VISIT OF INDIAN FARMERS AND WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION

Early day motion 44, tabled 17 November 1999 by Joan Ruddock (Labour). Signed by 55 members.

That this House welcomes the visit of a delegation of Indian farmers to Parliament, organised by Farmers' Link supported by ActionAid, the development charity, and funded by Iceland foods, the United Kingdom-based supermarket chain which supports organic farming in developing countries as part of their anti-GM policy; notes that the delegation includes a food policy and trade analyst and organic farmers who have been campaigning against genetically-engineered crops and seeds; welcomes the fact that they are meeting the Minister for the Environment and officials from various Government departments; acknowledges the challenge facing small farmers around the world and in the United Kingdom and applauds their determination and vision; and urges the Government to respond positively to the delegation's plea for support for the developing countries' proposals to review the WTO's intellectual property rights legislation and specifically to exclude patents on plants, animals and micro-organisms and to fulfil its promise to developing countries made under the 1994 Marrakesh decision to compensate the poorest countries which lose out as a result of agricultural trade liberalisation.

Signatures by party: Labour 36, Liberal Democrat 11, Labour/Co-operative 5, Plaid Cymru 2, UUP 1.