IISD Reporting Services, through its Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) meeting coverage, has provided daily web coverage and a summary and analysis report from the Resumed OWG-EFMLS-9. The summary and analysis report is now available in HTML and PDF.

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+ Visit the web coverage for Saturday, 26 October 2019

Catherine Karr-Colque, North America

Mariem Omrani, Europe

Axel Diederichsen, North America

Lynda Hayden, Southwest Pacific

Edward Hammond, Civil Society, and Michael Halewood, CGIAR Consortium

Kent Nnadozie, ITPGRFA Secretary, conferring with delegates from Africa

Highlights for Friday, 25 October 2019

On Friday, the Working Group addressed elements of the draft resolution to be forwarded to the Governing Body. In the afternoon, Co-Chair Hans Hoogeveen (the Netherlands) presented the Co-Chairs’ compromise proposal on a package of elements, including: benefit-sharing payment rates under the single access and subscription systems; a provision on information or genetic sequence data; and a provision on the implementation and review of the enhanced Multilateral System (MLS).

In the morning, participants discussed the section of the draft resolution referring to elements of the revised Standard Material Agreement (SMTA), with focus on:

• the rights of farmers and indigenous communities related to material in the MLS;
• the relationship between intellectual property rights and farmers’ rights;
• the importance of the MLS in enabling access to plant genetic resources to a wide range of recipients;
• exemptions from benefit-sharing payments, including for public institutions in developing countries;
• linkages among provisions on exemptions from payments in the draft resolution and the threshold for payments under discussion in the SMTA; and
• alternative provisions on fund allocation under the Benefit-sharing Fund.

Afternoon discussions addressed elements of the draft resolution on the amendment of Annex I of the Treaty (list of crops in the MLS). Participants debated a draft provision allowing parties to declare a limited number of species native to their territory that they will not make available to the MLS.

The Co-Chairs’ compromise proposal included:

• benefit-sharing payment rates under the single access and subscription systems, including: 2% of the sales of the commercialized product, minus 30%, for products that are not available without restriction to others for further research and breeding, under the single access system; 0.2% of the sales of the commercialized product, minus 30%, for products that are available without restriction under the single access system; and 0.015% under the subscription system;
• clauses specifying, under both systems, that the benefit-sharing payment obligations reflect the value of information, including genetic sequence data, directly derived from or directly associated with the MLS material in question; and
• a clause stating that the review of implementation in 2025 will include the status of ratifications of the amended Annex I, the level of user-based and other income, the number of subscribers, and the availability of MLS material.

Co-Chair Hoogeveen invited participants to engage in informal consultations and consultation with capitals, in preparation for the final day of negotiations on Saturday.

Akio Yamamoto, Asia

Mariem Omrani, Europe

Kim van Seeters, Europe, with Yoshiko Motoyama, Asia

Delegates from the African region conferring

Thin Lei Win, Thomson Reuters Foundation, and José Valls, Latin America and the Caribbean

Delegates from Latin America and the Caribbean conferring during a break in negotations

Highlights for Thursday, 24 October 2019

Following regional consultations held on Wednesday, 23 October, Co-Chairs Hans Hoogeveen (the Netherlands) and Javad Mozafari (Iran) resumed the ninth meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group to Enhance the Functioning of the Multilateral System (MLS) of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) on Thursday, 24 October. Drawing attention to the constructive negotiations and several advances achieved in the first part of the meeting, Co-Chairs Hoogeveen and Mozafari urged participants to conclude negotiations and forward clean text to the Governing Body, to convene in November 2019.

The Working Group then initiated negotiations on the draft revised Standard Material Transfer Agreement (SMTA), with focus on outstanding provisions, on the basis of the draft resulting from the first part of the meeting, included in the Working Group’s interim report (IT/OWG-EFMLS-9/19/Interim Report).

The Working Group first addressed the definitions of “sales” and “commercialization,” and provisions on the rights and obligations of the recipient regarding plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) under development.

Lengthy negotiations ensued on the benefit-sharing payment rates under the single access and the subscription systems, and their linkages with the targets set for the Benefit-sharing Fund. Co-Chair Hoogeveen presented the Co-Chairs’ compromise proposals regarding:

• under single access, a rate of 0.2% of the sales of the commercialized product, minus 30%, for products that are available without restriction to others for further research and breeding;
• under single access, a rate of 2% of the sales of the commercialized product, minus 30%, for products that are not available without restriction; and
• under subscription, 0.015% in case a single payment rate is retained, and with the payment basis still under negotiation.

Under single access, alternative proposals were submitted by GRULAC, who proposed a rate of 0.3% for products that are available without restriction, and Canada, who suggested 0.1%. Under subscription, Africa and the Near East proposed a rate of 0.1%, and Canada 0.011%. Following discussion, most participants agreed to the Co-Chairs’ compromise proposals and deliberations will continue.

Afternoon deliberations on PGRFA information, also known as digital sequence information (DSI) or genetic sequence data, focused on identifying Treaty provisions allowing to address the issue while remaining within the Treaty’s scope. The Working Group discussed whether the Treaty text discourages or could accommodate benefit-sharing from use of DSI, including Treaty provisions on genetic parts or components, monetary benefit-sharing, and information exchange. It was noted that the issue includes two main components: the possibility of appropriation of research on genetic information derived from MLS material; and the question of monetary benefit-sharing from sales of PGRFA resulting from MLS material when the research and development process involves genetic sequences.

The Working Group further addressed a section of the draft resolution on potential elements for the implementation and review of the enhanced MLS, addressing a review, in 2025, of the status of ratifications to the amended Annex I, the level of user-based income accruing to the Benefit-sharing Fund, and availability of and access to MLS material. Africa proposed that the review take place five years after subscription by 30% of users.

A night session addressed provisions on withdrawal from and termination of the subscription. Negotiations will continue on Friday, on the basis of a new Co-Chairs’ proposal addressing, as a package, payment rates under the subscription and single access systems, and DSI.

Kim van Seeters, Europe

Michael Halewood, CGIAR Consortium of International Agricultural Research Centers (CGIAR Consortium)

Anke Van Den Hurk, International Seed Federation (ISF)

Akio Yamamoto, Asia

From L-R: Kent Nnadozie, ITPGRFA Secretary; Massimo Di Fausto, FAO; and Daniele Manzella, ITPGRFA Secretariat

François Meienberg and Edward Hammond, Civil Society

Sunil Archak, Asia, with Nestor Altoveros, Asia

Anke Van Den Hurk, ISF, and Yukio Yokoi, Asia