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Published by the International Institute for Sustainable Development
(IISD)
Vol. 9 No. 364
Monday, 12 June 2006
FIRST SESSION OF THE GOVERNING BODY OF
THE INTERNATIONAL TREATY ON PLANT GENETIC RESOURCES FOR FOOD AND
AGRICULTURE:
12-16
JUNE 2006
The first session of the Governing Body of the International
Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (the Treaty or
ITPGR) convenes from 12-16 June 2006 in Madrid, Spain. The session
will address a number of issues that the Governing Body is required to
consider at its first meeting, such as the: rules of procedure and
financial rules of the Governing Body; funding strategy for the Treaty
implementation; budget and work programme for 2006/2007; and procedures
and operational mechanisms to promote compliance and address issues of
non-compliance. The Governing Body is further expected to adopt the
standard Material Transfer Agreement (MTA), which is the instrument for
implementing the Multilateral System (MS) of access and benefit-sharing at
the core of the Treaty. According to the ITPGR, the Governing Body should
determine at its first meeting the level, form and manner of payment, in
line with commercial practice.
In addition, the
agenda includes: arrangements for the appointment of the Secretary;
establishment of a permanent technical advisory committee; implementation
of Article 6 (sustainable use of plant genetic resources); approval of
agreements between the Governing Body and the International Agriculture
Research Centers (IARCs) of the Consultative Group on International
Agricultural Research (CGIAR) and other relevant international
institutions; the relationship between the Governing Body and the Global
Crop Diversity Trust; and the relationship between the Governing Body and
the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
(CGRFA).
A
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE ITPGR
Concluded in the
framework of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the ITPGR is
a legally binding instrument that targets the conservation and sustainable
use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) and
equitable benefit-sharing, in harmony with the Convention on Biological
Diversity (CBD), for sustainable agriculture and food security. The Treaty
establishes a MS for facilitated access to a specified list of PGRFA,
balanced by benefit-sharing in the areas of information exchange,
technology transfer, capacity building and commercial development. The
list of crops in Annex I defines the Treaty’s scope and includes 35 crop
genera and 29 forage species. The Treaty entered into force on 29 June
2004, ninety days after the deposit of its 40th instrument of
ratification. One hundred and two countries and the European Community
have now ratified the Treaty.
The Treaty’s
negotiations were based on the revision of the non-binding International
Undertaking on PGRFA (IU). The IU was originally based on the principle
that PGRFA should be “preserved … and freely available for use” as part of
the common heritage of mankind. This principle was subsequently subjected
to “the sovereignty of States over their plant genetic resources,”
according to FAO Resolution 3/91. In April 1993, the CGRFA decided that
the IU should be revised to be in harmony with the CBD.
Negotiations
spanned seven years. From 1994 to 1998, the CGRFA met in five
extraordinary and two regular sessions to develop the structure of, and
refine, a draft negotiating text. From 1999-2001, a contact group chaired
by Amb. Fernando Gerbasi (Venezuela) held six sessions to address
contentious issues, including the list of crops to be included in the MS,
benefit-sharing, intellectual property rights (IPRs) to materials in the
MS, financial resources, genetic materials held by the IARCs, and
definition of key terms. CGRFA’s sixth extraordinary session (Rome,
June-July 2001) attempted to conclude negotiations, but delegates did not
reach agreement on the definitions of “PGRFA” and “genetic material,” the
application of IPRs to materials in the MS, the IU’s relationship with
other international agreements, or the list of crops to be included in the
MS. The session adopted the text and transmitted outstanding issues to the
FAO Council.
The 121st FAO
Council and an Open-ended Working Group held under its auspices (Rome,
October-November 2001) resolved outstanding issues, and on 3 November
2001, the 31st FAO Conference adopted the ITPGR by a vote of 116 in favor,
zero against and two abstentions. As part of the interim arrangements,
CGRFA, acting as the ITPGR Interim Committee, was convened to: prepare
draft rules of procedure and draft financial rules for the ITPGR Governing
Body, and a budget proposal; propose procedures for compliance; prepare
draft agreements to be signed by the IARCs and the Governing Body; draft a
standard MTA for facilitated access, including terms for commercial
benefit-sharing; and initiate cooperative arrangements with the CBD
Conference of the Parties (COP).
FIRST MEETING OF THE ITPGR INTERIM
COMMITTEE: During the first meeting of the CGRFA acting as the ITPGR Interim
Committee (Rome, Italy, October 2002), delegates adopted the rules of
procedure for the Interim Committee and established an Open-ended Working
Group to propose draft rules of procedure and financial rules for the
Governing Body, and draft procedures for compliance. They also adopted the
terms of reference for an Expert Group to address the terms of the
standard MTA.
MTA EXPERT GROUP: The
expert group on the terms of the standard MTA (Brussels, Belgium, October
2004) discussed a series of issues forwarded by the first meeting of the
ITPGR Interim Committee, including: definition of terms; level, form and
manner of payment; and a potential exemption for developing country small
farmers. The group considered options on the terms of the standard MTA,
discussed its draft structure, and recommended that the Interim Committee
establish an intersessional contact group to draft the elements of the
standard MTA.
SECOND MEETING OF THE ITPGR INTERIM COMMITTEE:
At its second meeting
(Rome, Italy, November 2004), the ITPGR Interim Committee agreed to
establish an open-ended intersessional working group to address the rules
of procedure and financial rules for the Governing Body, the funding
strategy and procedures for compliance, since a previous intersessional
working group, established by the first session of the Interim Committee,
did not meet due to lack of funds. Delegates heard a report from the
Expert Group on the terms of the standard MTA and agreed on the terms of
reference for an intersessional contact group to draft the standard MTA
for the Governing Body’s consideration. They also heard a progress report
on intersessional activities, including the ITPGR entry into force, and a
report on cooperation with relevant international bodies.
INTERSESSIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
FIRST MEETING OF THE MTA CONTACT
GROUP: The first meeting of the Contact Group for the Drafting
of the Standard MTA (Hammamet, Tunisia, July 2005) resolved many
non-controversial issues and set out the basic structure of the agreement.
A number of controversial issues remained outstanding, such as: dispute
settlement, including whether arbitration would be binding or not; the
benefit-sharing mechanism and payment; and an African proposal to add a
legal person representing the Governing Body, as a third-party
beneficiary, as part of the MTA to monitor its execution.
OPEN-ENDED WORKING GROUP ON
RULES OF PROCEDURE, FINANCIAL RULES, COMPLIANCE AND FUNDING STRATEGY:
The Open-ended Working Group on the Rules of Procedure and the
Financial Rules of the Governing Body, Compliance, and the Funding
Strategy of ITPGR (Rome, Italy, December 2005) reviewed and revised the
draft rules of procedure, the draft financial rules, a draft resolution on
the funding strategy with the strategy in an annex and recommended their
consideration by the first meeting of the Governing Body. Among other
things, the Working Group requested information on how the Governing Body
might set priorities for the use of resources under the funding
strategies. In addition, the Working Group reviewed governments’
submissions on compliance and prepared a draft resolution on procedures
and operational mechanisms to promote compliance and address issues of
non-compliance, and submitted it for consideration by the first meeting of
the Governing Body.
CARTAGENA PROTOCOL COP/MOP-3: The third meeting of the CBD COP serving as the Meeting of the
Parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (Curitiba, Brazil, March
2006) adopted a compromise package on documentation requirements for
living modified organisms for food, feed and processing (LMO-FFPs),
requesting parties to take measures to ensure that documentation
accompanying LMO-FFPs in commercial production is in compliance with the
requirements of the country of import and clearly states: in cases where
the identity of the LMO is known through identity preservation systems,
that the shipment “contains” LMO-FFPs; and in cases where the identity of
the LMOs is not known, that the shipment “may contain” LMO-FFPs.
CBD COP-8: The eighth meeting of the CBD COP (Curitiba, Brazil, March
2006) decided, inter alia, that regarding the international
regime on access and benefit-sharing under negotiation, the Working Group
on Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS) complete its work at the earliest
possible time before COP-10 in 2010, on the basis of the ABS-4 outcome
document, which is considered as reflecting the range of parties’ views at
ABS-4, as well as other inputs. The COP further requested the
collaboration and contribution of the Working Group on Article 8(j)
(traditional knowledge) to the mandate of the ABS Working Group, by
providing views on the elaboration and negotiation of an international ABS
regime relevant to traditional knowledge and, where practicable, to make
arrangements to have one meeting of the ABS Working Group convened
immediately following the Article 8(j) Working Group. On the development
of sui generis systems for the protection of traditional knowledge,
the COP urged parties and governments to develop, or recognize, national
and local sui generis models for the protection of traditional
knowledge with the full and effective participation of indigenous and
local communities. On agricultural biodiversity, the COP adopted a
decision containing a framework for the initiative on biodiversity for
food and nutrition, and a framework for action for the soil biodiversity
initiative. Finally, COP-8 decided to reaffirm a COP-5 ban on field
testing of genetic use restriction technologies and rejected case-by-case
risk assessments.
SECOND MEETING OF THE MTA
CONTACT GROUP: The second meeting of the Contact Group for the Drafting of the
Standard Material Transfer Agreement (Alnarp, Sweden, April 2006), tasked
with finalizing the draft to be considered and adopted by the first
session of the Treaty’s Governing Body, agreed on a draft standard MTA to
be used for exchange of material covered by the MS established by the
Treaty, with a number of issues remaining unresolved. While delegates
recognized the third party beneficiary, an institution representing the
Governing Body and the MS, questions regarding the third party
beneficiaries’ rights remained unresolved. Other text also remains
bracketed on: the definitions of “product” and “sales,” and the formula
for benefit-sharing; obligations of the recipient in the case of
subsequent transfers of material; dispute settlement; and applicable law.
Contact group Chair Eng Siang Lim (Malaysia) established an intersessional
Friends of the Chair group, to attempt to resolve pending issues prior to
the first meeting of the Treaty Governing
Body.
This issue of the Earth
Negotiations Bulletin © <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> is written and
edited by Radoslav Dimitrov, Ph.D., Reem Hajjar, Harry Jonas, Stefan
Jungcurt, and Elisa Morgera. The Digital Editor is Anders Gonçalves
da Silva. The Editor is Pamela S. Chasek, Ph.D. <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> and the Director of
IISD Reporting Services is Langston James "Kimo" Goree VI <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. The Sustaining
Donors of the Bulletin are the Government of the United
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and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs), the
Government of Canada (through CIDA), the Swiss Agency for
Environment, Forests and Landscape (SAEFL), the United Kingdom
(through the Department for International Development - DFID), the
Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Government of Germany
(through the German Federal Ministry of Environment - BMU, and the
German Federal Ministry of Development Cooperation - BMZ), the
Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the European Commission
(DG-ENV) and the Italian Ministry for the Environment and Territory
General Directorate for Nature Protection. General Support for the
Bulletin
during 2006 is provided by the United Nations Environment Programme
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