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Dystopia
On May 6, 2013, the European Commission adopted three new regulations on seeds, “plant health” (sic) and controls. This initiative, which must be submitted to the European Parliament and the Council, would place all seeds under the direct control of industry property titles (plant variety certificates and patents). Farmers, professional gardeners (and soon amateurs?) would be forced to pay registration fees and royalties to the large groups that dominate the world market if they sow seeds from their own harvest. It would be illegal to “cultivate, reproduce or deal in” any seed that has not been “tested, approved and accepted” by the Community Plant Diversity Office.