The latest session of the Interim Committee for the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGR) has ended without any breakthrough in negotiations, according to the Earth Negotiations Bulletin.

Four months after the entry into force of the ITPGR, the Treaty’s Interim Committee made little headway in working through a heavy agenda when it met from 15-19 November, in Rome. The Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (CGRFA) is acting as the Interim Committee.
The heavy workload at what was only the Committee’s second ever session was partly a reflection of the amount of work necessary to prepare for the first meeting of the ITPGR’s Governing Body. It was also due to the fact that an intersessional working group established during the Committee’s first session to address the Governing Body’s rules of procedure, financial rules, and compliance issues did not meet due to a lack of funds.
A particular problem faced by the Committee at its second session related to the organization of work. To the frustration of many developed countries, developing countries required a considerable amount of time for regional consultations and G-77 coordination, and opposed any negotiation in parallel or small groups. Negotiations were difficult and slow, and the meeting managed to produce only heavily bracketed text on the rules of procedure and the financial rules for the Governing Body. However, compromise text was agreed on the terms of reference for an intersessional contact group on the standard Material Transfer Agreement (MTA), allowing for work on the MTA, the main concern of most developed countries, to continue. Agreement was also reached on the establishment of another intersessional working group to deal with the rules of procedure and financial rules for the Governing Body, compliance and the funding strategy, the latter being a priority item for developing countries. In that regard, the meeting laid down the foundations to prepare for the first session of the Governing Body. However, much depends on intersessional work and the extra-budgetary resources needed to ensure successful completion of that work. The Earth Negotiations Bulletin report.