The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, also known as the Plant Treaty, is a global agreement about seeds and planting materials used for food and farming. It aims to conserve and use these resources sustainably.
A key part of the treaty is the Multilateral System (MLS). This system is designed to make it easier for researchers and breeders to access seeds for developing new crops. It also aims to share benefits that come from using these seeds. However, the way the MLS currently works is causing concern for farmers.
Farmers are often the custodians of diverse seeds. They save, use, exchange, and sell seeds from their own harvests. The Plant Treaty acknowledges these ‘farmers’ rights’. These include the right to save, use, exchange, and sell farm-saved seeds. Farmers should also have a say in national decisions about conservation and sustainable use. They have a right to share in the benefits from the use of their seeds and to protect their traditional knowledge about them.
Despite these rights being recognised, farmers’ contributions are often not acknowledged when their seeds are used in research. The benefits from this research also don’t always reach the farmers. Now, there are proposals to change the Plant Treaty. Many worry that these changes could make the situation worse for farmers, rather than better.
The MLS covers specific food crops and forages important for food security. Once a crop is listed in the treaty’s Annex I, countries holding seeds of these crops must share them. This is done using a standard agreement called the Standard Material Transfer Agreement (SMTA).
The SMTA is a contract that sets the rules for sharing seeds and benefits. However, it has been criticised for not doing enough to protect farmers’ rights. For example, it doesn’t require users of the seeds to acknowledge farmers’ contributions in their research or when applying for intellectual property rights (IPRs). It also doesn’t make it mandatory for users to involve farmers in research or development. Information about research outcomes is often not shared transparently.
Furthermore, there’s a lack of clear tracking for seeds shared through the MLS. This means that seeds originally from farmers’ fields can end up in international gene banks. From there, they can be shared with breeders and companies worldwide. Often, the original farmers are not informed, nor do they receive any benefits from the commercial use of their seeds.
This can lead to situations where companies develop new products from farmers’ seeds, secure patents, and then use these patents to limit farmers’ own rights to use their saved seeds. This is sometimes called ‘biopiracy’.
There are also concerns about the sharing of genetic information. When seeds are sequenced, the genetic data is often uploaded to public databases anonymously. This genetic sequence data (GSD/DSI) can be used by companies for various purposes, including developing new products. However, this anonymous sharing bypasses benefit-sharing mechanisms, meaning the countries and farmers who provided the original seeds do not benefit.
Proposed changes to the treaty aim to expand the number of crops covered by the MLS to ‘all plant genetic resources for food and agriculture’. Critics argue this expansion, without strengthening benefit-sharing and transparency measures, will further disadvantage farmers and sovereign nations. It risks allowing global corporations easier access to genetic resources without guaranteed fair compensation or acknowledgement of the original custodians.
Farmers and their organisations are calling for the proposals to be rejected. They want a new process that truly prioritises farmers’ rights. This includes getting farmers’ free, prior, and informed consent before their seeds are researched. It also means ensuring that benefits, both monetary and non-monetary, are shared equitably. Amendments to the SMTA are needed to improve transparency, accountability, and benefit sharing, especially concerning genetic sequence data and intellectual property.