At the crossroads: Plant treaty negotiations in Lima end without a decision

What is the treaty about

The so-called Plant Treaty is an international agreement intended to ensure conservation, sustainable use, and fair & equitable sharing of benefits from the world's plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA). Through its Multilateral System (MLS), it allows contracting parties access to a defined list of 64 key food and forage crops. The Treaty also recognises the farmers' rights to use, exchange or sell seeds and traditional knowledge, as well as their central role in conserving crop diversity.

What happened in Lima – the 2025 governing body meeting (GB-11)

From 24–29 November 2025, the Treaty's Governing Body, which includes a wide range of stakeholder groups, met in Lima to review progress under the Treaty and discuss proposed reforms. A central proposal was to expand the MLS from the current 64 crops to potentially include all plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. Another major item on the agenda was the revision of the Standard Material Transfer Agreement (SMTA), focusing on how Digital Sequence Information (DSI) is handled within the system. The term Digital Sequence Information (DSI), according to Wikipedia, is generally agreed to include nucleic acid sequence data and may also include other data types, such as protein sequence data.

These proposals triggered strong pushback. For example, some civil society organisations warned that the expansion could increase risks of "biopiracy," especially through the use of genetic data. Biopiracy refers to the unauthorised appropriation of knowledge and genetic resources from farming and indigenous communities by individuals or institutions seeking to gain exclusive control through patents or other forms of intellectual property (source: Wikipedia). Another voice of refusal comes from a network of Indian farmers and seed groups. They urged their government to reject the proposal, arguing that it would weaken seed sovereignty and primarily benefit multinational corporations. 

Proponents said that expanding the MLS and revising the SMTA would unlock greater access to crop diversity, help modernise the Treaty in light of new genetic technologies, and increase both monetary and non-monetary benefit-sharing. The proposals, developed by the Treaty's Working Group, were supported by various government delegations, FAO officials, and research bodies like CGIAR.

What was decided

The Governing Body did not reach an agreement on the proposed expansion or the revised SMTA. Instead, the decision was formally postponed to a future session. As a result, no changes were adopted in Lima regarding the scope of the MLS or the treatment of DSI.

Conclusion

The Lima meeting highlighted the deep divide between those who seek to broaden global access to plant genetic resources and those who fear such changes could undermine farmers' rights and fuel new forms of biopiracy. While no final decisions were made, the debates emphasised how complex and politically sensitive the future of global seed governance has become. The postponement means discussions will continue, and farmers, civil society, and governments will need to stay closely engaged as the next round of negotiations approaches.

For PRO-WILD, the discussions in Lima highlight how international seed and genetic resource policies shape the broader environment in which biodiversity conservation and sustainable use occur.

Sources and further reading

• FAO.org: www.fao.org/plant-treaty/eleventh-governing-body/en
• ViaCampesina.org: viacampesina.org/en/2025/11/itpgrfa-peru-the-plant-treaty-at-the-crossroads-between-biopiracy-and-farmers-rights/
• Business-standard.com: www.business-standard.com/industry/agriculture/11th-itpgrfa-meet-postpones-key-decisions-on-expanding-plant-list-125113000519_1.html
• enb.iisd.org: enb.iisd.org/negotiations/international-treaty-plant-genetic-resources-food-and-agriculture-itpgrf