Conclusion

Already in 2011, stakeholders had pointed at the risk that the lack of appropri­ate and quick decisions and actions to speed up the implementation process

Seeds and people 163 might lead to a ‘decreased level of confidence in the general framework set up by the Treaty’ (Frison et al., 2011b: 257).

The further analysis of these constraints, as well as the guidance of Treaty stakeholders - some of which had named the MLS a ‘global crop commons’ - have led to the recognition of a link between these identified limitations and the concepts and principles deriving from the theory of the commons: stakeholder participation in governing collectively a common resource; rights of access to, use and management of a common resource; sustainability; equitable use of the resources and benefits deriving from their collective management; the impor­tance of boundaries and of the community; etc. Therefore, Chapter 6 will explore the application of the commons theory to the PGRFA field. The aim is to provide recommendations on what could be done to mitigate the identified constraints and allow stakeholders to reach the Treaty’s objectives and how it could be done, using the theory of the commons as guidance.

Notes

1 In the present work, actors and stakeholders are used interchangeably.

2 Authors had a great liberty in the content of their chapter. Identical very general guidelines were provided to all, without further requirements to keep their voice as autonomous, free and objective as possible.

3 The food processing industry was also approached to provide input, but the editors did not receive a positive response from the several persons approached.

4 The book can be downloaded freely at www.bioversityinternational.org/e-library/ publications/detail/plant-genetic-resources-and-food-security/

5 Though the ‘Earth Negotiation Bulletin’ does retrace the day by day development of the negotiation for each GB meeting, and often refers to positions of X or Y However, it is not an official and public verbatim tracking. See http://enb.iisd.org/enb/

6 As of June 2011, 173 countries and the European Union are Members of the Com­mission. Membership is open to all FAO Members and Associate Members, upon request.

7 The EU group has a specific position as it is the only regional group which is also a party to the Treaty.

8 This group was founded on 15 June 1964 by the ‘Joint Declaration of the Seventy-Seven Countries’ issued at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNC­TAD). It integrates 131 developing countries. In the G-77 there are countries from the following regions: Latin America and Caribbean, Africa, Asia, Near East and Pacific.

9 The OECD was created in 1960 with 31 developed countries. Country members of OECD are from North America, Europe, Latin America and Asia and the Pacific.

This group of countries is active within the CBD forum. The initial member countries of the Like-Minded Group of Mega-diverse Countries were Brazil, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Mexico, Peru, South Africa and Venezuela. Since then, Bolivia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Madagascar, Malaysia and the Philippines have also joined.

Founding Resolution of the Consultative Group for International Agricultural Research, Washington DC, May 1971, available at www.worldbank.org/html/cgiar/publications/ founding.html.

www.cgiar.org/

GPG project webpage of the CGIAR (accessed May 2015), which does not seem to be accessible anymore in July 2018, www.sgrp.cgiar.org/?q=node/158. See also its continu­ation project: the Genebank Knowledge Base, an initiative of the System-wide Genetic Resources Programme (SGRP) of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). It was developed as part of the World Bank funded project Collective Action for the Rehabilitation of Global Public Goods in the CGIAR Genetic Resources System, Phase 2 (GPG 2), available at https://cropgenebank.sgrp.cgiar.org/index.php/home- mainmenu-70/about-this-site (accessed August 2018).

These include inter alia the System Wide Programme on Property Rights and Collective Action (CAPRi), which is one of several intercenter initiatives of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) created to foster research and collabora­tion among the CGIAR and national agricultural research institutes on the institutional aspects of natural resource management. CAPRi contributes to policies and practices that reduce rural poverty by analysing and disseminating knowledge on the ways that collective action and property rights institutions influence the efficiency, equity and sustainability of natural resource use. More information at www.capri.cgiar.org.

Signed in October 1994, the in-trust agreement state that the CGIAR agree to hold designated germplasm in trust for the international community under the auspices of FAO, thereby making this material freely available for research and crop improvement purposes.

Bioversity International is based in Rome, Italy. It was formerly named the International Plant Genetic Resource Institute (IPGRI) up to 2004 and the International Board for Plant Genetic Resources (IBPGR) from its creation in 1974 up to 1992. www.bioversity international.org/

Establishment Agreement and Constitution of the GCDT. Available at www. croptrust. org/main/governance.php?itemid=5.

For more information, see Executive Board of the Global Crop Diversity Trust: Policy and Governance, www.croptrust.org/about-us/governance-policy/executive-board/. Global Crop Diversity Trust Pledges available at www.croptrust.org/.

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault was built as a last resort safety back-up repository, which is now freely available to the world community for the long-term storage of duplicate seed samples. More information at http://nordgen.org/sgsv/ and www.croptrust.org/main/ arcticseedvault.php?itemid=211.

See World Information and Early Warning System (WIEWS) on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, website at http://apps3.fao.org/wiews/wiews.jsp.

With Monsanto being the world leader in seeds and genetically engineered traits and Syngenta in insecticides, fungicides and herbicides, the merger would have created an agricultural behemoth with the largest market share in the world in both seeds and agricultural chemicals. Available at www.nytimes.com/2015/08/27/business/dealbook/ monsanto-abandons-47-billion-takeover-bid-for-syngenta.html?_r=2.

According to Plantum, the Dutch association for the plant reproduction material sec­tor, Dutch plant reproductive materials sector in 2014 consists of around 300 special­ized breeding and propagation companies. See its website available at www.plantum. nl/321519619/Basis-for-the-Green-Economy

For an extensive historical and socio-technological account of plant improvement mecha­nisms and innovation contexts, and an illustration of the impact of enclosure mechanisms on plant improvement stakeholders, see Batur (2014).

More information at www.worldseed.org/isf/home.html, International Seed Federation website - Representing the Seed Industry at a Global Level.

ESA sends strong signal of support to the ITPGRFA, www.euroseeds.eu/esa-sends- strong-signal-support-itpgrfa; www.euroseeds.eu/esa-hands-300000%E2%82%AC- voluntary-financial-contribution-fao-it.

IFAD is a specialized agency of the United Nations.

The movement was born in 1993 in Mons, Belgium, from a group of farmers’ representa­tives from the four continents. La Via Campesina comprises about 150 local and national organizations in 70 countries from Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas, representing altogether about 200 million farmers. It defines itself as an autonomous, pluralist and multicultural movement, independent from any political, economic or other type of affili­ation. More information at http://viacampesina.org/en/.

For an account on their strategy of using Human Rights to support their claim, see Claeys (2012, 2014b).

Batta-Bjornstad (2004: 30-31) argues that ‘[i]n formal plant breeding, the strategy is the opposite. The breeding-and seed industry cannot economically handle a great number of varieties. The breeders therefore have to opt for stability in order to produce varieties, which can be used by as many farmers as possible. The strive for stability is also based on the desire for plant variety protection, which requires stability as one of the conditions for receiving such protection. Thus, the informal system of crop development produces genetically diverse farmers’ varieties (traditional varieties), while the formal system con­tributes genetically homogeneous cultivars (high-yielding varieties)’.

The CBD Alliance is a loose network of activists and representatives from NGOs, community-based organizations, social movements and Indigenous Peoples organizations advocating for improved and informed participation in CBD processes. The Alliance is premised on the belief that global policy-making should be a transparent and democratic undertaking. It aims to increase the informed and effective participation of Southern NGOs, Indigenous Peoples, Community Based Organizations and social movements.

FAO Constitution Article 3.5 provides that the ‘Conference may invite any public inter­national organization which has responsibilities related to those of the Organization to appoint a representative who shall participate in its meetings on the conditions prescribed by the Conference. No such representative shall have the right to vote’. Available at www. fao.org/docrep/x5584e/x5584e0i.htm. The basic texts of FAO also rules on the matter in its sections L, M and N, Resolution. 39/57 and 44/57; available at www.fao.org/3/a- mp046e.pdf.

FAO Forestry Department, Glossary and Acronyms, FAO corporate document repository, available at www.fao.org/docrep/X5327e/x5327e03.htm.

No patents on seeds website, https://no-patents-on-seeds.org/en/about-us/home

More information at SEARICE website, www.searice.org.ph/

See ‘ETC Group: A Brief History’, www.etcgroup.org/content/etc-group-brief- history

37 Agenda 21, Chapter 27 ‘Strengthening The Role of Non-governmental Organizations: Partners for Sustainable Development', www.un.org/esa/dsd/agenda21/

38 In September 2014, a similar attempt to form a ‘Crucible Group type' of meeting took place through the Informal Multi-stakeholder Dialogue workshop jointly convened by Bioversity International and the Meridian Institute. See Chapter 3.

39 Prior preparatory meetings and/or conference calls took place between December 2013 and September 2014, but no official documents are openly accessible.

6