Farm group says new federal bill gives more control to seed companies | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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Farm group says new federal bill gives more control to seed companies

A national farm group says it's worried proposed legislation on seeds will give too much control to multinational corporations.

The National Farmers Union is hoping to persuade Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz to change the Agricultural Growth Act before it is to take effect next fall.

It would bring Canadian rules on seeds in line with an international convention that outlines, among other things, property rights for plant breeders.

Ritz says the changes would encourage more plant-breeding investment in Canada and urge foreign breeders to sell their varieties to Canadian farmers.

But the National Farmers Union says the act would strengthen the intellectual property rights of multinational corporations.

Union vice-president Ann Slater says the bill would limit the rights of producers to retain seeds from crops for future use, and would expand the amount of time seed companies can collect royalties.

"As farmers lose control of seeds, that means that we as citizens of Canada — both as eaters and farmers — we lose some control over what seeds are grown, which becomes the food we eat," Slater said from St. Thomas, Ont.

"It looks like this bill ... is handing more control over our seeds, and thus our food, to a handful of multinational seed companies."

News from © The Canadian Press, 2013
The Canadian Press

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