Eugene weekly., April 08, 2004, Page 9, Image 9

BY TED TAYLOR
Genetic Trespass
UO sponsors symposium on the legalities of invented crops.
P
ercy Schmeiser has a remarkable
tale to tell. The second-generation
Canadian canola farmer was sued
by Monsanto for patent infringement when
his crops were reportedly cross-fertilized by
seeds from a neighbor’s field. Schmeiser, 76,
chose to fight Monsanto and his case is now
before the Canadian Supreme Court. This
farmer’s case, along with the issues it raises,
could have a huge impact on the future of
agriculture worldwide, and even right here in
Lane County.
Schmeiser is leading a
worldwide battle against
U.S. companies enforcing
seed patents in other coun-
tries, and he is the keynote
speaker at a Friday, April 9
conference at the UO. More
than 200 farmers, scientists
and legal scholars are gath-
ering in Eugene to explore
contentious questions about
control and ownership of
genetically modified crops.
His keynote address, ti-
tled “David v. Goliath:
Patent Law and the Might
of Monsanto,” will begin at
7 pm in the auditorium of
Agate Hall, 1787 Agate St.
The talk is open to the public and admission
is $5.
The one-day symposium will explore
how extending intellectual property rights to
seeds affects farmers, and how recent
Supreme Court decisions and new technolo-
gies threaten global food security and genetic
diversity.
The symposium is titled “Malthus,
Mendel, and Monsanto: Intellectual Property
and the Law and Politics of Global Food
Supply.” Thomas Robert Malthus was an
English economist who theorized that world
population tends to multiply faster than the
food supply leading to disastrous results.
Gregor Mendel was an Austrian monk known
as the father of genetics. Monsanto is a multi-
national corporation that is developing and
marketing genetically altered seeds.
The Wayne Morse Center for Law and
Politics at the UO School of Law is sponsor-
ing the event, which will feature experts in
patent law, plant genetics and agriculture.
“Over the past two decades, genetic engi-
neers have created and patented ‘improve-
ments’ in seeds used to grow staple crops,”
says Keith Aoki, UO law professor, confer-
ence organizer and one of the speakers.
“New international agreements establish
the global scope of those patent rights and
have allowed a decreasing number of multi-
national corporations to capture much of the
global agricultural market with their patented
seed. Four or five corporations could end up
with a lock on the global seed supply,” says
Aoki.
Aoki is also concerned about the risk of li-
ability for growers in the Willamette Valley.
He says 328 permits have already been issued
by the USDA for test plots of “GE crops, both
herbicide resistant vegetable and grass vari-
eties and crops with pharmaceutical and in-
dustrial compounds. If these crops move
from small-scale test plots to widespread
planting as they have elsewhere, not only
seed saving farmers, but homeowners with
lawns may find themselves unwilling defen-
dants in patent infringement lawsuits.”
Aoki’s particularly concerned about “out-
crossing” of Monsanto’s Roundup Ready
creeping bentgrass from bird migration of
seeds or air migration of pollen. “If foreign
purchasers reject GE creeping bent grass,
what will become of Oregon’s $200 million a
year grass seed industry?”
Another organizer of the conference is J.J.
Haapala, a second-
year law student and
16-year producer of
organic vegetable
seeds at Heron’s
Nest
Farm
in
Junction
City.
Haapala also initi-
ated and directs the
Farmer Cooperative
Genome Project for
Oregon Tilth.
Haapala says ge-
netic engineering of
plants raises envi-
ronmental, ethical,
and human health
concerns, but few
Percy Schmeiser
people are aware of
the legal issues sur-
rounding the patenting of major food crops.
“The widespread planting of patented
vegetable and grass varieties in Oregon
means that not only seed-saving gardeners
face patent infringement liability, but so also
do homeowners who enjoy lawns,” says
Haapala. “If, as in the case of Percy
Schmeiser, patent holders are allowed to
sample crops or lawns without permission
and persecute infringers to the fullest extent
of the law, Oregonians could face significant
legal troubles.”
Other conference speakers Friday include
Madhavi Sunder, a law professor at UC-
Davis and expert on intellectual property;
Susan Bragdon, senior scientist at the
International Plant Genetic Resource
Institute; Stephen Brush, a professor of
human and community development at UC-
Davis; Beth Burrows, founder and director of
the Edmonds Institute, a public interest or-
ganization focused on environment and tech-
nology; Ignacio Chapela, assistant professor
at UC-Berkeley and co-author of a study on
genetic contamination in Mexico. Other
speakers are Margaret Chon, William
Heffernan, Stephen Jones, Kim Leval,
Charles McManis, Malla Pollack and Henry
L. Shands.
For more information on Percy
Schmeiser, including an audio interview, visit
www.percyschmeiser.com For a complete
list of Friday’s workshops and presenters,
along with registration information, visit
www.morsechair.uoregon.edu or call 346-
3700. Registration on the day of the event is
very limited.
The symposium is part of a two-year ef-
fort by the Morse Center to explore “The
Changing Geopolitical Order: Implications
for Peace and Stability.”
“Rapid shifts in the supply of the world’s
food certainly has implications for global
peace and stability,” says Morse Center
Director Caroline Forell.
ew
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APRIL 8, 2004 9