International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture was
adopted by the Thirty-First Session of the Conference of the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations on 3 November 2001.

The Treaty aims at:

 recognizing the enormous contribution of farmers to the diversity of crops that feed the
world;
 establishing a global system to provide farmers, plant breeders and scientists with access to
plant genetic materials;
 ensuring that recipients share benefits they derive from the use of these genetic materials with
the countries where they have been originated.

Main Provisions:

Multilateral system
The Treaty’s truly innovative solution to access and benefit sharing, the Multilateral System,
puts 64 of our most important crops – crops that together account for 80 percent of the food
we derive from plants – into an easily accessible global pool of genetic resources that is
freely available to potential users in the Treaty’s ratifying nations for some uses.

Access and benefit sharing

The Treaty facilitates access to the genetic materials of the 64 crops in the Multilateral
System for research, breeding and training for food and agriculture. Those who access the
materials must be from the Treaty’s ratifying nations and they must agree to use the materials
totally for research, breeding and training for food and agriculture. The Treaty prevents the
recipients of genetic resources from claiming intellectual property rights over those resources
in the form in which they received them, and ensures that access to genetic resources already
protected by international property rights is consistent with international and national laws.
Those who access genetic materials through the Multilateral System agree to share any
benefits from their use through four benefit-sharing mechanisms established by the Treaty.

Farmers’ rights
The Treaty recognizes the enormous contribution farmers have made to the ongoing
development of the world’s wealth of plant genetic resources. It calls for protecting the
traditional knowledge of these farmers, increasing their participation in national decision-
making processes and ensuring that they share in the benefits from the use of these resources

Sustainable use
Most of the world’s food comes from four main crops – rice, wheat, maize and potatoes.
However, local crops, not among the main four, are a major food source for hundreds of
millions of people and have potential to provide nutrition to countless others. The Treaty
helps maximize the use and breeding of all crops and promotes development and
maintenance of diverse farming systems.
History: Evolution of the Treaty

The conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture are
key to ensuring that the world will produce enough food to feed its growing population in the
future. In 1983, the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture was
established, and the voluntary International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources was
adopted.
Another major step was taken in 1996 with the adoption of the Global Plan of Action at the
Leipzig International Technical Conference on Plant Genetic Resources. All this work
culminated in 2001 with the historic adoption of the legally binding International Treaty on
Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. The Treaty entered into force on 29 June
2004.
The Governing Body is the highest organ of the Treaty as established in Article 19.
Composed of representatives of all Contracting Parties, its basic function is to promote the
full implementation of the Treaty, including the provision of policy guidance on the
implementation of the Treaty.
The Governing Body holds regular sessions at least once every two years. The decisions are
taken by consensus unless it is decided (by consensus) to employ another method to arrive at
decisions on certain measures. Consensus is always required for amendments of the Treaty
and its annexes. The Governing Body adopted its Rules of procedures at its first session in
Madrid.

Objectives

The Governing Body oversees the following objectives:

(a) provide policy direction and guidance to monitor and adopt such recommendations as
necessary for the implementation of the Treaty and, in particular, for the operation of the
Multilateral System;
(b) adopt plans and programmes for the implementation of the Treaty;
(c) adopt, at its first session, and periodically review the funding strategy for the
implementation of the Treaty, in accordance with the provisions of Article 18;
(d) adopt the budget of the Treaty;
(e) consider and establish, subject to the availability of necessary funds, such subsidiary
bodies as may be necessary, and their respective mandates and composition;
(f) establish, as needed, an appropriate mechanism, such as a Trust Account, for receiving
and utilizing financial resources that will accrue to it for purposes of implementing the
Treaty;
(g) establish and maintain cooperation with other relevant international organizations and
treaty bodies, including in particular the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on
Biological Diversity, on matters covered by the Treaty, including their participation in the
funding strategy;
(h) consider and adopt, as required, amendments to the Treaty, in accordance with the
provisions of Article 23;
(i) consider and adopt, as required, amendments to annexes to the Treaty, in accordance with
the provisions of Article 24;
(j) consider modalities of a strategy to encourage voluntary contributions, in particular, with
reference to Articles 13 and 18;
(k) perform such other functions as may be necessary for the fulfilment of the objectives of
the Treaty;
(l) take note of relevant decisions of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on
Biological Diversity and other relevant international organizations and treaty bodies;
(m) inform, as appropriate, the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological
Diversity and other relevant international organizations and treaty bodies of matters regarding
the implementation of the Treaty; and
(n) approve the terms of agreements with the International Agriculture Research Centers and
other international institutions under Article 15, and review and amend the Material Transfer
Agreement in Article 15.
Each Contracting Party has one vote and may be represented at the sessions of the Governing
Body by a single delegate, who may be accompanied by an alternate, experts and advisers. It
is necessary to have a quorum which is constituted by the majority of delegates.
Multi-Year Programme of Work of the International Treaty
In 2015, the Governing Body welcomed the proposal contained in the documentation as the
basis for the further development of a Multi-Year Programme of Work of the International
Treaty (MYPOW). Furthermore, by Resolution 13/2015 it requested the Secretary to develop,
with inputs from Contracting Parties, a MYPOW for the 2018-2025 period for its
consideration at its Seventh Session.
In April 2016, by notification GB7-06 the Secretariat invited Contracting Parties to provide
inputs and afterwards it further developed the draft MYPOW to include expected outputs,
activities, outcomes, milestones and estimated costs.
Following the guidance provided by the Bureau of the Seventh Session at its second meeting,
the Secretariat circulated the draft through notification GB7-22 inviting Contracting Parties to
provide further comments and inputs before 10 June 2017 to pgrfa-treaty@fao.org
Download the full draft MYPOW 2018-2025 (24 February 2017).
Overview of the MYPOW

8th Session 9th Session 10th Session 11th Session

(2018-19) (2020-21) (2022-23) (2024-25)

THEMES: Increasing Supporting Biodiversity

agricultural farmers and climate
 productivity by change
integrating adaptation
PGRFA along the
product
development chain

Cluster 1: -PGRFA access, - The role of - Incentives to - Contribution

PGRFA policy benefit sharing and farmers as reduce loss of of PGRFA to
and governance global food security custodians and and promote agriculture,
issues within developers of sustainable environment
the global PGRFA utilization of and commerce
development -Landscape of PGRFA in an
agenda national policy era of climate
and plans on change
conservation of
PGRFA

Cluster 2: - Pre-breeding and - Breeding

Scientific, base-broadening to strategies to meet
technical and reduce crop the needs of
technological vulnerability and vulnerable
matters genetic erosion farmers
- Advances in - Management of
characterization, crop wild
evaluation and relatives
documentation

Cluster 3: - Review of the - Review of the - Review of - Review of

Progress and procedures and Global Multilateral the procedures
review of the mechanisms on Information System and
main compliance System - Review of the mechanisms
components of - Review of the - Review of Funding on compliance
the Treaty Programme of implementation Strategy
Work on of Farmers'
Sustainable Use Rights
Themes

The themes presented in this section highlight some of the International Treaty's key areas of
work.
1. BENEFIT SHARING FUND
2. GLOBAL INFORMATION SYSTEM
3. SUSTAINABLE USE
4. FARMERS’ RIGHTS
5. MULTILATERAL SYSTEM
6. COMPLIANCE