23 Mar 2005

New American rules are being seen as a major attack on the traditional practice of seed-saving and seed-sharing by Iraqi farmers.

Iraq was the birthplace of wheat farming, but agriculture has crashed there in the last decade.

Order 81, put in place by US official Paul Bremer, refers to seed-saving and patents. It is legally binding unless repealed by a future Iraqi Government.

If seeds can be proven to be "new, distinct, uniform and stable", then they are protected.

Seed companies can charge royalties for the seeds, and perhaps most importantly, Iraqi farmers are forbidden to save them.

NGO’s fear that American companies will supply Iraqi farmers with free seeds for a season or two, and then lock them into a system where they will have to pay for new seeds every year.

They say the law also opens the door for GE seeds to be sold in Iraq.

A movement is growing to pressure the new Iraqi Government to repeal Order 81. Opponents of Order 81 want to see community-controlled seed banks set up in Iraq.

Order 81
http://www.iraqcoalition.org/regulations/20040426_CPAORD_81_
Patents_Law.pdf

GM Watch: "Order 81: Crime against humanity"
http://www.gmwatch.org/archive2.asp?arcid=4998

The Ecologist: "Order 81"
http://www.mindfully.org/GE/2005/Order-81-Iraq1feb05.htm