Yesterday marked the start of a Dutch campaign raising awareness about the 'dangers' of European law concerning seed patents.

Bionext is the Netherlands-based organization for sustainable, organic agriculture and food, promoting the interests of the Dutch organic sector at a European level.

Its campaign against the EU patent law centers on how international companies are increasingly patenting natural properties of seeds, including vegetable seeds, which has ;major consequences; that ripple through the supply chain.

According to a Bionext, there are more than 100 patents on natural properties of seeds that have already been granted and more than 1,000 more going through the application process.

The organization claims this kind of broad scope patenting leads to a decline in diversity across different species, a drop in supply to the market and pushes up prices of what is available.

"The development of new varieties is inhibited. This is badly needed to make varieties resistant to climate change, for example," says the campaign’s website.

"The control over the global seed and food production will be located at some multinationals."

It adds how seed companies which do not have access to patented varieties are being 'squeezed out of the market', which leaves less for everyone.

"If this goes on, soon we will eat just one kind."

Bionext is urging the Dutch public to get behind the campaign 'The Greatest Seed Bank of the Netherlands' by buying packs of 'endangered vegetables' for €15 (US$17.09) and officially becoming an affiliate of the campaign to protect the diversity of vegetables.

Special packs of seed varieties including Paprika Jubilandska, Tomato Matina, Zucchini Black Beauty, Golden Bantam Corn and Broccoli Green Calabrese will be on sale at the end of June in organic outlets and farm shops across the Netherlands.

Official partners include organic produce supplier Eosta, Green Organics, Health Food Shop Association, EKO Foundation, Slow Food and Greenpeace.

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