December 2012: Authored by Gurdial Singh Nijar, this study examines a number of issues related to Malaysia’s implementation of the Multilateral System (MLS) of access and benefit-sharing (ABS) created by the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGR).

The paper establishes a process for ascertaining which of Malaysia’s plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) are under government management and control, including a survey of the major institutions in the country holding collections of crops and forages and examining whether they function as an extension of a government department. It is argued that PGRFA held by those organizations and listed in Annex I of the Treaty are automatically included in the MLS. The paper then examines existing laws to ascertain whether they include provisions for implementing the MLS and offers draft text for possible amendments. Finally, the study examines a national law on ABS made pursuant to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and recommends that it exclude PGRFA in the MLS from its ambit, thereby creating legal and policy space for implementing the MLS. [Publication: Malaysia’s Implementation of the Multilateral System of Access and Benefit-Sharing]