Where are we with the whole enhancing the functioning of the Plant Treaty’s Multilateral System thing? I’m glad you asked. You’ll remember that…
[h]istorically, parties have been divided between creating a subscription-only system of payment upon registration, and maintaining a single-access option along the lines of the benefit-sharing payments under the current SMTA.
Well, at a meeting of the relevant committee last week in Rome there was a proposal from the co-chairs for a…
…single subscription mechanism with two alternative triggers for mandatory monetary benefit-sharing: an early payment upon registration or a deferred payment upon commercialization of a product incorporating material from the MLS.
Much remains to be done, but this is being seen as a bit of a “procedural breakthrough.” Fingers crossed.