US signs FAO Treaty

IN REVERSAL, UNITED STATES SIGNS U.N. TREATY ON PLANT GENES

Associated Press | 6 November 2002

ROME, Nov. 6 -- The United States on Wednesday became the 76th country to sign an international agreement governing the genetic code of plants, reversing a decision to abstain from the treaty when it was approved last year.

The treaty is intended to preserve plant diversity and thus food supplies by safeguarding the genetic materials.

In addition to promoting genetic diversity, the treaty recognizes farmers' rights to seeds and other plant resources and establishes a system of access and benefit-sharing for 64 crops and plants that are considered to be fundamental to food security.

Though many nations have signed the pact, it must be ratified by at least 40 before it can go into effect. The U.S. Congress must still ratify it.

Once the treaty enters into force, a committee will decide how it will be implemented, particularly how farmers and others will share the various genetic codes of plants.

These are important decisions, because farmers groups have accused the United States and its multinational companies of trying to patent seeds and grains, depriving poor farmers of access to them.

When the treaty was first approved at a U.N. conference last November, the United States and Japan abstained. At the time, U.S. Agricultural Secretary Ann Veneman said the United States withheld its vote because of concerns over provisions concerning intellectual property rights.

U.S. officials also said they were concerned the list of crops included in the treaty fell short of global food security needs.

But Tony Hall, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. food agencies in Rome, said Wednesday the government had reconsidered its position.

"We have seen the wisdom of the treaty and are very glad to sign it," he said.

Copyright 2002 Associated Press.