Although Paul Bremer claims to have transferred sovereignty to Iraq, farmers are still under U.S. occupation. By being legally forced through one of Bremer’s 100 orders, farmers are prohibited from using seeds from previous crops. Instead, they must purchase seeds, genetically modified or not, every new crop season from corporations, such as Monsanto, the world’s largest manufacturer of genetically modified crops.
The Coalition Provisional Authority Order Number 81 was conceived because present Iraqi laws did “not meet current internationally-recognized standards of protection.”
The CPA section on Plant Variety Protection states that “farmers shall be prohibited from re-using seeds of protected varieties or any variety mentioned [in the order],” which mandates that nearly every variety possible must become patented. Farmers are allowed to use what little “traditional” seed stock they have presently, but all patented “new” plant varieties must now be purchased from authorized sellers – in other words, corporations.
A report by Focus on the Global South and Grain stated that “historically the Iraqi constitution prohibited private ownership of biological resources.” The Food and Agriculture Organization estimated that, in 2002, 97 percent of Iraqi farmers either used saved seeds from their previous harvest or purchased seeds from local markets. Simply put, most seeds that were once native in Iraq must now be patented and bought from corporations. How can a country be sovereign when its food isn’t?
Not only does this order put a burden on Iraqi farmers, forcing them to purchase seeds from corporations, but it exemplifies how the U.S. has exploited Iraq and tried to mold Iraq into the quintessential U.S. standard. The law guarantees that Iraq will become dependent on corporations for one of their most basic necessities – food.
In addition to eliminating local farmer competition, many of the corporations that sell seeds internationally, namely Monsanto and Dow Chemical, promote using GM products. Monsanto’s track record of manipulation speaks for itself. Monsanto and other chemical giants that made Agent Orange during the Vietnam War have been brought before the Supreme Court in numerous lawsuits, including one resulting in a class-action settlement of $180 million in 1984. The company manufactures genetically altered canola, cotton, corn and soybean seeds, which are, not surprisingly, tolerant of Monstanto’s herbicide product Roundup, estimated to be the world’s number one herbicide.
