Plant genetic resources have been regarded as a 'common heritage item' for long. Only during the debates in the meetings of the FAO Commission on Plant Genetic Resources during the 1980ies that the "North" was exploiting the "South" (using instruments such as plant breeders' rights and later patents) and that Farmers' Rights could be used to compensate the South for 'their diversity', and with the recognition of national sovereignty of states over their genetic resources in the Convention on Biological Diversity, this paradigm started shifting. The biotechnological developments during the 1990ies, in particular in the molecular genetic field, boosted by information technologies and the strengthened use of intellectual property rights, especially of patents did trigger the move to 'bilateral approaches' and impacted negatively on the access to genetic resources. The establishment of the multilateral system (MLS) by the International Treaty to regulate access and benefit sharing was a clear reaction on this development but this MLS has too many exceptions and restrictions to allow a truly multilateral system for all PGRFA. Thus, there is a need for strengthening multilateral approaches for the conservation and sustainable use of PGRFA, not only at the global level, but also at the regional level.

In addition to the above, the high degree of interdependency of countries for PGRFA is an important reason to ensure easy and ready access to genetic diversity conserved in other countries and thus, to work towards multilateral approaches in the conservation of these resources.