Highlights and images for 17 June 2019

Negotiations
International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture – ITPGRFA
9th Meeting of the Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group to Enhance the Functioning of the Multilateral System of Access and Benefit-sharing (OWG-EFMLS-9) of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

Summary

Highlights for Monday, 17 June 2019

Hans Hoogeveen, Working Group Co-Chair, with Kent Nnadozie, ITPGRFA Secretary

On Monday, the Ad Hoc Open-ended Working Group to Enhance the Functioning of the Multilateral System (MLS) of access and benefit-sharing (ABS) of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) addressed organizational matters, heard reports, and exchanged views on a package of measures to attain the enhanced MLS, proposed by Co-Chairs Javad Mozafari (Iran) and Hans Hoogeveen (the Netherlands). In the afternoon, participants initiated negotiations on the draft revised Standard Material Transfer Agreement (SMTA).In the morning, the Working Group discussed:

a report on the outcomes of the eleventh meeting of the Ad Hoc Advisory Committee on the Funding Strategy and Resource Mobilization, including targets of the Funding Strategy and the Benefit-sharing Fund; and

a report on sales within the global seed sector, including companies' profile, and an analysis of sales and profitability by company and crop type.

In the afternoon, the Working Group addressed a proposal by the Co-Chairs, containing a package of measures to simultaneously adopt the revised SMTA and the amendment of Annex 1 of the Treaty (list of crops in the MLS) through a resolution providing for:

entry into force of the revised SMTA in January 2020;

application of the subscription system to current Annex 1 until entry into force of its amendment following ratification by two-thirds of the parties;

application of the subscription system to the amended Annex 1 after entry into force of the amendment; and

an inbuilt review for the enhancement of the MLS, including a Governing Body decision on next steps if there are not enough ratifications by January 2025.

A revised Co-Chairs' proposal will be presented on Tuesday.The Working Group then initiated negotiations on the Co-Chairs' proposed draft revised SMTA (IT/OWG-EFMLS-9/19/4 Add.1), starting from Annex 3 on terms and conditions of the subscription system.

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

Photos by IISD/ENB | Mike Muzurakis

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