- Email: [email protected]
Bilateral agreements on nuclear installations near borders
plant breeders and seed suppliers patent these varieties and demand royalties on their use. As a result, many countries in the developing world now have to pay twice over. for genetic material; once for the new variety and once for protecting the material from which it is derived". Kenya, for example, is now buying tropical legume seeds developed in Australia based on indigenous Kenyan varieties. There is no record of payment by Australia for the original material.
rish only with the application of certain chemicals. In this way, the pesticide manufacturers could ensure that farmers purchase not only seeds but pesticides to go along with them as well. One may think this to be a far-fetched idea, but an example is given by the study. A certain chemical has been used in the ripening process of a variety of tomatoes called "Florida M H - I " , which allows its harvesting to be "scheduled", at a time when the market conditions are appropriate.
Courtesy : FAO T h e V a v i l o v Centres -- areas o f genetic d i v e r s i t y w h i c h is one o f t h e m o s t valuable resources o f t h e d e v e l o p i n g nations.
The ICDA study points out that the biggest seller of seeds in the world today is Shell - the Anglo-Dutch petroleum and chemical giant. And just four companies - Dekalb, Pioneer, Sandoz and Ciba-Geigy - control two thirds of the maize and hybrid sorghum seed market in the USA. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)just one company United Brands, formerly United Fruit, maintains about two thirds of the world's potential breeding stock of banana. The type of banana that we eat, in twenty years from now, could well be decided by one commercial enterprise. There is another disturbing development. Many major pesticide manufacturers have now entered the seed business. The ICDA study warns that these companies might breed plants that flou164
Commenting on this the study states: "With industry encouragement, University of Florida tomato breeders biased their breeding programme to produce a tomato which could only ripen when sprayed". Like the multinational corporations, Western governments are "also building up gene banks with material from the Third World. "By 1970", the study states, "the US Department of Agriculture boasted material from 27 nations"; 22 of these were Third World nations and only 14 of which had any of their own native wheat material in storage. "The absurdity of the Third World position", says ICDA, is when they will soon discover "that virtually all of their rescued indigenous wheat varieties can only be obtained from the United States". "Against this situation, international and national public efforts to collect
and store seeds are inadequate", says UNEP. Developing countries have limited funds and expertise to spare for the enormous task of conserving seeds. They accord low priority to this. With regard to the activities of UNEP in this area, Dr. E1-Tayeb an Egyptian microbiologist currently working in Nairobi states that the organization is actively involved in assisting programmes to train developing country personnel in collecting and storing indigenous seed varieties. During the past few years, UNEP has also assisted activities to collect seed varieties of sorghum and millet in East Africa, potato varieties in the Andean region and cereals and legumes in the Himalayan region. In order for the collection of varieties in developed countries to continue unhampered, these must be stored in international seed banks. This is not the case today as all the world-based collections are maintained in national banks "of industrialized countries". The time has come to internationalize the operation before a complete freeze on collection is enforced by those who provide free germ plasm to those who develop seed and sell it back to where it comes from". Although such genetic material may be regarded as national assets, Dr. E1-Tayeb feels that they should be also looked upon as "part of the global human heritage". This suggests that access to such material - without prejudice to national interests - should be freely available through international agreements. In addition to national efforts, attempts at preservation of such seeds should be internationally co-ordinated. []
Bilateral Agreements on Nuclear Installations Near Borders The Federal German Minister of the Interior and the Minister for Public Health and Environment and the Minister of Social Affairs of the Netherlands signed a memorandum for the agreement and consultation of nuclear installations near borders. For text of the agreement see page 192. Similar agreements were also signed recently by France and Switzerland (October 1979) and by Portugal and Spain (March 1980). []
Environmental Policy and Law, 6 (1980)
rish only with the application of certain chemicals. In this way, the pesticide manufacturers could ensure that farmers purchase not only seeds but pesticides to go along with them as well. One may think this to be a far-fetched idea, but an example is given by the study. A certain chemical has been used in the ripening process of a variety of tomatoes called "Florida M H - I " , which allows its harvesting to be "scheduled", at a time when the market conditions are appropriate.
Courtesy : FAO T h e V a v i l o v Centres -- areas o f genetic d i v e r s i t y w h i c h is one o f t h e m o s t valuable resources o f t h e d e v e l o p i n g nations.
The ICDA study points out that the biggest seller of seeds in the world today is Shell - the Anglo-Dutch petroleum and chemical giant. And just four companies - Dekalb, Pioneer, Sandoz and Ciba-Geigy - control two thirds of the maize and hybrid sorghum seed market in the USA. According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)just one company United Brands, formerly United Fruit, maintains about two thirds of the world's potential breeding stock of banana. The type of banana that we eat, in twenty years from now, could well be decided by one commercial enterprise. There is another disturbing development. Many major pesticide manufacturers have now entered the seed business. The ICDA study warns that these companies might breed plants that flou164
Commenting on this the study states: "With industry encouragement, University of Florida tomato breeders biased their breeding programme to produce a tomato which could only ripen when sprayed". Like the multinational corporations, Western governments are "also building up gene banks with material from the Third World. "By 1970", the study states, "the US Department of Agriculture boasted material from 27 nations"; 22 of these were Third World nations and only 14 of which had any of their own native wheat material in storage. "The absurdity of the Third World position", says ICDA, is when they will soon discover "that virtually all of their rescued indigenous wheat varieties can only be obtained from the United States". "Against this situation, international and national public efforts to collect
and store seeds are inadequate", says UNEP. Developing countries have limited funds and expertise to spare for the enormous task of conserving seeds. They accord low priority to this. With regard to the activities of UNEP in this area, Dr. E1-Tayeb an Egyptian microbiologist currently working in Nairobi states that the organization is actively involved in assisting programmes to train developing country personnel in collecting and storing indigenous seed varieties. During the past few years, UNEP has also assisted activities to collect seed varieties of sorghum and millet in East Africa, potato varieties in the Andean region and cereals and legumes in the Himalayan region. In order for the collection of varieties in developed countries to continue unhampered, these must be stored in international seed banks. This is not the case today as all the world-based collections are maintained in national banks "of industrialized countries". The time has come to internationalize the operation before a complete freeze on collection is enforced by those who provide free germ plasm to those who develop seed and sell it back to where it comes from". Although such genetic material may be regarded as national assets, Dr. E1-Tayeb feels that they should be also looked upon as "part of the global human heritage". This suggests that access to such material - without prejudice to national interests - should be freely available through international agreements. In addition to national efforts, attempts at preservation of such seeds should be internationally co-ordinated. []
Bilateral Agreements on Nuclear Installations Near Borders The Federal German Minister of the Interior and the Minister for Public Health and Environment and the Minister of Social Affairs of the Netherlands signed a memorandum for the agreement and consultation of nuclear installations near borders. For text of the agreement see page 192. Similar agreements were also signed recently by France and Switzerland (October 1979) and by Portugal and Spain (March 1980). []
Environmental Policy and Law, 6 (1980)