A group representing farmers is proposing to introduce the concepts of “ancestral” or “peasant” seeds and vegetable matter so they can preserve what they consider to be their traditional patrimony.
A new Bill on Seeds is being debated in the Chamber of Deputies and the National Farmers’ Movement submitted proposals on Monday, 8 September in order to make it fairer to the farmers.
The proposals, supported by the Autonomous University of Santo Domingo (UASD) Environment Commission as well as the Association of Agronomist Engineers and other institutions, proposed to improve and expand the legal framework of the law, introducing, for instance, the concepts of “ancestral” or “peasant” seed, and vegetable matter.
The proposals are aimed at expanding the legal framework to prevent farmers from being criminalized in connection with their traditional and cultural use of the seeds.
In its current version, according to movement president Juana Ferrer, the bill violates the rights and liberties of the farmers. Among other aspects, the bill involves the creation of a new institution in charge of regulating the registration and approval of seeds at a national level, which was what the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources already did.
The consequences would be to deny the traditional right of the farmers to use exchange and sell their ancestral seeds that would not receive approval from the new institution, while privatizing them to the benefit of agro-industrial companies.
The legislative bill was initiated by Senator Amilcar Romero, a businessman from the agro-chemical industry and vice-president of Dominican Chemical Fertilizers (Ferquido).
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/news/Dominican-Republic-Farmers-Mobilize-Against-National-Law-on-Seeds-20140910-0001.html