Highlights and images for 26 November 2025

As discussions on the enhancement of the Multilateral System (MLS) of access and benefit-sharing moved behind closed doors, issues related to digital sequence information / genetic sequence data (DSI/GSD) took center stage. A plenary discussion emphasized the importance of collaboration with the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and its multilateral benefit-sharing mechanism from DSI use. Delegates also stressed the need to bridge capacity gaps through cooperation and technology transfer, addressing digital infrastructure, data generation and use, and research capacities.

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While acknowledging that DSI/GSD is addressed in the context of negotiations on the enhancement of the MLS, many participants argued for its integration in the Treaty framework to guarantee fair and equitable benefit-sharing in the face of technological developments. An observer opined that excluding DSI/GSD from the revised standard material transfer agreement (SMTA) will condemn the Treaty to irrelevance and result in “reforming a system which does not exist anymore.”

A discussion on cooperation with other relevant international bodies and organizations addressed reports from institutions holding ex situ collections that have concluded agreements with the Governing Body, and from Norway on the operations of the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. Carlos Duarte, Chair-Rapporteur of the UN Working Group on Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas, drew attention to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and called for guaranteeing peasants’ seed rights. Many expressed appreciation for collaboration with the CGIAR and the Crop Trust, highlighting capacity support for technical and policy-related matters.

The contact group on the enhancement of the MLS met in the morning to discuss payment rates and how to reach agreement on a balanced package of measures. Disagreements between regions remained on whether to include language regarding DSI/GSD in the draft revised SMTA. GB 11 Chair Alwin Kopše (Switzerland), in collaboration with contact group Co-Chairs Michael Ryan (Australia) and Sunil Archak (India), initiated a series of bilateral meetings with regions to identify potential areas of compromise.

The contact group on farmers’ rights held a lengthy debate on the draft strategy on how the use of the “Options for encouraging, guiding, and promoting the realization of farmers’ rights” can be promoted and the accompanying resolution. Some participants expressed surprise at the opposition by few Parties to the proposal for an international day of observance for farmers’ rights. Others, however, noted that the discussions reveal principled differences on farmers’ role and rights, and the interlinkages between the Treaty and instruments on intellectual property rights, including plant variety protection.