Plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) help to increase and diversify food production and protect from pests and diseases. They also play a key role in adaptation to climate change and in evolving food production conditions. Given the nature and distinctive features of PGRFA—including their role in combating hunger and preserving agricultural biodiversity—the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) has established a Multilateral System (MLS) of access to these resources and the sharing of benefits from their use through a Standard Material Transfer Agreement (SMTA).

The MLS works as a global gene pool that standardizes and facilitates access to a list of crops considered vital for food security (Annex I of the Treaty), while institutionalizing benefit-sharing. However, a set of challenges have arisen with regard to the ability of the MLS to generate and share monetary benefits. The Working Group was established with a major task: enhancing the functioning of the MLS.  

The history of the process is long and complex. The Working Group negotiated for six years (2013-2019) on revising the SMTA used for exchanges of material in the MLS and on amending the list of crops in Annex I of the Treaty. At its ninth meeting in 2019, the Working Group reached a tentative compromise to amend Annex I to include all PGRFA under the management and control of parties and in the public domain, in ex situ conditions, while allowing for reasoned national exemptions regarding a limited number of native species. Negotiations on the draft revised SMTA, however, were not successful, with benefit-sharing from use of digital sequence information (DSI) and the rates for benefit-sharing payments as the main outstanding issues. Despite organization of an additional meeting, no consensus was reached.

The negotiations were terminated at the eighth session of the Treaty’s Governing Body in November 2019, where delegates failed to reach agreement on the package of measures to enhance the functioning of the MLS or to continue intersessional work. Benefit-sharing from the use of DSI on PGRFA was identified as the deal-breaker.

At its ninth meeting in 2022, the Governing Body decided to relaunch negotiations and appointed Sunil Archak (India) and Michael Ryan (Australia) as Working Group Co-Chairs. The Co-Chairs had informal virtual meetings with regions and stakeholder groups, and have submitted a proposal on the way forward.

The tenth meeting of the Working Group takes place in the context of important developments in relevant fora. In December 2022, the Conference of the Parties (COP) to the Convention on Biological Diversity adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, including goals and targets on benefit-sharing from the use of genetic resources and DSI. The COP also decided to set up a multilateral mechanism for benefit-sharing from the use of DSI. In June 2023, a new legally binding agreement on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (BBNJ) was adopted after 17 years of negotiations, and includes provisions on benefit-sharing, marine genetic resources, and DSI.

The Working Group will meet from 12-14 July 2023 at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO), in Rome, Italy. It is composed of regional spokespersons: up to five from Africa; up to five from Europe; up to five from Asia; up to five from Latin America and the Caribbean; up to three from Near East; up to two from North America; and up to two from South West Pacific. Civil society, the seed industry, farmers’ organizations, and research and academia, including the CGIAR Consortium, will be represented by two spokespersons each.

The Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) writers for this meeting are Elsa Tsioumani, Ph.D.; Jennifer Bansard; and Mika Schroder, Ph.D. The Digital Editor is Mike Muzurakis. The Editor is Pam Chasek, Ph.D.