# CE2004088EN.01025301.xml

| 8.4.2004 | EN | Official Journal of the European Union | CE 88/253 |
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8.4.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

CE 88/253

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(2004/C 88 E/0258)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0941/04

by Robert Evans (PSE) to the Commission

(26 March 2004)

Subject:   GMOs

Subject:

Is the Commission aware of the case before the Supreme Court of Canada of Percy Scmeiser v Monsanto? The case involves the issue of liability in the case of GM crops spreading into conventional or organic crops as well as the intentional and non-intentional spread of GMOs into the environment on the one hand and infringement of patent on the other.

Questions have been raised in the court case as to whether infringement of patent can occur even if the farmers accused of infringement may have themselves been victims of non-intentional spread of GMOs.

In response to Written Question E-0819/03 (1), the Commission referred to its international discussions on liability and redress in the context of the Biosafety Protocol. Will the Commission be seeking to ensure that safeguards are included so that a recurrence of such a legal situation may be prevented?

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Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(30 April 2004)

(30 April 2004)

The Honourable Member mentions in his question the case before the Supreme Court of Canada of Percy Schmeiser v Monsanto regarding an alleged infringement of a patent following the spread of genetic material into conventional crops.

In the EU, the infringement of patents is governed by the law of the Member States. The Commission is not aware of the existence of any difficulties of the kind in question within the EU.

The Honourable Member refers in particular to the discussions on liability and redress for damage resulting from the transboundary movement of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in the context of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety.

The First Meeting of the Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity, held in Kuala Lumpur in February 2004, agreed to launch a process with respect to the elaboration of appropriate international rules and procedures in the field of liability and redress. For this purpose the Meeting of the Parties established an Ad Hoc Working Group of Legal and Technical Experts on Liability and Redress – open to all Parties – which will meet five times between 2005 and 2007, and adopted broad terms of reference for this Group. In addition, the Meeting of the Parties decided that later in 2004 a technical group of experts will meet to undertake the necessary preparatory work for this process.

The terms of reference adopted by the Meeting of the Parties are rather broad and leave all options open for discussion by Parties. It is therefore impossible at this early stage to predict the scope and nature of the rules and procedures to be adopted at the end of the negotiation process.

The Honourable Member can rest assured that the Commission will do its utmost in the forthcoming negotiations to achieve workable and effective rules and procedures which will contribute to the achievement of the objectives of the Cartagena Protocol.

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(1)  OJ C 78 E, 27.3.2004, p. 358.

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