International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA)

The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) is a global, legally binding agreement that governs the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture and ensures the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from their use. Adopted by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Conference in 2001 and entering into force in the early 2000s, the Treaty responds to accelerating genetic erosion in crops and the need for predictable, efficient access rules to underpin plant breeding, research and food security.

Background and adoption

The ITPGRFA emerged from decades of scientific collaboration and policy debate on access to germplasm held in national collections and international genebanks. Earlier voluntary frameworks lacked clear, harmonised rules for access and benefit-sharing, creating uncertainty for breeders and public research institutions. The Treaty consolidated principles already present in international discussions by recognising plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) as a common concern of humankind, while also respecting national sovereignty over genetic resources. It was negotiated under the auspices of the FAO Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and crafted to be compatible with existing intellectual property frameworks and biodiversity law.

Objectives and scope

The Treaty pursues three interlinked objectives: conservation, sustainable use, and fair and equitable benefit-sharing. Its scope covers PGRFA—seeds, propagating material and associated information—crucial for crop improvement, resilience to pests and diseases, climate adaptation and nutrition. While the Treaty recognises all PGRFA, a defined subset listed in Annex I—comprising major food crops and forages of high relevance to food security and interdependence—forms the core of its multilateral access system. The focus on food and agriculture distinguishes the Treaty from broader biodiversity instruments by centring day-to-day needs of farmers, breeders and public research.

The Multilateral System of Access and Benefit-Sharing

A distinctive feature is the Multilateral System of Access and Benefit-Sharing (MLS), which streamlines access to Annex I materials for research, breeding and training for food and agriculture. Rather than negotiating bilateral terms for each transaction, users obtain facilitated access under standard conditions. Access is free of charge apart from minimal administrative costs, and recipients must not claim intellectual property rights that would limit further research and breeding on the original material. Use for chemical, pharmaceutical or other non-food/fodder applications falls outside the facilitated regime.
The MLS recognises the interdependence of countries: no single nation holds all the diversity necessary to sustain crop improvement. By pooling resources, the MLS reduces transaction costs and accelerates pre-breeding and adaptation, particularly vital as climate change shifts pest ranges, alters rainfall patterns and increases heat stress. Ex situ collections of the CGIAR centres and many national genebanks contribute Annex I accessions to the system, creating a distributed, interoperable network of genetic resources.

The Standard Material Transfer Agreement

Access under the MLS is implemented through a Standard Material Transfer Agreement (SMTA). The SMTA sets uniform terms worldwide, specifying the purposes of use, obligations to keep materials and derivatives available for further research and breeding, and benefit-sharing conditions. If a recipient commercialises a product that is not freely available for further research and breeding, the SMTA requires a monetary benefit-sharing payment based on sales. Alternatively, users may choose a subscription-style payment that supports the system regardless of specific product outcomes, thus encouraging continuous contribution from large breeding programmes. The SMTA also frames non-monetary benefits, such as sharing research results, technology transfer, participation in joint ventures, and capacity building for developing-country institutions.

Farmers’ Rights

The Treaty recognises Farmers’ Rights as fundamental to the conservation and development of plant genetic diversity. Parties agree to take measures, subject to national law, to:

• Protect traditional knowledge relevant to PGRFA.
• Ensure equitable participation of farmers in benefit-sharing.
• Involve farmers in decision-making at national level on matters related to PGRFA.
• Respect customary practices regarding saving, using, exchanging and selling farm-saved seed, where consistent with national legislation and international obligations.

These provisions acknowledge the historical and ongoing contributions of farming communities—especially Indigenous Peoples and smallholders—to the maintenance and improvement of crop diversity. Implementation pathways vary, ranging from community seed banks and participatory plant breeding to legal recognitions that enable local seed systems to operate alongside formal certified-seed markets.

Governance and institutional arrangements

The Treaty is overseen by a Governing Body comprising all Contracting Parties, meeting periodically to adopt decisions on implementation, compliance, budgets and the evolving design of the MLS. A Secretariat, hosted by the FAO in Rome, supports the Governing Body, coordinates with international partners and manages information systems. Subsidiary bodies and ad hoc groups address technical matters such as descriptors for genetic resources, digital information exchange, policy on compliance, and enhancement of benefit-sharing mechanisms.
The Treaty also establishes a Funding Strategy that aggregates resources from various channels, most prominently the Benefit-sharing Fund (BSF). Through competitive calls, the BSF finances projects in developing countries that conserve and utilise crop diversity—examples include pre-breeding for drought tolerance, participatory varietal selection, and strengthening farmer-led seed systems.

Relationship with other international frameworks

The ITPGRFA operates in harmony with the Convention on Biological Diversity and its access and benefit-sharing instruments by acting as a specialised international regime for PGRFA. For materials within Annex I and accessed through the MLS, the SMTA provides the binding terms of access and benefit-sharing; for other biological resources, the broader biodiversity instruments apply under national implementation. The Treaty also aligns with standards set by the FAO Global Plan of Action for PGRFA and supports progress toward Sustainable Development Goals related to zero hunger, climate action and life on land.
Another important interface is with intellectual property and plant variety protection. The Treaty does not create new IP rules but requires that any protection obtained must not restrict continued research and breeding with the material received. This balance aims to preserve incentives for innovation while maintaining open channels for cumulative improvement.

Implementation, information systems and compliance

Effective implementation relies on national focal points, legal measures for access and benefit-sharing, and coordination with genebanks, universities and breeding programmes. The Treaty promotes a Global Information System (GLIS) to interlink databases and make passport data, characterisation and evaluation information more discoverable. Common identifiers, open descriptors and interoperability standards enhance traceability from accession to variety release, enabling users to locate traits (e.g., drought tolerance or disease resistance) with greater efficiency.
Compliance is fostered through reporting to the Governing Body, cooperation among Parties, and guidance for resolving disputes under the SMTA. Transparent material transfer records help monitor flows of germplasm and trigger benefit-sharing where applicable. Capacity-building initiatives assist countries in drafting legislation, digitising collections and training curators, breeders and legal officers.

Advantages, challenges and current debates

The Treaty’s multilateral approach reduces transaction costs, accelerates access and helps prevent fragmentation into incompatible bilateral deals that could slow breeding. It channels predictable benefits—both monetary and non-monetary—towards conservation and use, and it explicitly recognises the central role of farmers. For breeders, the SMTA provides legal certainty and operational simplicity, enabling cross-border movement of germplasm within a clear ruleset.
Challenges persist. Not all crops are listed in Annex I, limiting the MLS’s comprehensiveness. Monetary benefit flows have been uneven relative to global seed-market revenues, prompting discussions on strengthening payments, refining the subscription model and encouraging broader participation by commercial actors. Rapid growth in digital sequence information and allied data raises questions about how benefits should be shared when innovation uses data rather than physical seeds. Further, practical realisation of Farmers’ Rights varies widely; ensuring that national measures genuinely support farmer-managed seed systems and participatory research remains an ongoing task.

Applications and significance for food security

In practice, the Treaty underpins numerous breeding successes and adaptation efforts. Public institutes use MLS accessions to introgress traits such as heat and drought tolerance, pest and disease resistance, and micronutrient enrichment into locally adapted varieties. Community-based projects supported by the Benefit-sharing Fund curate diverse landraces, revitalise neglected crops, and build seed security through local production and storage. International genebanks, aligned with Treaty rules, distribute thousands of accessions annually, enabling both pre-breeding pipelines and immediate farmer-participatory evaluations in stress-prone environments.