5 October 2015: The sixth session of the Governing Body (GB 6) of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) is convening from 5-9 October 2015, to discuss, among other issues, a proposal for a package of measures that would enhance the functioning of its Multilateral System on Access and Benefit-sharing (MLS) for Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGRFA), as well as the Global Information System for PGRFA, farmers’ rights, and the sustainable use of PGRFA.

Other items to be addressed during the week include the Funding Strategy, compliance, matters related to cooperation with other international instruments and organizations and administrative and budgetary items.

At the opening session, FAO Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva, via video message, underlined the importance of enhancing the MLS and including digital information to face future challenges in agriculture and food security. Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, Executive Secretary, Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), via video message, stressed the relationship between the Treaty and the CBD Nagoya Protocol and the need to implement both agreements in a mutually supportive manner.

The opening of the GB 6 at the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) in Rome, Italy, drew approximately 450 participants from more than 130 countries. It was preceded by two special events on Saturday, 3 October, on the enhancement of the MLS and farmers’ rights. The event on farmers’ rights addressed shortfalls, successful examples and options to increase support for implementation at the national level.

The special event on the MLS updated delegates on the progress of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group to Enhance the Functioning of the MLS of Access and Benefit-sharing (ABS), which resulted in a proposal for a package of measures, including a subscription system that would facilitate operations of the MLS, make it more attractive to its users and increase user-based contributions. Pending items include: whether or not such a subscription system should replace or complement existing payment schemes, whether it should include a termination clause, and whether a subscription should provide access to all materials in the MLS or specific crops only. [ITPGRFA Press Release][IISD RS Coverage of GB 6]