The team of the Seed Sovereignty Programme UK and Ireland are supporting this No Patents on Seeds campaign and are encouraging all our seed saving networks, friends and supporters to sign this petition. Even though the UK is no longer in the European Union it is still under the jurisdiction of the European Patent office.

We want to send a strong message to the EPO that the current situation is not good enough. There are currently over 200,000 signatures but we need more to make an real impact. Please take a minute to sign the petition using the link below and lets tell them there is no place for patents in the natural world!

Sign the Petition!

Agricultural companies continue to hold patents on conventionally-bred fruits, vegetables and cereals, such as barley, even though this is not allowed under European patent law. Similar patents have also been filed on animals. Conventionally-bred plants and animals are not an invention! Implement existing prohibitions now to stop the big agricultural companies from taking control of our food! Call for a ministerial conference to stop patents on seeds!

Sign the petition here!

Our demand: A conference of the ministers from the contracting states of the EPO to be held within one year, which must take prompt action to implement effective measures to stop patents on conventional plant and animal breeding. All possible measures must be taken on both a national and European level to stop patents on conventionally-bred plants and animals.

This must include prohibiting patents on the processes of crossing, selection and random mutations, as well as taking measures to prevent the extension of the scope of patents granted on genetic engineering techniques to plants and animals derived from conventional breeding.  

The scope of patents on plant and animal breeding needs to be restricted to the specific process of genetic engineering in order to make existing prohibitions effective.

Sign the petition here!