What is the Multilateral System?
The Multilateral System, short for the Multilateral System of Access and Benefit-Sharing, is one element of the Treaty. All countries that are members of the Treaty agree to establish and follow the same set of rules for sharing plant genetic resources for food and agriculture of more than 60 major crops and forages, for sharing associated non-confidential data, and for sharing the benefits that arise from their use. By providing a single agreed system, this avoids the multiple repeated bilateral negotiations that would otherwise be needed, and thereby seeks to be more efficient, effective, transparent, fair, and equitable.
