National implementation of the plant treaty’s multilateral system access, benefits-sharing: Matters arising (Part 1)

The world in the twentieth century brought the matter of environment, biodiversity, genetic resources and sustainability of the planet to the fore. This has led to many international policies, agreements and treaties. Among those treaties are: (i) Conservation of biodiversity (ii) Sustainable use of biodiversity (iii) fair and equitable sharing of the benefits arising from the use of genetic resources.

(a)global warming exists and (b) human-made CO2 emissions have caused it. In Kyoto, Japan, on 11th December, 1997 and entered into force on the 16th February 2005. There are currently no less than 192 parties to the protocol.



(a) The protection of traditional knowledge relevant to plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. (b) The right to equitable utilisation of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. (c) The right to participate in making decisions, at the national level, on matters related to the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture.

The treaty establishes the multilateral system of Access and Benefits-Sharing to facilitate plant germplasm exchanges and benefits-sharing through Standard Material Transfer Agreement (SMTA). This discourse centers on “International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA). READ ALSO: Obi condemns killing of 16 youths in Anambra.