Update on the enhancement of the Multilateral System of the ITPGRFA

The enhancement process

The Multilateral System (MLS) of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) is a global pool of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA), intended to facilitate access to PGRFA and to achieve fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from their utilisation. With a view to improve access to PGRFA as well as benefit-sharing from their use, a process to enhance the functioning of this MLS was started in 2013, and an Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group to Enhance the Functioning of the Multilateral System (OEWG/MLS) was established. However, after many years of intense negotiations and informal consultations, the process came to a standstill in 2019 because no agreement could be reached, particularly with regards to the possible inclusion of digital sequence information/genetic sequence data (DSI/GSD). In September 2022, the Governing Body of the ITPGRFA decided during its ninth meeting (GB 9) to restart the process, and the OEWG/MLS was revived. As a first step in the reopened enhancement process, a meeting of the OEWG/MLS was held in July 2023, primarily focusing on the process to be followed and intended for stocktaking of positions, without formal negotiations and decisions.

The Governing Body meeting in November 2023

During the tenth meeting of the Governing Body (GB 10) of the ITPGRFA, held in Rome from 20 to 24 November 2023, the Contracting Parties expressed their commitment to reopen formal negotiations on the enhancement of the functioning of the MLS. The aim is to adopt an enhanced Multilateral System at the eleventh meeting Governing Body (GB 11) in 2025. It was agreed that the reopened enhancement process would be based on a package of measures proposed in June 2019. The three main components of this package are a revised Standard Material Transfer Agreement (SMTA, the standard contract used for exchanges of material included in the MLS), expansion of ITPGRFA’s Annex I (the list of species and genera included in the MLS, currently including 35 food crops and 29 forages), and a Resolution to be agreed upon by the Governing Body. It was also agreed that the negotiations will primarily focus on three so-called ‘hotspots’: digital sequence information/genetic sequence data (DSI/GSD), expansion of Annex I, and structure and rates for monetary benefit-sharing.

The meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group to Enhance the Functioning of the Multilateral System (OEWG/MLS) in April 2024

The objective of this meeting was to discuss options to address the three hotspots in the enhancement process (DSI/GSD, expansion of Annex 1 of the MLS, and structure and rates for monetary benefit-sharing) and how to build on the package of measures that was proposed in 2019. There were no text negotiations. On DSI/GSD, the Working Group agreed to consider the possibility of developing a specialized approach under the ITPGRFA for DSI/GSD on PGRFA, while monitoring the relevant processes under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), to ensure mutual supportiveness. Any solution should not restrict facilitated access to PGRFA or open access to DSI/GSD on PGRFA, and should seek to exclude double payments by users. On the expansion of Annex I, the Working Group agreed to continue to work towards an expansion covering all PGRFA, under the condition that robust safeguards could be included in a manner that would address the concerns of all Contracting Parties, while further discussions would be needed to arrive at a clear understanding of the term “all PGRFA”. On structure and rates for monetary benefit sharing, the Working Group strongly supported the subscription option, which may have the advantages of simplicity, legal certainty, transparency, and predictability of monetary benefit-sharing. A range of views were expressed as to whether the single access option should be kept in the revised SMTA.

Next steps

In July, the Co-Chairs of the OEWG/MLS will make available their proposal for a package of measures to enhance the MLS, to be discussed in the next meeting of the OEWG/MLS in September 2024. After that, two further meetings of the OEWG/MLS will be held in the first and second half of 2025, to work further on the package. It is envisaged to finalize the enhancement of the MLS during the eleventh meeting of the Governing Body (GB 11) in November 2025. During the enhancement process, informal consultations will continue to be held to ensure alignment between the negotiations in the ITPGRFA and those in the CBD. As the Netherlands strongly supports inclusive and transparent processes, involving all relevant actors, stakeholders are encouraged to contribute to both the formal negotiation processes and the informal consultations.

For more information, and for sharing your views on the enhancement of the MLS, you may contact Ms Kim van Seeters (ABS Competent National Authority; k.vanseeters@minlnv.nl) or Mr Martin Brink (National Focal Point on ABS; martin.brink@wur.nl).