As promised, here’s a pdf of the IISD report on the fifth session of the Governing Body of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, which convened from 24-28 September 2013 in Muscat, Oman. And there’s also my storification.
The report echoes the view of Shakeel Bhatti, Secretary of the ITPGRFA, expressed in his closing statement, that the main achievement of the meeting was to agree a system to look into enhancing the working of the Multilater System for Access and Benefit Sharing.
Bhatti says meeting has enhanced functioning of MLS of @planttreaty, historical compromise #itgb5
— AgroBioDiverse (@AgroBioDiverse) September 28, 2013
Here’s the money quote:
Hailed as a major success by all involved in the Treaty processes, the launch of this new intersessional working group provides the opportunity for the Treaty and the agricultural sector as a whole to reposition themselves in the global framework of genetic resource governance with a view to more effectively contributing to global agricultural development and food security. The outcome of this new process will determine whether the Treaty will live up to the challenges and flourish, or whether it will wither away.
LATER: And that global framework just got a bit more complex.
More than a bit more complex. I have just been reading the WIPO “Consolidated Document Relating to Intellectual Property and Genetic Resources” of February 8, 2013. This is not going anywhere fast.