Javad Mozafari and Bert Visser, Working Group Co-Chairs
The Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group to Enhance the Functioning of the Multilateral System of Access and Benefit-sharing (MLS) of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) is expected to:
- develop a proposal for a growth plan to attain the enhanced MLS;
- continue revising the standard Material Transfer Agreement (SMTA) on the basis of prior deliberations and proposals, including the Co-Chairs’ proposed consolidated text; and
- elaborate criteria and options for possible adaptation of the coverage of the MLS.
The Working Group was first established by the fifth session of the Treaty’s Governing Body (September 2013, Muscat, Oman), with the mandate to develop measures to increase user-based payments and contributions to the Treaty’s Benefit-sharing Fund, as a priority, as well as additional measures to enhance the functioning of the MLS. Since then, the Working Group has focused on the revision of the SMTA and elaboration of a subscription system for user-based payments to the MLS. The Working Group will hold two meetings during the intersessional period, following extension of its mandate by the seventh meeting of the ITPGRFA Governing Body (GB 7) (30 October - 3 November 2017, Kigali, Rwanda).