International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
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Transcript of International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
International Treaty on
Plant Genetic
Resources for Food and Agriculture
International Treaty on
Plant Genetic
Resources for Food and Agriculture
Membership
25
69
37 Members of UPOV onlyMembers of
both the Treaty and UPOV
Members of the Treaty Only
Commission on Genetic Resources
1983 International Undertaking
1989-91 Agreed interpretations
Farmers’ Rights
UPOV
1994 Legal framework for CG collections
1996 State of the World’s PGRFA
1996 Global Plan of Action
1992: CBD
Reaffirms national sovereignty over GR
Access through
Prior informed consent
On mutually agreed terms
Need to revise the Undertaking
Negotiations begin in 1994
Special nature of PGRFAPharmaceutical ‘bioprospecting’ is not like plant breeding:
It works with chemicals, not genes
The product is synthesized and patented
Plant breeding
combines and recombines genomes
uses materials from the whole world
The PGRFA portfolio
Results from 10,000 years of exchange
Is crucial for food security
Exchange is the basis of the Breeder’s exemption
Countries average 70% interdependence
Under the CBD
Sovereignty, not ‘heritage of mankind’
Aims at an incentive for conservation
Onus on governments create systems where market forces create reinvestment
Has almost universally been implemented through private ‘assess and use’ contracts
But are such contracts a good model for agriculture?
They imply trade secrecy
Raw materials not available to others
Research results are kept secret
Grave implications for public research
This pushes innovation towards patents
They skew the research agenda
They result in high transaction costs
This result in a market failure
Collection and exchange has declined
Challenge for the TreatyHow to construct an internationally agreed framework for the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, and the fair and equitable sharing of the benefits, within this increasing privatization, and in the context of a continuing loss of biological diversity
The Treaty is more than just access and benefit-sharing
Objectives: conservation and sustainable use, fair and equitable benefit-sharing, for sustainable agriculture and food security
Scope: all PGRFA
Recognises farmers’ rights
Funding Strategy for developing countries
The Multilateral System64 crops, chosen for food security and interdependence
They provide 80% of our plant food
Material brought in by:
Governments
Private institutions and companies
The CGIAR and other international institutions
Benefit-sharing a contractual obligation
Only at end of development cycle, when a product (seed) is commercialised, that incorporates material from the Multilateral system
Benefits return to the Multilateral System, not a provider
No other proprietary rights
The Multilateral System
Neutral as to intellectual property rights
Mandatory payment of 1.1% of sales (-30%), when product is not freely available for research and breeding
Voluntary payment when it is
All non-confidential research information shall be made available
Alternative payment: access to a whole crop for 0.5% of all sales of that crop
The Multilateral System
Administering a public good under private contract?
Two challenges and innovative solutions:
How to ensure uniformity across jurisdictions
Binding international arbitration
How to vindicate the Treaty’s rights
Contractual recognition of a ‘third party beneficial interest’ and appointment of the ‘third party beneficiary’
BenefitsAccess itself
Low transaction costs
Overcomes market failure
Provides public and private breeders with a wide range of resources
Contributes to food security
provides the industry with a clear framework in which to plan investment
To make the system workGovernments must ensure the SMTA works, across legal systems
The seed industry, and UPOV, needs to support it. No alternative can be as favourable
The Funding Strategy must mobilise benefits for developing countries
Part of the Treaty’s Funding Strategy
An endowment of $260 million the long-term conservation of key ex situ collections
A public-private partnership
An investment in humanity’s future
Thank you