Source: International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI)

The Governing Body of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture meets for the first time this week (12–16 June) in Madrid to agree the details of how the Treaty will work. Why should anyone be interested in what sounds on the surface like an extremely technical piece of international law? Because the effective working of the Treaty is absolutely crucial to the future of agriculture. Without it, farmers and scientists will be handicapped in their efforts to adapt food production to altered circumstances, such as outbreaks of pests and diseases and changes in climate and growing conditions.

The Treaty is the first international instrument to deal specifically with the needs of agriculture. It covers the incredible richness of diversity hidden within the genes of the thousands of different varieties of crops that feed humanity. This genetic diversity, which is responsible for the characteristics that enable one variety of rice to grow in 5 metres of water while another thrives in relative drought, is a precious resource for the future of agriculture. Farmers and breeders use existing genetic resources to create new varieties that meet new challenges. The Treaty will make it easier for them to share those resources.

The heart of the Treaty is the multilateral system of access and benefit sharing. By signing up to the Treaty, countries gain access to the genetic resources of all other signatories, a much more straightforward and efficient system than bilateral agreements, especially when one considers that a new variety may count hundreds of varieties from scores of countries in its pedigree. Initially the multilateral system applies to 35 crops and some 80 forages that between them cover practically all the crops on which humanity depends for its food supply. There is, however, nothing to stop parties from designating any other material as covered by the provisions of the Treaty, so effectively it applies to all agricultural plants.

The terms and conditions set by the Treaty on the use of any particular resource are expressed in a standard Material Transfer Agreement, which is a fixed text that cannot be altered by the recipient should they choose to pass the material on. The point of the multilateral system is to ease access not only to the plant genetic resources themselves, but also to information about those resources, and to share fairly and equitably and benefits that may arise from the use of those resources.

For financial benefits, the ‘owners’ of a commercialized product that incorporates material obtained through the multilateral system will pay a royalty into a specially designated fund. The payment is mandatory if the ‘owner’ has claimed intellectual property rights on the product such that it is not available for further research and breeding. It is voluntary when the product can be freely used for breeding and research. Members of the Governing Body will be discussing such details as the level of royalties, the organization and governance of the fund and disbursements from it. Whatever they agree, the Treaty clearly foresees that the financial benefit will flow primarily to developing countries where it will support projects to conserve and use crop diversity.

Cash, however, is perhaps the least significant of the benefits that will flow from the Treaty, which also envisages information exchange, access to technology and transfer of technology. A global information system, for example, as called for in Article 19 of the Treaty, will make it possible for farmers and scientists to narrow down their searches and find the plant genetic resources most likely to meet their needs from all collections around the world. Likewise, Articles 5 and 6 promote the conservation and characterization and the sustainable use of plant genetic resources. Article 5 will result in more plant genetic resources being conserved, with more documentation available, which in turn makes them more useful. Article 6 requires contracting parties to put in place appropriate policies to ensure the sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, which again will be a great benefit if it helps to ensure that diversity is not lost.

The greatest benefit of the Treaty, however, is exchange itself. From the very first domestication of a wild species – possibly the fig more than 12,000 years ago – agriculture has always depended on the exchange of genetic resources. Farmers created much of the diversity on which we now depend by selecting plants that were performing particularly well under their particular circumstances. More recently, plant breeders have used that diversity to develop everything from better-tasting apples to disease-resistant wheats. The challenges to farmers and agriculture do not stand still. New pests and diseases and changed growing conditions can only be addressed if farmers and scientists have access to as wide a range of genetic resources as possible. By guaranteeing that access, the Treaty guarantees the future of agriculture.