International

A parliamentary majority and Minister of Agriculture Gerda Veerburg yesterday gave their support to an initiative from the SP which would ensure that the free cultivation of plants would no longer be hindered by patents owned by multinational corporations. SP Member of Parliament Henk van Gerven explains: “Research has shown that innovation is hampered by the granting of patents on plant properties and that this could eventually jeopardise the food supply. Seeds become more expensive and development of new crop plants which build positive new features into existing varieties is prevented. And all of this solely to the greater glory of the multinationals, and at the expense of the farmer and the market gardener.”

From 1st August cluster bombs, when more than a hundred countries will bring the treaty containing the interdiction into force, will be banned. And the SP can claim some of the credit for the fact that the Netherlands signed. "This is a big step forward in the abolition of gruesome weapons, weapons which cause enormous suffering," says Jasper van Dijk, Member of Parliament for the SP. "Ratification by the Netherlands is partly down to former SP Member of Parliament Krista van Velzen, who fought for years to bring it about. At the same time, it's only a first step. We must now also tackle the transit of cluster munition and the investments by firms in cluster munitions.”