Judi Bari Day! But the Eco-news is bad...
From Indycymru | 24.05.2004 20:03
Judi Bari Day! But the Eco-news is bad...
Posted by: IWW email
Canadians Begin Waking up As Supreme Court Rules against Schmeiser
The last remaining shred of Canadian faith in the system has just been shattered for good. In a decision rendered Friday, May 21st, 2004, in the controversial Schmeiser vs Monsanto case, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld the judgement against Saskatchewan canola farmer Percy Schmeiser, sending shockwaves around the world.
In 1998, organic farmer Percy Schmeiser was informed by Monsanto Corporation that, because some genetically modified canola plants were found growing in the ditch of the farm owned by his wife and he, they would have to pay Monsanto for copyright infringement. They soon realized that this meant that some of their canola seeds, some of which had taken 50 years to perfect, had been contaminated. The initial judicial decision went against Schmeiser. He was told to hand over his seeds and the farm's profit for 1998 to Monsanto.
In 2001, the Federal Court of Appeal found that Schmeiser had infringed on Monsanto's patent rights to its Roundup Ready canola when he saved and planted contaminated seeds growing on his farm. Refusing to give up, the prairie farmer took his case all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada. While this decision is the end of Schmeiser's legal battle, the world-wide political battle to change patent laws wages on.
The vast implications of this case compelled the Council of Canadians, the Sierra Club of Canada, and the National Farmers Union to seek standing in the case. The intervener coalition is devastated by this
result.
"It is horrific what this decision will mean for so many in Canada and around the world," explained Andrea Peart, Director of Health and Environment with Sierra Club of Canada. "This decision doesn't just condemn Percy Schmeiser, it also condemns the broader community. The responsibility of dealing with the environmental contamination of GE genes will now be shouldered by the public, not the polluter."
The appeal required the Court to decide what constitutes patent infringement when dealing with life forms such as plants, which have the capacity to reproduce.
"This case was about preserving age-old agricultural practices such as seed saving and protecting farmers from being held responsible for the rampant contamination of our farm fields," says Terry Boehm of the National Farmers Union. "A reversal of the lower courts' decision was essential to protect the rights of farmers."
The precedence associated with this groundbreaking case also attracted key international groups to the coalition. These include the Action Group on Erosion, Technology, and Concentration (ETC), the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology, led by renowned Indian environmentalist Dr. Vandana Shiva, and the Washington-based International Center for Technology Assessment (ICTA).
"Monsanto and other biotech companies have been relentless in their attack on farmers both in Canada and the US," says Andrew Kimbrell, Executive Director of the ICTA, "Nearly 100 farmers sued by Monsanto in the U.S. face similarly dire prospects.
Mr. Schmeiser's loss should underscore the threats farmers face when biotech crops are allowed to invade our farmlands."
"Monsanto's victory will be short lived," says Pat Mooney from ETC. "This ruling is sure to unleash worldwide backlash against genetically engineered foods. Monsanto may think that it's beaten us, but all they've done is galvanize the resistance."
"The biotech industry has grossly underestimated the people's resolve," adds Nadège Adam of the Council of Canadians. Most Canadians maintained a lingering faith in the machinery of representative democracy... till the Supreme Court rendered the Schmeiser decision, that is.
Others point out that Monsanto effectively won a Pyrrhic victory with the Schmeiser decision. Already, Monsanto has had to back down from its attempts to alter the composition of agricultural products with the use of dominant genes. The Europeans won't buy it, and neither will the Japanese. Monsanto's adventurism has meant hurting North American agricultural exports. Yield is way down for farmers using genetically modified seeds. More chemicals are needed, which adds to the farmers' costs. So nobody wants the stuff.
That's why Monsanto pulled out of genetically modified wheat earlier this year. Coupled with these market based realities, there is the growing international movement to rid the world of capitalism. It can only be hoped that this long-held aspiration of the IWW will be assisted in its realization by the inevitable backlash against the highest court's decision against Schmeiser.
http://www.iww.org
Mark Dickson, 355424
http://lists.iww.org/mailman/l
Posted by: IWW email
Canadians Begin Waking up As Supreme Court Rules against Schmeiser
The last remaining shred of Canadian faith in the system has just been shattered for good. In a decision rendered Friday, May 21st, 2004, in the controversial Schmeiser vs Monsanto case, the Supreme Court of Canada upheld the judgement against Saskatchewan canola farmer Percy Schmeiser, sending shockwaves around the world.
In 1998, organic farmer Percy Schmeiser was informed by Monsanto Corporation that, because some genetically modified canola plants were found growing in the ditch of the farm owned by his wife and he, they would have to pay Monsanto for copyright infringement. They soon realized that this meant that some of their canola seeds, some of which had taken 50 years to perfect, had been contaminated. The initial judicial decision went against Schmeiser. He was told to hand over his seeds and the farm's profit for 1998 to Monsanto.
In 2001, the Federal Court of Appeal found that Schmeiser had infringed on Monsanto's patent rights to its Roundup Ready canola when he saved and planted contaminated seeds growing on his farm. Refusing to give up, the prairie farmer took his case all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada. While this decision is the end of Schmeiser's legal battle, the world-wide political battle to change patent laws wages on.
The vast implications of this case compelled the Council of Canadians, the Sierra Club of Canada, and the National Farmers Union to seek standing in the case. The intervener coalition is devastated by this
result.
"It is horrific what this decision will mean for so many in Canada and around the world," explained Andrea Peart, Director of Health and Environment with Sierra Club of Canada. "This decision doesn't just condemn Percy Schmeiser, it also condemns the broader community. The responsibility of dealing with the environmental contamination of GE genes will now be shouldered by the public, not the polluter."
The appeal required the Court to decide what constitutes patent infringement when dealing with life forms such as plants, which have the capacity to reproduce.
"This case was about preserving age-old agricultural practices such as seed saving and protecting farmers from being held responsible for the rampant contamination of our farm fields," says Terry Boehm of the National Farmers Union. "A reversal of the lower courts' decision was essential to protect the rights of farmers."
The precedence associated with this groundbreaking case also attracted key international groups to the coalition. These include the Action Group on Erosion, Technology, and Concentration (ETC), the Research Foundation for Science, Technology and Ecology, led by renowned Indian environmentalist Dr. Vandana Shiva, and the Washington-based International Center for Technology Assessment (ICTA).
"Monsanto and other biotech companies have been relentless in their attack on farmers both in Canada and the US," says Andrew Kimbrell, Executive Director of the ICTA, "Nearly 100 farmers sued by Monsanto in the U.S. face similarly dire prospects.
Mr. Schmeiser's loss should underscore the threats farmers face when biotech crops are allowed to invade our farmlands."
"Monsanto's victory will be short lived," says Pat Mooney from ETC. "This ruling is sure to unleash worldwide backlash against genetically engineered foods. Monsanto may think that it's beaten us, but all they've done is galvanize the resistance."
"The biotech industry has grossly underestimated the people's resolve," adds Nadège Adam of the Council of Canadians. Most Canadians maintained a lingering faith in the machinery of representative democracy... till the Supreme Court rendered the Schmeiser decision, that is.
Others point out that Monsanto effectively won a Pyrrhic victory with the Schmeiser decision. Already, Monsanto has had to back down from its attempts to alter the composition of agricultural products with the use of dominant genes. The Europeans won't buy it, and neither will the Japanese. Monsanto's adventurism has meant hurting North American agricultural exports. Yield is way down for farmers using genetically modified seeds. More chemicals are needed, which adds to the farmers' costs. So nobody wants the stuff.
That's why Monsanto pulled out of genetically modified wheat earlier this year. Coupled with these market based realities, there is the growing international movement to rid the world of capitalism. It can only be hoped that this long-held aspiration of the IWW will be assisted in its realization by the inevitable backlash against the highest court's decision against Schmeiser.
http://www.iww.org Mark Dickson, 355424
http://lists.iww.org/mailman/l
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