Dr. Brian John
“Cynical and wicked” imposition on occupied Iraq
Aid agencies and NGOs across the globe have been reacting with horror to the news that new legislation in Iraq was carefully put in place last year by the United States that will effectively bring the whole of the country’s agricultural sector under the control of trans-national corporations. This spells disaster for the Iraqi government and the country’s farmers, paving the way for companies like Monsanto and Syngenta to control the entire food chain from planted seed to packaged food products.
The new Iraqi Government is now being urged to revoke Order 81, the offending piece of legislation signed and brought into force by Paul Bremer, the Administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority, on 26th April 2004.
NGOs have described Order 81 as “cynical and wicked”, as the section relating to the registration and protection of plant varieties was slipped in almost as an appendage to an Order dealing with patents, industrial design, disclosure of information and integrated circuits.
The manner in which this Order was imposed on the people of Iraq is an outrage in itself. There was virtually no Iraqi input into the wording of the Order, as the country and its people were on their knees following the Iraq War.
Bron: ISIS Press Release 08/03/05: Iraqi Government Urged to Revoke “Cynical and Wicked” Patent Law