Reactions To Treaty On Plant Genetic Resources For Food And Agriculture

By Caitlin McGivern for Intellectual Property Watch

The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) has been the subject of various comments this week.

Professor Carlos Correa of the South Centre has written a legal opinion on the subject, entitled “Options to Promote the Wider Application of Article 6.11 of the SMTA and to Enhance Benefit-Sharing by the FAO-Treaty.” The document can be accessed here.

In addition, a number of nongovernmental organisations (NGOs) have grouped together and written an open letter to members of the Advisory Committee on the Funding Strategy of the Treaty and the Bureau of the Governing Body of the Treaty. The letter is signed by representatives of the Berne Declaration (a Swiss NGO focused on North-South relations), the ETC Group (which focuses on cultural and ecological diversity), Searice (which deals with the conservation, development and use of plant genetic resources) and the Development Fund (a Norwegian NGO which advocates sustainable management of natural resources). The document can be accessed here.

Caitlin McGivern is currently studying at the University of Law in London and will graduate with an LLM in 2014. She previously obtained a Bachelor’s of Arts in Philosophy and Theology from the University of Oxford. She is a summer intern at Intellectual Property Watch. She is of Swiss, Canadian and Irish nationalities.