Systematic analyses aimed at illuminating our understanding of the combined impact of the international regimes that pertain fully or partially to plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) on management at the national level have not been attempted in any serious way. This book is a pioneering attempt.

The focus is on the mechanisms of influence through which overlapping regimes, comprising: the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the World Trade Organization Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), the Convention of the Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV) and the International Undertaking and the International Treaty on PGRFA (IU/ITPGRFA), transpose into domestic policies and goal achievements. The book seeks to grasp, through an analytical model, the challenges facing developing countries that have only limited capacity to respond.

The content is laid out in the form of a research study: from the descriptions of PGRFA and the regimes in question, to the analytical framework for analysing the driving force behind their development and their mechanisms of influence, and to testing them in case studies from the Philippines. The book concludes with a serious warning that the mainly negative consequences of the regimes are leading to an emerging ‘anti-commons tragedy’: a situation where multiple actors have possibilities to exclude each other from the use of plant genetic resources.

This meticulously researched book makes a significant contribution to our understanding of the effectiveness of the international regimes on PGRFA management, and why further research is urgently needed to strengthen international governance for the maintenance and use of plant genetic resources.