The Earth’s plant genetic resources are a common inheritance of all humankind, which should be held in shared trust for a common future. A key component of the global genetic commons is agricultural biodiversity. Our food and livelihood security depend on the sustained management of these diverse biological resources that are important for food and agriculture. Whilst agricultural biodiversity originates in specific farming communities, it has been shared widely and is considered by many to be part of the much-threatened global commons.

This book is about the creation, management and use of the global crop commons. It focuses primarily on the legal and administrative construct that provides the basis of the global crop commons, that is, the multilateral system of access and benefit-sharing created by the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. This is particularly significant because it transcends the traditional dichotomy between privatization and total governmental control. It came into effect in 2006 and the book describes its origins and implementation since then, showing how many international organizations and some developing countries are moving quickly with implementation, while other countries are moving slowly and some multinational corporations are expressing misgivings about the system overall. The authors further analyze current challenges and how they might be resolved.

Introduction

PART 1: Setting the scene: countries’ interdependence on plant genetic resources for food and agriculture and the imperative of multilateral approaches to access and benefit-sharing

1. The Evolving Global System of Sonservation and Use of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture: What is It, and Where Does the Treaty Fit It?

2. Demonstrating Interdependence on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

3. Flows of Crop Germplasm Into and Out of China

4. Crop and Forage Genetic Resources: International Interdependence in the Face of Climate Change

5. A Pre-Treaty Baseline Study: Declining Rates of Genebanks’ Acquisitions

PART 2: The history and design of the Treaty’s multilateral system of access and benefit-sharing

6. Brief History of the Negotiations of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

7. The Design and Mechanics of the Multilateral System of Access and Benefit-sharing

8. Protecting the Interests of the Multilateral System: the Third Party Beneficiary

9. Plant Genetic Resources “Under the Management and Control of the Contracting Parties and in the Public Domain”: How Rich is the Basket of the Multilateral System?

10. Efforts to Get the Multilateral System Up and Running: A Review of Activities Coordinated by the Treaty Secretariat

PART 3: Now that we have built the multilateral system, how do we make it work?

11. Experiences of Countries in the Implementation of the Multilateral System. Achievements and Challenges

12. Collective Action Challenges in the Implementation of the Multilateral System. What Roles for the CGIAR Centres?

13. International and Regional Cooperation in the Implementation of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

PART 4: Critical reflections

14. The Multilateral System of Access and Benefit-sharing: Could it Have Been Constructed Another Way?

15. The Emergence of Annex 1: The List of Crops Covered Under the Multilateral System. Reflections on Possible Future Expansions or Contractions

16. Creating a Global Crop Information Commons

17. From Negotiations to Implementation: Global Review of Achievements, Bottlenecks and Opportunities for the Treaty in General, and the Multilateral System in Particular

18. Institutionalizing Global Genetic-resource Commons: Towards Alternative Models for Facilitating Access in the Global Biodiversity Regime