A global coalition of farmer groups and civil society organisations has expressed concern over proposed reforms to the UN's Seed Treaty.
They warned that the changes could undermine farmers' rights and national sovereignty over seeds.
The reforms, which aim to expand the treaty's scope, are seen as favouring multinational seed corporations, potentially allowing them to exploit traditional seed varieties without adequate safeguards.
A coalition of farmer groups and civil society organisations from across the world has raised alarm over proposed reforms to the United Nation’s International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, also called the Seed Treaty or Plant Treaty.
On September 12, 2025, Bharat Beej Swaraj Manch, a national coalition of farmers’ group in India, along with more than 280 organisations and 100s of individuals worldwide, sent a letter to Food and Agriculture Organization Director-General Qu Dongyu and Treaty Secretary Kent Nnadozie.
The letter warned that the current Draft Package of Measures under negotiation threatens farmers’ rights and national sovereignty over seeds, while making the Treaty’s system more attractive to multinational seed corporations.
This is not the first time farmers have raised concerns warning that new proposals could allow global corporations to access India’s traditional seeds and their genetic data without adequate safeguards. On May 21, 2025, civil society began flagging risks of the reforms. By July 7, 2025, farmers’ groups, seed savers and environmental advocates repeated the warning in the letter.
On July 10, 2025, a group of scientists wrote to the Union agriculture minister, warning that proposed full expansion of the treaty's Annex I could compromise India’s seed sovereignty.
The caution came ahead of the 11th Governing Body session of the treaty, which will be held in Lima, Peru from November 24 to 29, 2025, where a draft package of measures prepared by an ad hoc working group will be discussed.
The appeal has been signed by farmers’ groups and civil society organisations from Asia, Africa, Latin America, Europe and Oceania. Signatories include well-known groups like the African Centre for Biodiversity (South Africa), Asociación Nacional de Productores Ecológicos del Perú (Peru), Annadana Soil & Seed Savers Network (India), and Third World Network (Malaysia).
They raised concerns of lack of transparency in the multilateral system (MLS). The letter highlighted that while over seven million seed samples have been assessed globally under the Treaty by more than 28,000 users, hardly any benefits have flowed back to provider countries or farmers.
Instead, seed companies have claimed intellectual property rights over new varities developed from these resources, often without detection.
They also flagged that the MLS was being expanded without safeguards. The package of measures proposes to expand MLS beyond the current 64 crops to include all plant genetic resources. Farmers say this would expose national seed collections to exploitation, even when existing benefit sharing mechanisms remain weak.
The letter called for recognition of farmers’ rights. The draft fails to protect farmers’ rights to save, use, exchange and sell seeds, the signatories noted. It doesn't include safeguards against biopiracy or fraud patenting of traditional seed varities. Farmers fear their seed will continue to be appropriated and sold back to them as corporate controlled varieties.
Finally, the appeal highlighted the biased process favouring companies. According to the signatories, the deliberations were shaped by company lobbying with little participation from farmers or country-level debates. Proposals focus on making MLS more attractive to seed companies, while farmers’ demands are sidelined.
The farmers’ organisations demanded greater transparency and accountability, including public disclosure of who accesses which seeds and how they are used. They called for worldwide consultation with farmers before adopting reforms.
They also proposed to start a new process to strengthen the MLS without undermining national sovereignty or benefit sharing under the Convention on Biological Diversity. They also want stronger safeguards for farmers’ rights and measures to prevent digital biopiracy through misuse of genetic sequence data.