Iraq is a breadbasket of the Middle East and the genetic origin of wheat. Is the US putting legislation in place in preparation for commercialising GM wheat there in order to get a foothold in Asia? You bet it is.

A new report[1] by GRAIN and Focus on the Global South has found that new legislation in Iraq has been carefully put in place by the US that prevents farmers from saving their seeds and effectively hands over the seed market to transnational corporations. This, say the writers, is a disastrous turn of events for Iraqi farmers, biodiversity and the country's food security. While political sovereignty remains an illusion, food sovereignty for the Iraqi people has been made near impossible by these new regulations.

"The US has been imposing patents on life around the world through trade deals. In this case, they invaded the country first, then imposed their patents. This is both immoral and unacceptable", said Shalini Bhutani, oneof the report's authors.

The new law in question[2] heralds the entry into Iraqi law of patents on life forms - this first one affecting plants and seeds. This law fits in neatly into the US vision of Iraqi agriculture in the future - that of an industrial agricultural system dependent on large corporations providing inputs and seeds.

In 2002, the Food And Agriculture Orgainsation (FAO) estimated that 97 percent of Iraqi farmers used saved seed from their own stocks from last year's harvest or purchased from local markets. When the new law - on plant variety protection (PVP) - is put into effect, seed saving will be illegal.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:

From GRAIN: Shalini Bhutani in India [Tel: +91 11 243 15 168 (work) or +91 98 104 33 076 (cell)] or Alexis Vaughan in United Kingdom [Tel: +44 79 74 39 34 87 (mobile)]

From Focus on the Global South: Herbert Docena in Philippines [Tel:+63 2 972 382 3804]

References
[1] www.grain.org/articles/?id=6 (the report is entitled "Iraq's new patent law: a declaration of war against farmers")

[2] Patent, Industrial Design, Undisclosed Information, Integrated Circuits and Plant Variety Law of 2004, CPA Order No. 81, 26 April 2004, www.iraqcoalition.org/regulations/20040426_CPAORD_81_Patents_Law.pdf