A global coalition of farmer groups and civil society organisations has raised concerns over proposed reforms to the United Nations’ International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, commonly known as the Seed Treaty or Plant Treaty. The coalition warned that the reforms could undermine farmers’ rights and national sovereignty over seeds while benefiting multinational seed corporations.
On September 12, 2025, Bharat Beej Swaraj Manch, a national coalition of farmers’ groups in India, together with more than 280 organisations and hundreds of individuals worldwide, sent a letter to FAO Director-General Qu Dongyu and Treaty Secretary Kent Nnadozie. The letter expressed alarm over the Draft Package of Measures currently under negotiation, arguing that it would make the Treaty’s multilateral system more attractive to global seed companies at the expense of traditional farmers.
This is not the first warning raised by farmers and civil society. Concerns were first flagged on May 21, 2025, and reiterated on July 7, 2025, as discussions over the treaty reforms progressed. On July 10, 2025, a group of scientists wrote to India’s Union Agriculture Minister, cautioning that the proposed expansion of the treaty’s Annex I could compromise the country’s seed sovereignty.
The appeal comes ahead of the 11th Governing Body session of the treaty, scheduled from November 24 to 29, 2025, in Lima, Peru, where the Draft Package of Measures prepared by an ad hoc working group will be discussed. Signatories include organisations from Asia, Africa, Latin America, Europe, and Oceania, among them the African Centre for Biodiversity (South Africa), Asociación Nacional de Productores Ecológicos del Perú, Annadana Soil & Seed Savers Network (India), and Third World Network (Malaysia).
The letter highlighted concerns about transparency and fairness in the treaty’s multilateral system (MLS). While over seven million seed samples have been assessed globally under the treaty, few benefits have flowed back to provider countries or farmers. Instead, seed companies often claim intellectual property rights over new varieties developed from these resources.
The proposed reforms would expand the MLS beyond the current 64 crops to include all plant genetic resources, raising fears that national seed collections could be exploited, especially given the existing weaknesses in benefit-sharing mechanisms. The draft also fails to explicitly safeguard farmers’ rights to save, use, exchange, and sell seeds, or to prevent biopiracy and patenting of traditional varieties.
The coalition called for greater transparency, including public disclosure of who accesses seeds and how they are used. They urged worldwide consultation with farmers before any reforms are adopted and proposed measures to prevent digital biopiracy while ensuring national sovereignty and fair benefit-sharing. Signatories stressed the need for reforms that strengthen the MLS without privileging corporate interests over farmers’ rights.