36 GERMINATION.CA SEPTEMBER 2018 from 64 crops and to ensure that recipients share ben- efits they derive from the use of these genetic materials according to agreed procedures. Those who access the materials must be from the treaty’s ratifying nations, and they must agree to use the materials totally for research, breeding and training for food and agriculture. The treaty prevents the recipients of genetic resources from claiming intellectual prop- erty rights over those resources in the form in which they received them, and ensures that access to genetic resources already protected by international property rights is consistent with international and national laws. Additionally, those who access genetic materials through the MLS agree to share any benefits from their use through four benefit-sharing mechanisms established by the ITPGRFA. While parties have access to more than four million vital plant genetic resources through the treaty and the treaty has positively impacted the lives of more than one million people, the benefit sharing framework has left the system broke. Under the current system, benefit sharing can be mon- etary and non-monetary; however, non-monetary sharing is not always felt as sufficient, particularly by developing countries. In principle, when accessing genetic resources from another country, the accessing party must abide by the Standard Material Transfer Agreement (SMTA), which has minimal upfront fees. Under the agreement, if the devel- oped variety is not free for research and breeding, then the accessor is obligated to pay 1.1 per cent of gross sales, minus 30 per cent. If the variety is available for research and breeding, accessors are encouraged to voluntarily con- tribute an amount of their choice. There’s also an alternative form of benefit sharing for individuals or companies where they can pay .5 per cent of gross sales for a complete crop. The challenge of benefit sharing has plagued the treaty since its inception. In 2013, an Ad Hoc Open- ended Working Group to Enhance the Functioning of the Multilateral System of Access and Benefit Sharing was formed to develop a range of measures for consideration and decision by the Sixth Session of the Governing Body, which met in October 2015 in Rome, Italy. The Governing Body of the Sixth Session reviewed the funding strategy, but essentially decided to let the Governing Body of the Seventh Session undertake a review of the funding strategy with “a view to enhance its functioning, and, in order to provide a basis for review, decides to reconvene the Ad Hoc Advisory Committee on the Funding Strategy in the 2016-17 biennium …” No One-Size-Fits-All It has been debated that a subscription system be the only mechanism to access plant genetic resources under the treaty. A subscription system for germplasm access was defined that would require payment into the system for a determined number of years. The annual subscrib- er’s fee would be calculated as a per cent of the subscrib-