Scientists’ body asks govt to reject seed genetics sharing proposal

The proposal by International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) is designed to ‘consolidate a monopoly over the seed sector’ and gain ‘unfettered control over the vital genetic resources’ of the Global South, an Indian scientists’ body has said in a letter to the Union agriculture ministry on Saturday.

The letter came after the proposal to enhance of the functioning of the Multilateral System on Access and Benefit Sharing (MLS) came up during the 11^th Session of the Governing Body (GB11) of ITPGRFA that met between 24-29 November in Peru.

The Treaty, patronised by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, facilitates access to the genetic materials of the 64 crops in the Multilateral System for research, breeding and training for food and agriculture.

‘We, the Scientists for Genetic Diversity, write to express our gravest concerns and to demand the complete and unequivocal rejection of the so-called “compromise proposal” presented by the GB11 Chair regarding the Enhancement of the functioning of the Multilateral System on Access and Benefit Sharing (MLS), the letter said.

It further stated: ‘This proposal is a fundamentally unjust and one-sided deal, clearly engineered to favour big agribusinesses and big tech corporations, allowing them to consolidate a monopoly over the seed sector and gain unfettered control over the vital genetic resources of the Global South.’

The SGD pointed out that the proposal does not accommodate even a single of the demands made by developing countries regarding acknowledgement of ownership rights held by farming and indigenous communities.

Developing countries, including India, have consistently opposed the expansion of the Multilateral System, which currently grants access to the genetic codes of 64 crops.

‘The developed North has helped itself to the genetic resources of the South, but has systematically failed to pay for this use, as mandated by the original terms of Access and Benefit Sharing,’ the letter addressed to Union agriculture and farmers welfare minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan noted.

The scientists’ body pointed out that the proposal bypasses consensus at GB11 and postpones the ‘critical issue of establishing mandatory payment schedules and rates for genetic resource use’ to the next session (GB12). ‘This deliberate shelving, after years of negotiation, serves only to maintain the status quo—unhindered access for the North and minimal financial return for the gene-rich South,’ it said.

‘Furthermore, the “big fat elephant in the room”, the critical issue of Digital Sequence Information (DSI/GSD), has merely been handed over to an Ad hoc Committee. Given the clear mandate handed to GB12 negotiators, the most likely outcome is that this committee will simply rubber-stamp pre-determined demands that undermine the South’s interests rather than engaging in a genuine discussion on equitable sharing,’ the letter added.

Indian delegation’s ‘deafening silence’ at the meet

The SGD expressed ‘profound dismay’ at the ‘deafening silence that marked the Indian delegation’s presence at GB11’.

‘The failure to strategically advocate against this flawed compromise proposal constitutes a spectacular failure to protect the rights of our farming communities, who are the true custodians of our valuable genetic resources. In standing mute, the Indian delegation has let down its farmers and compromised the national interest on a global platform,’ the letter said.

The letter, signed by agriculture scientists Suman Sahai, SarathBabu Balijepalli, Dinesh Abrol and Soma Marla, has asked the government to reject the GB11 Chair’s compromise proposal ‘in its entirety’. It said that ‘securing a mandatory system for benefit-sharing is crucial to protecting the rights of our farming community and for asserting India’s sovereign control over its genetic resources’.