US giant attacked over soya patent bid 

Susan Schwartz 
South China Morning Post October 23, 2001 

Greenpeace in Hong Kong has branded an American firm "colonialist" for
trying to patent a gene sequence that would give it exclusive rights in
more than 100 countries to a high-yield variety of soya bean. 

Agri-business giant Monsanto has filed patent requests in the countries
after it discovered a natural gene sequence that produced high-yield
crops of a wild soya plant that originated in China. According to
Greenpeace, the patent, which has not yet been approved, would grant the
company exclusive rights on the soya plants, their seeds and progeny
with high-yield traits. It also would give Monsanto the exclusive right
to profit from the gene sequence and block farmers and researchers from
freely accessing soya with the high-yield trait. 

Greenpeace spokesman Ho Wai-chi branded it "colonialism in our natural
environment". "The end implications are that the consumers will have to
pay more money for soya products in Hong Kong if this is allowed to go
ahead," he said. Greenpeace China genetic engineering campaigner Lo
Sze-ping said the company "had tried to hijack the genetic resources of
a major food crop - basing their claim on a discovery of a gene sequence
found in nature". 

China grows 90 per cent of the world's wild soya crops. Mr Ho said the
move set a precedent for large corporations to discover certain natural
characteristics and claim ownership. Greenpeace yesterday opposed the 
patent at a United Nations conference on biodiversity in Bonn, Germany,
urging delegates to oppose industry-controlled monopolies on
biodiversity. A spokesman for the Monsanto office in Hong Kong was not
available for comment.