page 06-07

resistance is fertile!

dangers and opportunities at biodiversity meeting

nina holland, a seed europe

The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) is charged with protecting biodiversity and the world's genetic resources. But Resistance is Fertile! activists look warily to the upcoming COP-6 (Sixth Conference of the Parties) to be held in April in the Hague, the Netherlands. Will the CBD be upheld? Or will the meeting become yet another venue for corporations to solidify their ever-expanding control over life?

two super markets
The words “COP-6 in the Hague” remind one of the COP-6 of the Climate Convention, which also took place in the Hague in November of 2000. Like the CBD, the Climate Convention was a major product of the 1992 Earth Summit, and will also be central to upcoming WSSD discussions in Johannesburg. And another similarity: at heart of both conventions lies the holy word of the times: “the market”.

The Kyoto Protocol permits the right to pollute (“carbon credits”) to be traded, creating a whole new market. Similarly, genetic information can now be bought, sold and even patented.

In the CBD, the market makes its entrance under “Access and Benefit Sharing of Genetic Resources”. Guidelines recently drafted in Bonn spell out the terms under which interested parties can access the genetic resources of a particular country, and how benefits derived from the use of these resources can be shared with the country. Although COP-6 will probably go down in history as the “Forest Summit” as many NGOs have put their energy into this key area, “Access and Benefit Sharing” will also certainly be a major issue.

who owns what?
Control over genetic resources was, in fact, a major battlefield when the CBD was first being negotiated in the early 1990s. Southern nations demanded control over genetic resources originating from their territories. They wanted to discontinue the practice of biotechnology patents being granted to northern companies and research institutions on products derived from living organisms that had been taken “for free” from the South.

Southern countries did gain some ground, because the CBD states as its main principle that “States have (…) the sovereign right to exploit their own resources pursuant to their own environmental policies.” This was a major shift from the previous understanding of genetic resources as the “common heritage of mankind”, as put down by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

The question is whether this shift will actually prove beneficial to countries rich in biodiversity but economically poor. According to critics, making nation states the “owners” of biodiversity resources means turning biodiversity into a commodity. Once there is an owner, you have a party to negotiate with and potential competition between countries to be the first to strike a deal with a company that wants to do research in a given region. This competition directly conflicts with the third of the CBD's three main objectives: the “fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources.”

With nation states as the owners of their own biodiversity resources, one would conclude that the “fair and equitable sharing of the benefits” is a matter for national governments. But what about people living in the areas where the concerned living organism was found? Will all nation states treat indigenous minorities with respect and give them a “fair and equitable” share of what the nation receives?

tripped up
During the Uruguay Round of World Trade Organization negotiations, national governments decided on (or rather, southern governments were “pushed into”) the TRIPs (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights) agreement. WTO member states will soon be obligated to grant patents to mainly northern companies for “inventions” based on mainly southern genetic material. This clearly contradicts the CBD's objective of “equitable benefit sharing”.

The CBD, however, proposes no concrete measures to remedy this problem. Worse, UN bodies like the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization) actively discourage southern countries that try to use the minimal leeway contained in TRIPS for bans on patents for all life forms.

Enormous seed collections are held in international “genebanks”, which are co-administered by the FAO and the World Bank and intended as a public resource. However, the privatization of genetic material through patent claims has acted as a disincentive for countries to send seeds to genebanks.

Yet genebank seeds are vitally important for food security. Many plant varieties have disappeared from farmers' fields altogether, often as a result of monoculture introduction.

seed protocols
Last November, after seven long years of negotiations, UN member states finally agreed a binding International Seed Treaty that may become a CBD Protocol. Although its very aim is to guarantee public access to (part of) seed collection centres, this treaty does not prevent the privatization of seeds by patenting. It merely states that seeds should not be patented “in the form received” from the seed banks. But this should not be permitted anyway, because there would be no invention to patent!

The vital importance of safeguarding agricultural biodiversity brings us to the issue of genetic engineering. The CBD process has developed international rules for the transboundary movement of GMOs (genetically modified organisms), resulting in the Biosafety Protocol.

Commenting on the just-negotiated protocol, an African minister quoted a traditional Ugandan saying: “If you are destined to die and you become lame, you are lucky.” Heavy pressure exerted by industry and the Miami Group (major GMO producers, including the US and Argentina) meant that many key issues were compromised and even lost. On the other hand, industry and the Miami Group would have preferred no protocol at all. The inclusion of the Precautionary Principle for GMO imports was also considered a major victory for campaigners.

resistance is fertile!
It's clear that the nations acting within the UN lack the political will to protect biodiversity and put curbs on expanding private control over living organisms. On the contrary, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan embraces industry as “part of the solution” rather than the problem. The UN process has also demonstrated its incapacity to represent the vast majority of people, most notably farmers, local communities and indigenous peoples.

While recognizing the hard work done by civil society organizations during the Biosafety Protocol and International Seed Treaty negotiations, the diverse collective of people under the Resistance is Fertile! banner are challenging the notion that we can trust vital resources to national and supranational decision-making bodies.

Resistance is Fertile! says “no!” to the spread of GMOs into the environment, to the increasing dependence of farmers on a few multinational corporations, and to the privatization of genetic resources in general. We say “yes” to diverse and genuinely sustainable forms of agriculture, and to the self-determination of indigenous peoples and local communities.

Biodiversity is not for sale, nor is it free. It is priceless.

preliminary programme of resistance is fertile! Resistance is Fertile! runs concurrently with COP-6, but will follow its own agenda. Actions and activities will include a bike demo, a guerrilla garden, workshops and info sessions on various issues. April 8-19 Resistance is Fertile! Actions, workshops and festivities. Tackling food, agriculture and biodiversity issues in the age of economic globalization. April 13-14 Common Ground Meetings and discussions bringing together farmers, activists and people involved in new rural initiatives. April 17. Global Day of Farmers' Struggles (called by Via Campesina.) Everyone is welcome to join us in our activities parallel to COP-6. Free accommodation is available for up to 200 people, and cheap vegan/organic meals will also be provided. There is no participation fee. For more details about Resistance is Fertile! visit www.resistanceisfertile.org or www.aseed.net , and contact us if you want to receive a weekly e-mail update: rif@gn.apc.org .