If you don't know what you're signing...why sign?

"In the law of their land..." Sad thing is, with trade agreements you don't know who's law takes precedence. Even our own laws could get thrown out based on those agreements.

tj

"If you don't know what you're signing...why sign?"

Yeah, you have a point; I wasn't talking to one of the lawyers or the translators so quite possible something that was "lost in translation" by the time it got to me. But I heard it from the lead scientist so the overall story is very much true. Big picture is a lot of work has been tossed because of well...political factors. Which is slightly different than saying because of politics, but related of course.

That sucks

Sucks. I also have a strong suspicion which foreign government it is.

A rather large nation of thousands of islands perhaps? I've heard of similar agreements, although without this unfortunate result.

The whole concept of ownership of genes is a confusing one, and this is but one of numerous areas. Especially in recombinant genetic engineering, the whole thing is murk. The big players-the Monsantos and Syngentas always of course hold an upper hand. But I digress.

Maybe they understand how effective litigation/lawyers can tie things up or even suck money out of people in the US? Easy to notice just reading the headlines. Imagine that -- taking advantage of it....

Can we ask if this country is NOT in Europe, North America, or South America?

hairmetal - I have a vague memory that maybe I sent you an email about this over a year ago. But maybe not - if I did, consider it have had a non-disclosure clause! Thanks for not revealing if that was the case. Anyhow, like I said no clues! But if I knew nothing about this case...if I had not been the OP of this thread...I would say that is certainly a safe inference!

I'm just so annoyed because I heard about this breeding program "through the grapevine" maybe 5 years ago now. So to have found out it has all gone down the drain over greed and nationalistic hubris...ugh!

There has been news in some trade magazines about the island nation of Indonesia striking some genetic material development deals with some industry players. Obviously, my memory of who/what is vague at this point.

I am flabberghasted. As far as I knew, planthunters and nursery people still did that thing of collecting seed - certainly Dan Hinckley and the Bleddwyn-Jones at Crug farm do, and then grow on seeds to eventually sell to the public. But my knowledge of plant breeding in specific, or even the nursery trade in general is about zero. With the unseemly behaviour over patenting the human genome, monetising DNA...in fact the entire pharmaceutical industry - given the amount of phyto-derived medicines still extant, I dunno why I am so astounded though.

Agree with Viper - sucky.

"Apparently you signed to some fine
print when this all begin...I seriously wonder if it was in English or
not!"

I understand the frustration in this situation, but contracts are binding- that's why we use them. To sign one without an attorney's review is absurd for a layperson, much less a "non-profit/academic institution."

They should have known better.