ABSTRACT
The Multilateral System of Access and Benefit-Sharing (multilateral system) was created under the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA). 1 The multilateral system embodies the key policy and legal concepts that shaped the negotiations of the Treaty, such as food security, sovereign rights of States over their own plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA), intellectual property rights, and applies those concepts to an operational instrument of access and benefit-sharing that aims to serve the community of farmers and breeders worldwide.
