b'UNLOCKING THE FULL POTENTIAL OF THE MLSTOWARDS A MORE INCLUSIVE AND EFFECTIVE TREATY.BY: MARCEL BRUINS, SEED WORLD EUROPE EDITORIAL DIRECTORF or more than two decades, the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) has provided a global framework to support the exchange of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) and ensure that benefits derived from their use are shared fairly. At the heart of the Treaty is the Multilateral System (MLS), which gives breed-ers, researchers and other users access to PGRFA under agreed conditions.While the Treaty has achieved a great deal, the landscape of plant breeding, data use and global food security has changed sig-nificantly. Digital sequence information (DSI), rapid advances in breeding technologies and increasingly diverse company profiles have made it clear that the MLS needs to evolve if it wants to remain relevant and effective.The seed sector has supported the Treaty since its inception. But if we want to truly maximize the use of the MLS and the benefits it can bring, the system must be made more inclusive and workable for the wide range of users who rely on it, says Ludovic Pris, regulatory affairs officer at LIMAGRAIN, who serves as chair of Euroseeds Committee on Plant Genetic Resources and as vice-chair of ISF Coordination Group on Genetic Resources.Euroseeds has set out a series of recommendations to make that evolution possible. These proposals centre on three key ele-ments: offering multiple payment options to make the MLS acces-sible for different types of companies, ensuring coherence with theLudovic Pris is the regulatory affairs officer at LIMAGRAIN, and chair of Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) on DSI, and expandingEuroseeds Committee on Plant Genetic Resources and vice-chair of ISF the scope of Annex I to cover all PGRFA. Coordination Group on Genetic Resources.4ISEED WORLD EUROPEISEEDWORLD.COM/EUROPE | NOVEMBER 2025'