press release
The Hague, Tuesday, April 9th, 2002

INTERNATIONAL BIODIVERSITY ACTIVISTS TAKE OVER EUROPEAN PATENT OFFICE

At 12.30 pm today at the European Patent Office in Rijswijk near The Hague, The Netherlands, activists from around the world are bringing the EPO's personnel a message in their lunch break. While a sambaband has occupied the main hall of the building, climbers are high up attaching a banner stating 'No patents on Life. Resistance is Fertile.' Police have not intervened.

Who has the right to control the planet's biological resources? Despite heavy opposition, the EU has gone ahead with granting patents on genetic material, living organisms and their parts and components - the privatisation of what used to be a public resource - the biodiversity that is life on earth.

"We condemn the role of EPO in promoting patents on life out of self and business interest," states Ralph van den Duin, a Dutch samba player. "This lunchtime event brings into action what the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, now taking place in The Hague, is blatantly failing to do: to put an end to the privatisation of the genetic commons and the exploitation of traditional living knowledge."

The action is part of the two week biodiversity countersummit Resistance is Fertile.
"We are organising events to promote and discuss ideas that are actually from the grassroots throughout the next two weeks. I'm especialy excited about the next weekend, when we get together with farmers from around the world. I'm hoping to get to see some other perspectives," says Mr. van Duin.


Central Press contact: (+31) (0)6 137 35 716 or
mailto: rifmedia@subdimension.com
Other contacts for today (+31) (0)6 178 36 486 / (0)6 110 88 452
More information on  http://www.resistanceisfertile.org

RIF Radio is broadcasting 20-22 h Central European Time on
 http://www.resistanceisfertile.com/radio and on local frequencies in The Hague (104.2 FM). Also in Amsterdam (96.3 FM) and Leiden (97.4 FM) from 16-18 h CET.


Enough is enough: No Patents on Life!

For many decades, life science companies have been scouting the world in search of genes in microbes, plants, animals, and human populations that might be commercially valuable in the biological marketplace. The US and other governments have allowed companies to lay claim over thousands of genes in the form of intellectual property rights.
Some of the consequences of patents on life include:
* 'Biopiracy': what many see as the theft of their genetic resources by private companies from industrialised countries. This includes the exploitation of the genetic resources of indigenous peoples and the knowledge of their uses.
* Farmers' rights are being destroyed: presently (Northamerican) farmers are being sued by multinationals for having patented seeds on their land, despite the fact that often they got there by contamination in the first place. This will soon be commonplace around the world, both North and South.
Among those working with(in) the CBD, and in other international fora, the awareness of the adverse consequences of life patents is growing. However, the legislative structure of the CBD seems powerless and unwilling to counter this development.

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

A briefing on EPO and life-patenting will be available on
 http://www.resistanceisfertile.org from 14h CET onwards.