The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture Kent Nnadozie

1
The International Treaty on Plant Genetic
Resources for Food and AgricultureKent
Nnadozie
http//www.planttreaty.org
http//www.planttreaty.org
2
The Treaty deals with plant genetic resources for
food and agriculture

• What is special about genetic resources for food
  and agriculture?
• How do they differ from other genetic resources?

3
The centres of diversity of some major plants
4
So what is special about agricultural genetic
resources?

• To feed the world, we all need these resources.
• Agricultural resources have been shared and
  exchanged over thousands of years. Mostly it is
  impossible to identify a single country of
  origin.
• Countries and regions are interdependent they
  all depend for their food and agriculture on
  crops that originated elsewhere.

5
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

6
The scope of the Treaty is all plant genetic
resources for food and agriculture
J. T. Esquinas
J.T.Esquinas
J. T. Esquinas
J. T. Esquinas
7
Article 5 Conservation, Exploration, Collection,
Characterization, Evaluation and Documentation

• Each Contracting party shall , in
  cooperation with other Contracting Parties ,
  promote an integrated approach to the
  exploration, conservation and sustainable use of
  plant genetic resources for food and agriculture

8
Article 6 Sustainable Use of Plant Genetic
Resources

• The Contracting parties shall develop and
  maintain appropriate policy and legal measures
  that promote the sustainable use of plant genetic
  resources for food and agriculture.

9
Article 9 Farmers Rights

• Recognition of the enormous contribution that
  farmers and their communities have made and
  continue to make to the conservation and
  development of plant genetic resources.
• Farmers Rights include the protection of
  traditional knowledge and the right to
  participate equitably in benefit-sharing and in
  national decision-making about plant genetic
  resources.
• National Governments are responsible for
  realizing these rights.

J.T. Esquinas
10
ABS Challenge for the Treaty

• How 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

11
The Multilateral System of Access and
Benefit-sharing

• The Treaty establishes a multilateral system,
  both to facilitate access to plant genetic
  resources for food and agriculture, and to share,
  in a fair and equitable way, the benefits arising
  from their use.
• It applies to a list of crops established
  according to criteria of food security and
  interdependence
• These provide about 80 of our food from plants

12
The Multilateral System pools these crucial
plant genetic resources

• They are available under a Standard Material
  Transfer Agreement (SMTA)
• There is no tracking of individual accessions
• Recipients must continue to make the materials
  received available
• Intellectual property or other rights that limit
  access to the plant genetic resources for food
  and agriculture, or their genetic parts and
  components, in the form received from the
  Multilateral System may not be claimed

13
Benefit-sharing

• Because these genetic resources are pooled, there
  is no individual owner with whom individual
  contracts for access and benefit-sharing must be
  negotiated
• This means there are very low transaction costs,
  to the benefit of farmers, plant breeders and
  researchers, and ultimately of consumers
• It also means that benefits must be shared in a
  pooled, multilateral way

14
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 Treatys rights
• Contractual recognition of a third party
  beneficial interest and appointment of the
  third party beneficiary

15
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

16
Benefits of the MLS

• MLS now a day-to-day operational system
• Access 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

17
Standard Material Transfer Agreement (SMTA)

• Contracting Parties beginning to apply it
• Toolkits planned for application of SMTA
• Establishment of information technology
  infrastructure
• SMTA being applied worldwide by CGIAR
• 89,000 transfers within 8 months
• increasing private sector interest involvement

18
Transfers of rice germplasm under SMTAs from
CGIAR Centers by type of genetic material and
IARC
19
Transfers of rice germplasm under SMTAs from IRRI
global IRRI transfers by Sector
Illustrative only
20
Transfers of rice germplasm under SMTAs from IRRI
by sector and country
Illustrative only
21
Transfers of rice germplasm under SMTAs from IRRI
by month of 2007
22
Recent Progress The Multilateral System

• An information infrastructure for the MLS
• Prototypes done
• Ordering Toolkit (OTK)
• PID server
• Data Warehouse
• Gene-IT software
• Expected online launch summer 2008

23
The Global Information System
Strategy
SINGER
Fast Internet
Web
Who has what?
Rice please
Illustrative only
24
The Global Information System
Strategy
Global accession level information system
Who has what?

• Central registry of cooperators
  (login/password)
• Central registry of requests
• Central germplasm distribution system

Web
Rice please
Global Chickpea registry
Global Rice registry
Web service
Web service
Web
Web

• NARS
• CG Centres
• International
• Genebanks
• Individuals
• etc

Web service
Web service
Web service
Web service
25
The Global Information System
Strategy
Global Registry
Web
I want to order!
We report!
26
FAO COMMISSION ON GENETIC RESOURCES FOR FOOD AND
AGRICULTURE

• 1OTH SESSION (2005)
• FAO and the Commission contribute to further work
  on ABS, in order to ensure that it move in a
  direction supportive of the special needs of the
  agricultural sector - all components of
  biological diversity of interest to food and
  agriculture
• 11TH SESSION (2006)
• FAO continue to focus on ABS for GRFA in an
  integrated and interdisciplinary manner, on all
  components of biodiversity for food and
  agriculture Multi-Year Programme of Work
• 12th SESSION (2009)
• will consider the development of policies and
  arrangements for ABS for genetic resources for
  food and agriculture as a priority in its MYPOW

27
Conclusions

• the Treaty provides a framework for international
  collaboration in PGRFA, in harmony with the CBD
• the Treaty raises the profile of PGRFA in the
  world, to better recognition of the importance of
  its sustainable utilization
• the only binding ABS system already fully
  operational today internationally
• provisions of the Treaty will impact upon daily
  operations of genebanks, plant breeders, seed
  producers and farmers
• Outstanding legal issues and practical challenges