The Working Group tasked with enhancing the functioning of the Multilateral System (MLS) of access and benefit-sharing (ABS) under the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) focused on the payment structure for facilitated access to crops considered vital for food security. Discussions also touched upon payment rates and benefit-sharing from digital sequence information (DSI) / genetic sequence data (GSD).
The Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) summary report of the meeting highlights that the ITPGRFA “facilitates exchanges of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) and the sharing of the monetary benefits arising from them.” “This,” it notes, “is key not only to conserve agricultural biodiversity and foster agricultural research for the benefit of all, but also to ensure equity and justice.”
ENB analysis summarizes the history of the Working Group (WG). It was first established in 2013. Following “a temporary breakdown in the negotiations between 2019 and 2023,” mainly due to disagreements on payment rates and benefit-sharing from the use of DSI/GSD, negotiations resumed. Aiming to enhance the functioning of the Treaty’s MLS of ABS “through, on the one hand, expanding the list of crops available in the MLS, and, on the other, revising the Standard Material Transfer Agreement (SMTA) used for exchanges of MLS material,” they now focus on three “hotspots:”
- the payment structure and rates under the draft revised SMTA;
- benefit-sharing from DSI/GSD; and
- the expansion of Annex I (list of crops in the MLS).
“At its 13th meeting, the Working Group addressed a Co-Chairs’ proposal on the package of measures for enhancing the MLS, including a draft resolution, a draft revised SMTA with a series of appendices, and a draft text for an amendment of Annex I,” ENB reports. This proposal incorporates the input of an intersessional drafting group on the payment structure, which several participants expressed concerns with from the outset.
“While the group was tasked with fleshing out the idea of a subscription with two payment options, early payment upon registration and deferred payment upon commercialization, hailed as a breakthrough bridging proposal at WG 12, it actually reverted to delineating a dual system for access to material in the MLS, building on subscription and “single access” options, with six possible payment rates,” ENB writes.
Positions remained divided on whether access to the MLS should be upon subscription only – or based on a dual system allowing users to choose between a subscription and a single-access option. “With this understanding,” ENB reports, “the Working Group addressed provisions on the payment structure, outlined in the revised draft SMTA and the draft resolution, clarifying technical matters, identifying loopholes, and mandating intersessional work to address them.” Regions found it increasingly difficult to formulate common positions, with many delegates expressing country, rather than regional views.
A potential pathway towards consensus emanated from a compromise suggested by the Latin American and the Caribbean region (GRULAC), calling for “upfront payments under the single-access option, so that proponents of the subscription-only system may be more favorable towards a dual one.”
The meeting did not discuss payment rates in quantitative terms. “Most participants welcomed a blueprint for decision making put forward by the Southwest Pacific, which clarified the ladder according to which different rates should increase,” according to ENB.
An initial discussion on benefit-sharing from the use of DSI/GSD, confirmed this remains “possibly the most controversial issue.”
The Working Group will meet again in July 2025 to work out technical complexities and enable political compromises, before the Governing Body (GB) must take a decision in November 2025. Work to be completed before the Working Group reconvenes includes: a series of questions for the Standing Group of Legal Experts; a non-paper on exemptions from benefit-sharing payments under single access; a scenario note on rates and exemption thresholds; and regional consultations to consolidate positions and enable flexibility to compromise during the next meeting.
The 13th meeting of the Working Group was held from 1-4 April 2025 in Rome, Italy. It was preceded by regional consultations on 30 March and an informal meeting on 31 March. [ENB Coverage of 13th Meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group to Enhance the Functioning of the ITPGRFA Multilateral System]