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Governments still unable to close loopholes in the International Treaty and protect farmers’ rights

farmers' rights

October 1, 2024

Photo by IISD/ENB | Mika Schroder

From 16 to 19 September, the IPC Working Group on Agrobiodiversity took part in the 12th meeting of the Open-Ended Working Group to enhance the functioning of the Multilateral System of the ITPGRFA (OEWG-MLS).

Guy Kastler and Tanmay Joshy (La Via Campesina) engaged in the negotiations on behalf of the IPC, in a new attempt to push the Contracting Parties to uphold Farmers’ Rights and apply Treaty provisions against restrictions to access and use of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGRFA) by peasants and Indigenous Peoples.

The Working Group’s task is to discuss and agree on how to implement specific parts of the International Treaty related to the Multilateral System of Access and Benefit Sharing. This implementation goes hand in hand with a tentative reform of the whole system, given the current provisions have not delivered satisfactory results over the last 20 years.

Read the report of the session