FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - November 5, 2001

For more information contact:

Kristin Dawkins

(w) 612-870-3410, (h) 651-774-1864. kdawkins@iatp.org

On Saturday, November 3, the world's newest international treaty was adopted in Rome by the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) by a vote of 116-0 with two abstentions - the United States and Japan. The "International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture" establishes a multilateral system providing access to seeds and germplasm for much of the world's food supply, as well as fair and equitable sharing of the benefits. It also includes a provision on farmers' rights to save, use, exchange and sell farm-saved seed.

Upon the conclusion of the negotiations, U.S. negotiators indicated the U.S. Senate was unlikely to ratify the new treaty, which will enter into force 90 days after 40 nations approve it under their domestic legal

systems.

"This treaty represents a major step forward for farmers around the world by improving their access to seeds," said Kristin Dawkins, Vice President of Global Programs at the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. "It is also a blow to the biotech industry, which may no longer patent the raw material of food crops in countries that sign on to the treaty."

The most contentious provision states that farmers, researchers and others using the system "shall not claim any intellectual property or other rights that limit the facilitated access to the plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, or their genetic parts or components, in the form received from the Multilateral System." Shortly before finalizing the new treaty, a U.S. proposal to delete this provision altogether lost by a vote of 97-10.

The U.S. delegation supported deleting this clause despite a letter dated November 1 from Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle urging Barbara Tobias of the State Department "to do all that you and the U.S. delegation can to oppose any provision that limits farmers' rights" to the use of agricultural seed." Senator Daschle's letter concludes, "In sum, I believe, like many of my colleagues in the Congress, that agricultural research and resulting products of processes funded by and conducted in the public domain should remain in the public domain."

Another hotly debated paragraph relates the new treaty to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and its "TRIPs" agreement on "Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights." Under international law, the terms of newer treaties normally trump those of older ones unless the new one specifically states otherwise. In this case, the preamble to the new genetic resources treaty says "nothing in this Treaty shall be interpreted as implying in any way a change in the rights and obligations of the Contracting Parties under other international agreements" and it "is not intended to create a hierarchy between this Treaty and other international agreements." Because this clause is in the preamble, however, some lawyers may argue it is not legally binding.

Ultimately, conflicts over attempts to patent seeds or genes received through the multilateral system may end up in the dispute settlement system of either the WTO or the genetic resources treaty or both. Under the new treaty, disputes that cannot be settled through negotiation, mediation or arbitration may be referred to the International Court of Justice.

Jacques Diouf, Director General of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) responsible for the negotiations, was ebullient at the achievement of the genetic resources treaty. Founded in 1945, the FAO 's mandate is to raise levels of nutrition and standards of living, to improve agricultural productivity, and to better the condition of rural populations. Of the 10,000 species that have been used for human food and agriculture, just 12 provide over 70 percent of food, while four -- rice, maize, wheat and potatoes -- make up over 50 per cent of the food supply.

"Obviously," said Jose Esquinas-Alcazar, the FAO's secretary for these negotiations, "we are not taking full advantage of the available resources. In spite of their vital importance for human survival, genetic resources

are being lost at an alarming rate due to the lack of incentives to continue developing and conserving them."

"Despite these shortcomings," the statement continues, "only an international convention of this type can begin to address the deterioration in the flow of genetic resources." They urged speedy ratification, so the new Governing Body for the treaty can go to work on the next steps including implementation of Farmers' Rights, interpretation of the access and intellectual property rights clauses, and clarification of the integrity and autonomy of the treaty in relation with other agreements. The NGOs praised the Venezuelan chairman of the negotiations Fernando Gerbasi and FAO staff for steering the talks through twenty years of contention and recognized "most importantly, the unsung heroes of all genetic resource conservation and sustainable use – the farmers."

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