Origens e disseminação das sementes transgênicas e seus direitos de propriedade intelectual: o papel da biotecnologia no regime alimentar neoliberal

Abstract

In the wake of the process of globalization of capital and liberalization of international trade, the current system of protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) legalized the appropriation of living beings. In the name of protecting technical knowledge and its economic return, international conglomerates have acquired monopoly rights over genetically modified (GM) seeds. After the creation of the WTO, the commercialization of GM seeds was spread worldwide, accompanied by the exponential growth of these crops, especially in the peripheral countries. During this period, the world seed market experienced a rapid concentration, a tendency that remains today. Our analysis is based on a premise about the workings of capitalism: the imperative need for capital accumulation and its expansion into new dimensions of reality, from land and human labor, to the commoditization of seeds. In our research, we present the background of the formation of IPRs on seeds, beginning with the Plant Patent Act in the USA, the UPOV Convention, and the creation of TRIPS, which is part of the WTO framework. We discussed legal and bioethical issues related to the issue and, at the same time, we examined the institutionalization of international trade and the role of the US in this process. We seek to insert our analysis into the conceptual approach to food regimes, assuming that our object of study is part of a wider universe of regulation and political use of the global food production chain. Finally, we analyze data on the diffusion of GM crops and the world markets of seeds and agrochemicals, dominated by three transnational corporations: Bayer, Corteva Agriscience and ChemChina. Through this research, our objective is to understand the contradictions this process of appropriation of seeds and its role in the current food regime. In addition, we reflect on its impacts and alternatives, envisioning an agroecological horizon.