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VEN? MONSANTO'S GE SOY MONOPOLY UPHELD MURDOCH COMPANY TO MIND BRITISH OFFICIAL SECRETS? [I a jaw-dropping affirmation of Monsanto's monopoly con- trol over commodity crops, one of the world's most notorious patents for genetically engi- neered crops was upheld on May 6 by the European Patent Office (EPO) in Munich—this despite a nine-year battle by civil society (and industry) to have it revoked. European Patent No. 301,749, granted in March 1994, is an exceptionally broad "species patent" which grants gene giant Monsanto an_ exclusive monopoly over all forms of GE soybean varieties and seeds, irrespective of the genes used or the transformation technique employed. The patent, attacked as immoral and technically invalid by food security advo- cates worldwide, was vigorously opposed by Monsanto itself until it purchased the original patent-holder (Agracetus) in 1996 and switched sides to make the soybean species patent a major ingredient in its global recipe for crop monopoly. Monsanto now controls 100% of the world's genetically engineered soybeans, covering 36.5 million hectares in 2002. The ETC Group (The Action Group on Erosion, Technology and Concentration, formerly RAFI) has been opposing the patent for nearly a decade. It regards the maintenance of this patent as a dangerous precedent for other broad claims on nan official British "written ministerial statement" quietly released late on Friday evening, March 14, while MPs and the media were focused on the approaching conflict with Iraq, the Junior Defence Minister, Dr Lewis Moonie, confirmed that the Ministry of Defence (MoD) had decided to privatise the stor- age of top- secret Ministry files. The statement, published in Hansard (column 29WS), also confirms that the preferred bid- der is TNT Express Services, owned by the media magnate Rupert Murdoch, proprietor of the London Times and Sun news- papers. Within two years, TNT will relocate the records service of the MoD and 13 other government departments—including the Home Office, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), the Public Record Office (PRO), the Metropolitan Police Service and the Lord Chancellor's Department— from secure MoD warehouses at Bourne Avenue, Hayes, Middlesex, to new facili- ties in the Midlands. The site will provide secure storage for a possible 200 linear kilometres of official paper records, and TNT will also be responsible for "the provision of records management and archiving services" for a 25-year period. (Source: Intelligence, no. 420, April 7, 2003) emerging new technologies, in particular nanotechnology—the atomic manipulation of matter to create new molecular forms. "We fear that the EPO decision on Monsanto's soybean patent gives comfort to those who want to establish ever wider legal claims—including matter monopo- lies," emphasised Jim Thomas of ETC Group's Oxford, UK, office. "Monsanto may have won an entire species, but others are seeking to monopo- lise entire elements of nature. Atomic- level manufacturing provides new opportu- nities for sweeping monopoly control over both living and non-living matter." (Source: ETC Group news release, May 7, 2003, http:/www.etcgroup.org) NRO WANTS TO "KNOW EVERYTHING" ta March 12 hearing of the US Senate Armed Services Committee, Peter B. Teets, Director of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) which develops, launches and operates US spy satellites, said: "Our goal is transparency. We want the ability to see everything and know everything, while simultaneously denying our adversaries both the ability to do the same, and the knowledge that such capabilities are being used against them." "We have 12 national security space launches scheduled for 2003, compared to only one conducted in 2002," he added. Mr Teets, who is also an Under- Secretary of the Air Force, provided a rare public description of "offensive counter- space" (OCS) programs for disabling other “The pathology tests are back. Fow ve got blood in your oil.” 6 = NEXUS JUNE — JULY 2003 www.nexusmagazine.com