Access and benefit sharing : a review of the discussions for the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

Abstract

Since the origin of agriculture, farmers have exchanged seeds and developed new and improved varieties of plant genetic resources, but by the 1970’s it became evident that diversity of plant genetic resources were decreasing. The International Undertaking was adopted in 1983 in order to improve conservation of plant genetic resources and improve conditions for access to important food crops now protected by patents. The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture was adopted in 2001 and entered into force in 2004. The Treaty was a legally binding result of the work to harmonize the Undertaking with the Convention on Biological Diversity. The Multilateral System for Access and Benefit Sharing is an essential part of the Treaty, and important for improving access and conservation of plant genetic resources. Opportunities for benefit sharing exist but a full implementation has yet to materialize. I wanted to find out if this was because other elements of the Treaty had been prioritized in the discussions and implementation of the Treaty. For this thesis I have analyzed meeting reports and documents from the discussions for the Treaty as well as interviewing participants in the process. I wanted to see if I could find anything to suggest that benefit sharing, and especially non-monetary benefit sharing, had been neglected in favor of other issues such as accessibility. After analyzing the relevant documents I have not found any clear evidence that benefit sharing has been ignored. To the contrary, I feel that benefit sharing, along with accessibility, has been extensively discussed throughout the process. However, improvements have to be made in order to successfully implement benefit sharing activities in practice.