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Europe Rejects Patents on Life
March 10, 1995
On March 1, 1995, the European Parliament voted to reject the
proposed European Union (EU) directive on "The Legal
Protection of Biotechnological Inventions." After seven years
of debate, the controversial bill was defeated by a large
majority of 240 to 188 votes, with 23 abstentions.
The directive, first submitted in October 1988, was
controversial due to its social, ethical, scientific and
economic implications for various sectors of society. NGO
opponents devoted years of work to raising public awareness,
coalition building, campaigning and lobbying to defeat the
proposal. Genetic Resources Action International (GRAIN)
organized a major public conference on the directive in the
European Parliament in February 1989, and has helped
facilitate the NGO campaign since then. In addition, NGOs
were supported over the years by sympathizers in the Green
Group of the European Parliament. GRAIN spokesperson Renee
Vellve stated, "The directive's rejection by the European
Parliament is significant. The vote was a strong political
message to the entire world that patenting life is immoral
and inadmissible. We must now translate that pro-ethics
position into effective laws which bar patents on plants,
animals and human beings."
The fact that such a large majority rejected the directive
surprised observers and activists alike. GRAIN analysts
attribute the size of the majority to two factors:
(1) Despite rallying cries to vote in favor of the directive
in the Socialist and Conservative parties, there was
controversy about what the directive would actually permit.
Many in Parliament were clearly concerned about whether this
legislation would promote patenting of human genes and
germline therapy.
(2) The highly visible efforts of NGOs, for example, a vivid
Greenpeace action outside the Parliament the day before the
vote; a strong article in The Financial Times on the morning
of the vote; and the flood of protest letters from NGOs and
indigenous peoples filling their mail boxes exerted a great
deal of pressure on Members of the European Parliament
(MEPs). All of these elements combined on the morning of
March 1 to make MEPs realize that they were voting on a
highly contentious issue, and that many people were watching.
Other important events in Europe supported the position taken
by the European Parliament last week. On February 21, 1995,
the European Patent Office announced a landmark decision in
favor of opposition plaintiff Greenpeace International
regarding a patent on genetically engineered, herbicide-
resistant rapeseed. The original patent, granted in 1990 to
Plant Genetic Systems (Belgium) and Biogen (U.S.), has now
been limited in scope by deletion of six claims. The Patent
Office's Technical Board of Appeal has ruled that the patent
may cover genetically engineered plant "cells" but cannot
extend to a whole plant, its seeds and any future generations
of plants grown from the cells. Although the text of the
Board's reasoning has yet to be published, the EPO appears to
interpret the European Patent Convention's Article 53b, which
prohibits patenting of plant and animal "varieties," as
prohibiting patents on plants and animals per se.
Two days later, 85 members of the Italian Parliament signed a
resolution instructing their government to "promote urgent
initiatives toward the European Union and other international
organizations in order that the principle of patenting life
forms -- self-reproducing animals and plants -- be refused."
Further, the instruction reads that the Italian government,
through the EU and other international bodies, should "put
into effect limited forms of protection of intellectual
property rights that prevent any privatization of genes, and
that are compatible with human rights." The resolution was
signed by representatives of every political group in the
Italian Parliament except the Fascists. If formalized, this
will align the Italian government with Austria, Denmark,
Luxembourg and Spain, each of which expressed formal
reservations about the EU directive.
Source: GRAIN press release March 6, 1995.
Contact: GRAIN, Girona 25, pral. E-08010 Barcelona, Spain;
phone (34-3) 301 13 81; fax (34-3) 301 16 27; email
grain@gn.apc.org.
Action: GRAIN urges NGOs to translate these important
political events into pressure at the national and regional
levels through press work, public debate and campaigning.
Countries should recognize the decision of the European
Parliament as a new direction in politics (where ethical
interests overrode those of industry) and in transnational
democracy (more power to peoples' representatives). European
countries should also translate the Patent Office's decision
on the rapeseed patent into national law, so that it is
clearly stipulated that plants, animals and human beings --
in whatever "form", from genes to entire beings -- should be
barred from patentability. Contact GRAIN for more information
about getting involved in these issues at the national level,
GRAIN can provide background information such as a small
press packet giving coverage of these events.
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