Seed exchanges are necessary for sustainable agriculture and global food security. The Multilateral System (MLS) of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) offers the largest global exchange mechanism for plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA). It aims at continuing crop exchanges sustainably, fairly, and equitably.

The MLS provides farmers, plant breeders, and scientists with access to plant genetic resources that are considered vital for food security (Annex I of the Treaty). It also aims to ensure that recipients share the benefits they derive from the use of these genetic resources. However, the limited generation and sharing of monetary benefits resulted in initiating negotiations aimed at enhancing the functioning of the MLS. The Working Group was thus established in 2013.

Negotiations focused on revising the Standard Material Transfer Agreement (SMTA) used for PGRFA exchanges and benefit-sharing, and on amending the list of crops in Annex I of the Treaty. At its ninth meeting in 2019, the Working Group reached a tentative compromise to amend Annex I to include all PGRFA under the management and control of parties and in the public domain, in ex situ conditions, while allowing for reasoned national exemptions for a limited number of native species. Negotiations on the draft revised SMTA, however, were not concluded. The payment rates and benefit-sharing from the use of digital sequence information/genetic sequence data (DSI/GSD—a placeholder term referring to the digitized information content of PGRFA) were the main outstanding issues.

The eighth session of the Treaty’s Governing Body in November 2019 terminated the six-years of deliberations, when delegates could not reach agreement on the package of measures to enhance the functioning of the MLS nor to continue negotiations in the Working Group.

At its ninth session in 2022, the Governing Body decided to relaunch the process and appointed Sunil Archak (India) and Michael Ryan (Australia) as Working Group Co-Chairs.  At its tenth session in July 2023, the Governing Body endorsed the suggestion of the Working Group to work on the basis of the “June 2019 draft package,” which includes a draft revised SMTA, draft amendment of Annex I, and draft resolution on implementing the enhancement of the MLS. It also requested the Co-Chairs to give early attention to the three identified “hotspots”: DSI/GSD; expansion of Annex I; and payment structure and rates. Negotiations continued at the 11th, 12th, and 13th meetings of the Working Group, with exchange of views on the three identified “hotspots.”

The 14th meeting was informed by a report from the Standing Group of Legal Experts and a scenario note on payment rates and thresholds, among other documents.

The Working Group is composed of spokespersons from the regions of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN, including Africa, Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, Near East, North America, and South West Pacific, as well as from civil society, the seed industry, farmers’ organizations, and research and academia, including the CGIAR Consortium.

The Working Group’s 14th meeting convened from 7-11 July 2025, in Lima, Peru.

The Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) writers for this meeting were Elsa Tsioumani, Ph.D.; Jennifer Bansard; and Mike Muzurakis. The Digital Editor was Ángeles Estrada. The Editor was Pam Chasek, Ph.D.