International Seeds Day

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Below from http://www.ineas.org/events.htm Institute of Near Eastern and African Studies.

International Seeds Day
Organizations, activists and people from various professional and linguistic backgrounds will observe April 26 as International Seeds Day (ISD) advocating for patent-free seeds, organic food and farmers' rights. ISD will be an educational day for the public to learn about genetically modified food and its health hazardous effects and the agribusiness of major US and European companies and their monopoly over the agriculture in Africa and Asia with emphasis on India, Iraq and Afghanistan. It will be a day of solidarity with farmers in countries devastated by war (Afghanistan, Iraq & others) and of resistance.
Join us to endorse and publicize April 26 as International Seeds Day
and/or organize an event on April 26
Final deadline to endorse and/or organize an event is: April 12

Why April 26?

Order 81 was signed on April 26, 2004 by Paul Bremer, the administrator of the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in Iraq to control Iraq's agriculture. The Order was a declaration of war against farmers. Article 14 of this law states "Farmers shall be prohibited from re-using seeds of protected varieties," Order 81 mends Iraq's original law No. 65 on patents, created in 1970. The most significant part of Order 81 is the subject of 'Plant Variety Protection' (PVP), which ensures not the protection of biodiversity, but rather the protection of the commercial interests of USA and European major seed corporations. In order to qualify for PVP, seeds have to be 'new, distinct, uniform and stable'. Therefore, the sort of seeds being encouraged to grow by corporations such as World Wide Wheat Company (WWWC), Monsanto and others will be those registered under PVP.
Interview with Dr. Vandana Shiva dedicated to Iraqis
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-B1yU278zk
Full text of Order 81 http://www.trade.gov/static/iraq_memo81.pdf
Detailed information on the status of agriculture in Afghanistan and Iraq: http://www.grain.org/briefings/?id=217

Partial List of Events:
More details about the events listed will be updated and other events will be added daily.
1. USA: Phone Campaign to Iraqi farmers, farm owners, agriculture experts and women in Iraq to educate about terminator seeds, Order 81 and seed keeping and resistance by the volunteers at INEAS.
Institute of Near Eastern & African Studies (INEAS), Cambridge, MASS
http://www.INEAS.org
INEAS@aol.com and INEAS_1994@yahoo.com

2. Iceland: "Awareness for April 26th International Seeds Day"
University of Iceland Reykjavik - Iceland April 26 3-6 pm
Organized by activists Anouk Petzoldt, Charlotte Ferrier and Oscar-Mauricio Uscategui
Presenting "The world according to Monsanto" film,
Participants, speakers and exact address will be announced shortly
Contact: Anouk at Anoukpetzoldt@gmail.com and, Oscar-Mauricio at seeds@seedsiceland.org 354 845-6178

3. USA: "GMO Teach-In"
Local Food Coop - Albuquerque, New Mexico April 26 10:30 am
Sponsored by La Montanita Coop (www.lamontanita.coop). Cuatro Puertas, Arid Crop Seed Cache and GMO Free NM
Celebrating the 20th Annual Earth Festival
Location: At the Tent on the West End of the Festival Site - on Silver Street behind the Coop.
Contact: Isaura Andaluz at c4puertas@yahoo.com 505-620-5692

ISD Endorsers:

Institute of Near Eastern & African Studies (INEAS), http://www.INEAS.org, (MA, USA)

Navdanya, http://www.navdanya.org, (New Delhi, India)

Institute of Science in Society, http://www.i-sis.org.uk, (London, UK)

Brussells Tribunal, BRussells Tribunal, (Brussells, Belgium)

Grain International, http://www.grain.org, (Bercelona, Spain)

The Green Party of the United States, http://www.gp.org, (DC, USA)

GMO Free New Mexico, www.gmofreenm.com, (New Mexico, USA)

Slow Food Rio Grande, www.slowfoodriogrande.org, (New Mexico, USA)

Dr. Vandana Shiva, http://www.navdanya.org, (New Delhi, India)

Wafaa' Al-Natheema, http://www.INEAS.org, (MA, USA)

Brian John, Ph.D., http://www.gmfreecymru.org, (Wales, UK)

Andrew Bosworth, Ph.D., www.biotechempire.com, (Okinawa, Japan)

Dirk Adriaensens, SOS Iraq, (Brussells, Belgium)

Dr. Maha Alsakban, http://www.nwciraq.org, (Diwaniya, Iraq)

Dr. Souad Naji, BRussells Tribunal, (Baghdad, Iraq)

Yasir Allawi, http://www.dental-tribune.com, (Dubai,UAE)

Garda Ghista, www.worldproutassembly.org, (Kentucky, USA)

Amy Mall, http://www.twinenfp.org, (Chicago, USA)
Anouk Petzoldt & Charlotte Ferrier, http://umhverfi.hi.is, (Reykjavík, Iceland)
Oscar-Mauricio Uscategui, http://seedsiceland.org, (Reykjavík, Iceland)
Paola Pisi, http://www.uruknet.info, (Rome, Italy