New U.N. treaty ensures farmers' rights to seeds.

• Author: Larson, Vanessa
• Position: Environmental Intelligence - Brief Article

Member states of the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization on November 3, 2001 adopted an international treaty that affirms the right of farmers to "save, use, exchange, and sell farm-saved seed," and limits the genetic materials of plants that biotechnology companies are allowed to patent. The agreement, the Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture treaty, will guarantee international access to seeds and genetic material and set up a scheme for sharing the financial benefits of their commercial use.

In countries that ratify the treaty, biotechnology companies will not be able to patent individual genes or unmodified seeds, only seeds that have been altered, such as by having new genes inserted in them. The treaty protects just 64 food crops, including wheat, rice, maize, barley, beans, potato, and cassava, which make up about 85 percent of the world food supply...