muang Nonthaburi THAILAND Tel: (66-2) 952 04 90=20 Fax: (66-2) 952 83 12=20 Email: witoon@wnet.net.th 3. Ms. Piengporn (Chiu) Panutampon BIOTHAI 55/238 Mooban Saranrom=20 Soi Nuanchan, Sukhapibal 1 Rd Bungkum, Bangkok 10230 THAILAND Tel/Fax : (66-2) 946 69 38 Email: biothai@wnet.net.th 4. Alternative Agriculture Network (AAN) c/o RRAFA 67 Soi Thonglor 3 Sukhumvit 55, Phrakhanong Bangkok 10110 Thailand Tel/Fax: (66-2) 391 17 71 Email: daycha@loxinfo.co.th INDONESIA 1. PAN (Pesticides Action Network) Indonesia PAN-Indonesia Jl. Persada Raya #1 Menteng Dalam Jakarta 10210 Indonesia Tel/Fax: (62-21) 829 65 45=20 Email: biotani@rad.net.id 2. Anik Wusari Program Officer for Program Development Services Resource Management and Development Consultant (REMDEC) Salemba Raya No. 39 BB. Jakarta. Indonesia. Email: Anik Wusari <=20 3. Omar Sari Network and Computer Specialist International NGO Forum on Indonesian Development (INFID) Jalan Mampang Prapatan VI No.39 Jakarta, 12790 Indonesia Okky < 4. Dr. George J. Aditjondro Former Vice President of the Indonesian Environmental Forum (WALHI) Indonesian academic dissident in self-imposed exile Lecturer in the Sociology of Non-Western Environmental Movements Department of Sociology and Anthropology University of Newcastle NSW 2308, Australia CAMBODIA 1. Lot S. Miranda HEKS Cambodia Programme PO Box 445, Phnom Penh, Cambodia Email: heks@forum.org.kh INDIA 1. Shabnam Merchant International Liaison Officer People's Alliance for Implementation of the Law, Thane, India Email: Shabnam Merchant < 2. Nergis Irani Convenor, Dahanu Chapter Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage 3. Kitayun Rustom Join Hon. Secretary Dahanu Taluka Environmnet Welfare Assoc., India Solidarity and endorsements from JAPAN: 1)Hiroko Kubota. University of Kokugakuin,member of JOAA :Odawara-city Iidaoka106 kanagawa prefecture. Japan 2)Shinji Hashimoto. JAPAN:Ichijima Organic Farming Association=20 Email: QZW07502@niftyserve.or.jp 3)Kimie Tuda (Secretary of Osaka Organic Agricultre Association) 4)Hirofumi Asai (Representive of Polan Hiroba Kansai )Organic=20 Marketing Gruop 5) Reiko Sugahara (Polan Organic Farming Association) Address: 4th Esaka-chou build 1-22-23 Esaka cho Suita-shi Osaka-fu=20 564-0063,Japan=20 Tel&Fax :06-330-0749 6) Association for keeping Rice Culture in Japan Representation director: Mitsukuni Inaba Address: 72 Sayado, Kaminokawa-machi, Kawachi-gun, Tochigi, 329-0526 Japan Tel&Fax: +81-285-53-1133 E-mail: kyy127@yomogi.or.jp 7)Non-Governmental Rice Growing Research Institute Head Clerk: Mitukuni Inaba Address: 72 Sayado, Kaminokawa-machi, Kawachi-gun, Tochigi, 329-0526 Japan Tel&Fax: +81-285-53-1133 E-mail: kyy127@yomogi.or.jp >>>> MASIPAG/Farmer-Scientist Partnership for Development 3346 Aguila St., Rhoda's Subd.=20 Los Banos, Laguna=20 4030 Philippines Tel (63-49)536-5549 or 536-4205 Fax (63-49)536-5526=20 Kathy Hiltsley Program Assistant Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy 2105 1st Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55404 Direct Phone: 612-870-3455 IATP Ph. 612-870-0453 IATP fax. 612-870-4846 http://www.iatp.org email:khiltsley@iatp.org .