There is a huge development on the West coast concerning Genetically Engineered foods. In California, AB 541 Passed the Agriculture Committee and could become the first state law in the United States to actually protect small farmers against harassment and frivolous lawsuits from Über-Agricultural Business. I just received this press release from Bay Area Community Services' Director of Culinary Social Enterprise. At the end of this form there is important information how you can take action.
Beste Gesundheit,
Werner
AB 541 Passes the Agriculture Committee
Contact your Assembly Member Now!
AB 541, which could become California's first state law protecting
farmers from the hazards of genetically engineered crops, passed
through the Assembly Agriculture Committee on January 16th by a vote
of 5 – 0. It will next be heard by the full Assembly during the week
of January 28th.
Introduced by Assembly Member Jared Huffman early in 2007, the bill
was held over in the Agriculture Committee in April. Since then, AB
541 has been scaled back considerably. It now has the support of the
California Farm Bureau and other conventional agriculture
organizations.
AB 541 will enact protections for California farmers against
frivolous lawsuits that intimidate and harass farmers who have not
been able to prevent the inevitable drift of GE pollen or seed. It
will level the playing field for farmers accused by Monsanto and
others of contract violations, and discourage their practice of
sampling crops without explicit permission from farmers and
prosecuting based on unverifiable testing results.
Specifically, the newly amended bill would:
1. Protect farmers from patent infringement lawsuits if they are
unknowingly contaminated by GE crops.
2. Establish of a mandatory crop sampling protocol to be used by
biotech companies when investigating farmers they believe may have
violated patents or seed contracts. This protocol would require the
farmer's written permission for sampling, and provide for a state
agriculture official to accompany the patent holder during the
sampling and collect duplicate samples for independent verification if
requested by either party.
The original bill included several other elements that have been
removed, including the establishment of the country's first system of
notification for the locations of GE crops; the confinement of
experimental pharmaceutical-producing crops to greenhouses to protect
the food system from contamination; and, legislative clarity that the
GE crop manufacturer is liable in the event of contamination, and not
farmers.
Take Action
· Please write or call your Assembly Member no later than January
25th. Faxes or phone calls are much more effective than emails. To get
contact information for your representative, go to
http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html.
· Forward this email alert to everyone you know in California.
· Gather 'endorsements' for the AB 541 support letter from
organizations, businesses, and individuals.
AB 541 sample support letter
Please customize the below text as you see fit, fax to your representative, and then email a copy
to info@gepolicyproject.org.
[DATE]
The Honorable [NAME]
[ADDRESS]
[FAX]
RE: AB 541 (Huffman) – SUPPORT
Dear Assemblymember [NAME]:
I am writing to urge your support for AB 541, which establishes some
basic and fundamental rights for farmers whose crops may be
contaminated by genetically engineered varieties.
It is current practice for Monsanto and other biotechnology
corporations to sue farmers if they find that their crops contain any
patented genetically engineered material, regardless of how it got
onto the farm. This has affected farmers who have been unknowingly
contaminated. Monsanto also investigates farmers that it thinks may
have their patented material using intimidating and harassing
techniques, including gathering crop samples without the express
permission of the farmer.
AB 541 as currently amended would do the following:
1. Protect from patent infringement lawsuits for farmers
unknowingly contaminated by GE crops. Currently, farmers with crops
that become contaminated by patented seeds or pollen have been the
target of such lawsuits without clear recourse or defense.
2. The establishment of a mandatory crop sampling protocol to be
used by patent holders when investigating farmers they believe may
have violated patents or seed contracts. This protocol would require
the farmer's written permission for sampling, and provide for a state
agriculture official to accompany the patent holder during the
sampling and collect duplicate samples for independent verification if
requested by either party.
These provisions will protect California farmers and create more fair
conditions if they are faced with intimidation by biotechnology
companies.
Please vote Yes on AB 541. Thank you for your consideration of this
important issue.
Sincerely,
[NAME, TITLE, ORGANIZATION if applicable]
Help Build the California GE-Free Network
As one of the largest agricultural economies in the world, California
has the opportunity to become a leader in safeguarding our public and
private lands, fisheries, forests, schools, gardens and nurseries from
GE contamination.
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PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO INTERESTED FRIENDS AND FAMILY!