Transcript The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for

Kent Nnadozie
http://www.planttreaty.org
http://www.planttreaty.org
The International
Treaty on
Plant Genetic
Resources for Food
and Agriculture
The Treaty deals with plant genetic
resources for food and agriculture
• How do they differ
from other genetic
resources?
http://www.planttreaty.org
• What is special about
genetic resources for
food and agriculture?
The centres of diversity of some major plants
http://www.planttreaty.org
• 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.
http://www.planttreaty.org
So what is special about agricultural
genetic resources?
•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
http://www.planttreaty.org
The Treaty is more than just access
and benefit-sharing
J. T. Esquinas
J.T.Esquinas
J. T. Esquinas
J. T. Esquinas
http://www.planttreaty.org
The scope of the Treaty is all plant genetic
resources for food and agriculture
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
http://www.planttreaty.org
Article 5: Conservation, Exploration,
Collection, Characterization, Evaluation
and Documentation
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.
http://www.planttreaty.org
Article 6: Sustainable Use of Plant Genetic
Resources
Article 9: Farmers’ Rights
http://www.planttreaty.org
• 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
• 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
http://www.planttreaty.org
ABS Challenge for the
Treaty
• 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
http://www.planttreaty.org
The Multilateral
System of Access and
Benefit-sharing
The Multilateral System “pools” these
crucial plant genetic resources
http://www.planttreaty.org
• 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
• 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
http://www.planttreaty.org
Benefit-sharing
•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’
http://www.planttreaty.org
Administering a public good under
private contract?
The Multilateral System
http://www.planttreaty.org
•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
Benefits of the MLS
•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
http://www.planttreaty.org
•MLS now a day-to-day operational system;
• 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
http://www.planttreaty.org
Standard Material Transfer Agreement
(SMTA)
Transfers of rice germplasm under SMTAs from CGIAR Centers
– by type of genetic material and IARC
35000
30000
25000
regular PGRFA
20000
Material Under
Development
Total transfers
15000
10000
5000
0
BIOVERSITY CIAT
CIMMYT
CIP
ICARDA ICRAF ICRISTAT
IITA
ILRI
IRRI
WARDA
http://www.planttreaty.org
40000
Transfers of rice germplasm under SMTAs from IRRI
– global IRRI transfers by Sector
52%
4%
12%
Public
Private
Individual
Academic
http://www.planttreaty.org
32%
Transfers of rice germplasm under SMTAs from IRRI
– by sector and country
Public
Private
40
http://www.planttreaty.org
45
Academic
Individual
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Australia
China
India
USA
Phillipines
Transfers of rice germplasm under SMTAs from IRRI
– by month of 2007
http://www.planttreaty.org
70
60
50
40
Number of transfers
30
20
10
D
ec
ct
O
A
ug
e
Ju
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A
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il
Fe
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de
c
06
0
• An information infrastructure for the MLS:
• Prototypes done:
•
•
•
•
Ordering Toolkit (OTK)
PID server
Data Warehouse
Gene-IT software
• Expected online launch summer 2008
http://www.planttreaty.org
Recent Progress –
The Multilateral System
The Global Information System
Strategy
Who has what?
Fast Internet
Web
Rice please…
On-line web service
replication
e.g. for SMTA
purposes
Rice Registry
WARDA
IRRI
Web
Web
http://www.planttreaty.org
SINGER
The Global Information System
Global accession level information system
-Central registry of cooperators
(login/password)
- Central registry of requests
- Central germplasm distribution system…
Web
Rice please…
Global Rice
registry
Global Chickpea
registry
Web
service
Web
-NARS
-CG Centres
- International
Genebanks…
- Individuals
- etc…
Web
service
Web
Web
service
Web
service
Web
service
Web
service
http://www.planttreaty.org
Who has
what?
Strategy
The Global Information System
Strategy
I want to order!
GB
Web
We report!
CIAT 123
CIAT 127
CIAT 167
CIAT 199
CGIAR
PI 1234
PI 76548
PI 23490
PI 34561
USDA
BA 1256
BA 3456
Brazil
X
http://www.planttreaty.org
Global Registry
• 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
http://www.planttreaty.org
FAO COMMISSION ON GENETIC
RESOURCES FOR FOOD AND AGRICULTURE
• 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
http://www.planttreaty.org
Conclusions