b'STRENGTHENING THE MULTILATERAL SYSTEM THE SEED SECTOR CALLS FOR CLARITY, FLEXIBILITY, AND TRUST.BY: MARCEL BRUINSA s governments prepare to meet forA COMPREHENSIVE SCOPE IS the Governing Body 11 (GB11) ofESSENTIALthe International Treaty on PlantBoth ISF and CropLife International (CLI) Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculturestress the importance of expanding the scope (Plant Treaty), the seed sector is making aof Annex 1 to cover a broad range of plant clear call: an enhanced Multilateral Systemgenetic resources for food and agriculture (MLS) needs to be practical, flexible, and(PGRFA), along with the associated infor-fair. mation.For more than a decade, companiesWe want aA truly enhanced MLS should be have been active partners in the process toas comprehensive as possible, explains improve the MLS. Their message today issystem that worksDominic Muyldermans, legal counsel at focused on three priorities: broadening theCLI. That means it needs to include access scope of the system, ensuring predictable for countries,to all PGRFA relevant to the Plant Treaty and fair payment mechanisms, and creat- and the genetic and biochemical informa-ing a more coherent and practicable simplerfor breeders,tion related to these PGRFA. Breeders rely framework for Access and Benefit Sharingon both physical material and related data. (ABS), with no double payments or overlap- and ultimately forThese two cannot be separated.ping obligations with other ABS systems. The current system has limits that We want a system that worksforfarmers. make it less attractive to some companies. countries, for breeders, and ultimately forExpanding the scope would make it easier farmers, says Jasmina Muminovic, head Jasmina Muminovic for more actors to subscribe, use the system, of genetic resources at Bayer Crop Scienceand contribute to the Benefit-Sharing Fund.and chair of the Coordination Group onIf the scope is narrow, participation Genetic Resources of the Internationalwill be narrow, says Lorelei Garagancea, Seed Federation (ISF). The Treaty is aintellectual property & legal affairs man-cornerstone of access to genetic resources.ager at ISF. Expanding Annex 1 creates But to unlock its full potential, it needs tomore opportunities for innovation and for reflect how breeding actually happens onbenefit-sharing.the ground.10ISEED WORLD EUROPEISEEDWORLD.COM/EUROPE | NOVEMBER 2025'