Have European MPs (MEPs) at the European
Parliament taken the first step to granting patents on life? On 16 July they
approved the first reading of a Patents Directive. The draft Directive aims to
promote investment in biotechnology. It permits patenting of genes, human cells
and body parts, whole animal and plant varieties and parts of animals and
plants.
The decision has caused consternation among many public
interest groups. In the UK groups met with John Battle MP, Minister of State for
Science, Energy and Industry to press their concerns. Among those at the
meeting were the GAIA Foundation, Christian Aid, Friends of the Earth,
Greenpeace, Genetics Forum, Womens Environmental Network and Compassion in World
Farming. Ian Taylor, Scientific and Political Adviser for Green-peace, said
"John Battle was receptive to our concerns and appeared supportive of calls
for a consultation process around the Directive to include those voices that
have so far been excluded from the debate. He seemed particularly alert to the
North-South equity issues raised by patenting, but we remain concerned that he
does not fully appreciate the urgency of the debate where there is very limited
time left to alter what is a manifestly undesirable Directive."
Dr. Nicki Curtis of the UK Patents Office has indicated that
public interest groups will be included in the on-going consultation process,
which has to date included mainly industry. With events moving in Europe,
consultation is now urgent. To become law, the draft Directive has to be
approved by the European Commission, the Council of Ministers, and again by
Parliament in a second reading next year. At the moment the driving force for
any change seems to be the need for pharmaceutical and agrochemical
multinational companies to sell genetically modified products.
[This
article first appeared in Pesticides News No. 37,
September 1997, page 9]