THE FEDERATION HAS SUSPENDED THIS PROPOSAL pending the exploration of an alternative proposal intended to address the problem of commercial/non-commercial use raised by participants in this discussion.
Fifth, and current draft:
Fair Use of GMOsCategory: Free Trade | Strength: Mild
THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY,
SADDENED by the continued struggle of many of the poor to secure sufficient and affordable daily nutrition;
RECOGNIZING the potential of genetically modified organism (GMO) technologies to provide for more blight-resistant and nutritious crops;
ACKNOWLEDGING the immense expenses incurred by the producers of GMOs seeking safe and effective genetic modification methodologies;
NOTING the use of genetic use restriction technologies (GURT) by producers of GMOs, as a means of recuperating research expenses by maintaining exclusive production and sale of GMOs, which take two general forms:
- V-GURT - a variety-level restriction technology, which causes a cultivar to produce sterile seed;
- T-GURT - a trait-level restriction technology, which prevents a cultivar from expressing a desirable trait unless treated with a specific and exclusively supplied chemical substance;
DEFINING "Subsistence farming" to consist of the keeping of livestock and the production of crops by farmers seeking to feed themselves and their families, producing little surplus;
CONCERNED that the use of V-GURT and T-GURT techniques may greatly increase the expense of subsistence farming by the poor, because these techniques effectively prevent seed saving and so require the purchase of new seed and activators from exclusive producers for each new crop;
ALARMED that patent law existing at the national and international levels, to the extent that such law protects the use of V-GURT and T-GURT techniques, legally codifies and enforces these disadvantages faced by subsistence farmers;
SEEKING to establish in all member states the right of Fair Use of GMOs, in order to remedy the noted economic disadvantage suffered by subsistence farmers;
HEREBY RESOLVES that:
1) Member states shall not prevent any subsistence farmer, group of subsistance farmers, nor any public or private non-profit organization providing assistance to subsistence farmers, from:
- Reverse engineering GMO seed so as to remove any V-GURT or T-GURT traits;
- Sowing such reverse-engineered seed or harvesting the resulting produce and any seed contained therein;
- Collecting and storing such reverse-engineered seed.
2) Member states shall not prevent the publishing and dissemination of the methods and results of any process pertaining to the reverse engineering of GMO seed for the purposes of subsistence farming.
3) Member states shall not allow any injunction, nor claim of damages, to be brought against any person or organization engaged in the reverse engineering of GMO seed for the purposes of subsistence farming.
4) No part of this resolution shall otherwise affect the legality of GMO technologies generally, nor genetic use restriction technologies specifically.
5) No part of this resolution shall prevent the General Assembly from addressing the legality or regulation of GMO technologies generally, nor genetic use restriction technologies specifically, in future resolutions.