ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with the processes leading from the 1983 International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources to the 2001 Seed Treaty. Undertaking, a legally non-binding resolution adopted by the FAO Conference, was intended as an open-access regime under which Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGRFA) were to be available without restrictions and for the benefit of humanity writ large. Providers have an interest in their PGRFA being commercially utilized abroad and maximizing the benefits that flow back to them. This implies acceptance of intellectual property rights as a pre-condition for the generation of commercial value. The conclusion of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 1992 raised the problem that bilateral negotiations for access to PGRFA would be incompatible with agricultural breeding practices. Thus, the 1992 Nairobi Final Act for the adoption of the CBD accordingly recognized 'the need to seek solutions to outstanding matters concerning plant genetic resources'.
