Regime Change

Abstract

The movement of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture has become a matter of practical concern and intense political controversy in recent years, with both denials of access and accusations of ‘biopiracy’ becoming commonplace. Two international laws now establish the international norms for access and benefit-sharing for these resources: the Convention on Biological Diversity and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. The former, which grants authority to the ‘country of origin’, has encouraged bilateral and typically very restrictive approaches to access. Practically and legally, its applicability to agriculture is limited, although it has exerted tremendous ideological influence within negotiations on plant genetic resources at FAO, as well as in the broader scientific community. In contrast to the Convention, the new International Treaty establishes multilateral norms that should make exchange of genetic resources more routine. The structure and operating rules of this new, Treaty-established multilateral system for access and benefit-sharing are described and analysed.