Sprouting Up: IU INCHES TOWARDS THE FINISH LINE
Sprouting Up, Seedling June 2001
The recent meeting in Spoleto (Italy) on the International Undertaking (IU) on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture was generally seen as a 'now-or-never' session for the tortured agreement (see Seedling, March 2001, p2). At stake is the world's access to the biodiversity in the food that feeds us. The Spoleto negotiations, held in the last week of April, were in many ways similar to many of the previous sessions. After the first three days of totally blocked negotiations, the Chair insisted that negotiators either recognise failure and go home, or get serious and move on. In the end, the deadlock was broken and progress was made.
On several points, agreements in principle were reached between Europe and the developing countries bloc, which left other industrialised countries (the US, Canada and Australia) more isolated. These included agreements on language about how to deal with two key issues: intellectual property rights (IPRs) and the fate of material held by the institutes of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research. On the last day, however - in a clear move to undermine any progress - the US reinstated an old proposal that would render the entire IU useless. It consists of letting each country decide which germplasm of each crop to include in the multilateral system, based on the argument that governments cannot control what private companies collect, store and exchange.
NGOs have had increased presence at the negotiations of late. But the essence of their demands - no IPRs on plant genetic resources for food and agriculture and stronger Farmers' Rights - have not really been dealt with. Their demand for a comprehensive list of crops to be included in the IU has only partially been met. In Spoleto, the number of crops to be included in the multilateral system increased from five to 30. But many of the so-called 'minor crops' - and many fruit and vegetable crops - are not on the list despite being crucial for local food security.
Several years ago on a very weak version of Farmers' Rights was agreed by delegates. This provision must be strengthened in the IU, or an accompanying resolution must be agreed that commits countries to deal with this issue on a higher level, perhaps at the UN High Commission on Human Rights. The current compromise text that prevents countries from claiming IPRs on the genetic resources "in the form received" from the multilateral system does put some limitation on the patenting of crop germplasm, but is a far cry from NGO demands. A stronger limitation on IPRs in exchange for a longer and more inclusive list of crops to be covered, could well be the basic trade-off in the final negotiations.
The most important news from Spoleto is that the IU survived another hurdle - and is now headed towards a final make-or-break session of the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture on June 24-30. The other good news is that now there seems to be greater consensus between Europe and most of the developing countries, which could form enough of a basis for the adoption of a new IU. However, opposition to any meaningful and comprehensive agreement for crop germplasm has also stepped up. The US can be expected to use any channels available to block it. It is important that as many NGOs as possible actively engage in the process, by lobbying their governments and participating in Rome.
Source: UK Agicultural Biodiversity Coalition. Detailed coverage of the Spoleto session can be found at : www.iisd.ca/linkages/biodiv/iucg6. RAFI has prepared a report on Spoleto: www.rafi.org. Further information can be found at UK ABC's website: www.ukabc.org/iu2.htm
Reference for this article: GRAIN, 2001, IU inches towards the finish line, Seedling, Sprouting Up, Volume 18, Issue 2, June 2001, GRAIN Publications
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