Summary
Delegates to the eighth session of the Governing Body (GB 8) of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA or Treaty) met in a brief morning plenary to discuss organization of work. GB 8 Chair Christine Dawson (US) informed plenary that discussions held on Wednesday evening in the closed group on enhancing the Multilateral System (MLS) of access and benefit-sharing were very positive, and outlined the day’s schedule as agreed in the Bureau. Kathryn Youel Page (US), Co-Chair of the closed group on enhancing the MLS, expressed her appreciation to the group’s members for a constructive first meeting, noting that a Co-Chairs’ text will be produced during the day. The closed group on enhancing the MLS continued its deliberations in the afternoon. The group held another meeting in the evening, expanded to include all parties but no observers. Reportedly, the group is considering both a compromise solution as part of the revised Standard Material Transfer Agreement regarding benefit-sharing from digital sequence information (DSI), and a process forward for further consideration. The contact group on farmers’ rights, co-chaired by Svanhild-Isabelle Batta Torheim (Norway) and Rakesh Chandra Agrawal (India), met in the morning to resume review of the draft resolution. Discussions focused on the terms of reference for the Ad Hoc Technical Expert Group (AHTEG), including in particular its composition, outcome, and compatibility of work with other existing international instruments. Delegates debated in particular:
- whether the AHTEG should be invited to develop voluntary guidelines, in addition to options on national implementation of farmers’ rights; and
- whether to increase the representation of farmers’ organizations in the AHTEG.
Discussions continued in the evening.A contact group on conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resource for food and agriculture met in the afternoon. The budget committee, and informal groups on the Global Information System and the Funding Strategy also met throughout the day.For more details on the day’s negotiations and to hear what delegates said in the corridors, see our daily Earth Negotiations Bulletin.
IISD Reporting Services, through its Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) meeting coverage, is providing daily web coverage and daily reports from the 8th Session of the Governing Body. In addition, IISD Reporting Services published a summary and analysis report from the meeting, which is now available in HTML and PDF.
Photos by IISD/ENB | Mike Muzurakis
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Delegates conferring between sessions
