Symrise and ProSpecieRara have collaborated for the sustainable use of plant genetic resources in Germany. The collaboration aims to motivate further companies to also make a voluntary contribution to biodiversity.
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The progressive loss of biodiversity in plants used in agriculture presents a great risk to global nutrition. A wide range of species with varying genetic characteristics allows agriculture to quickly adapt to changing environmental conditions— including climate change, water scarcity and the spreading of plant diseases.
The collaboration of ProSpecieRara and Symrise aims at the conservation and sustainable use of traditional crops and cultivated plants. It rests on two key factors:
1. Symrise supports projects that conserve and promote plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. One of these projects includes the creation of various collections. Symrise directly benefits from crop diversity within its core business.
2. The partners contribute their respective expertise and pursue a common purpose. The two companies want to use crop diversity sustainably, thereby implementing the principle of the United Nations’ Convention on Biological Diversity and the Nagoya Protocol.
Convention on Biological Diversity
According to Swiss and German law, Symrise could use ProSpecieRara seeds and plants for commercial research and development without a requirement to make a contribution to biodiversity. Symrise declares that, within the meaning of the Convention on Biological Diversity, it will share benefits equitably for the use of ProSpecieRara varieties in the form of an upfront payment—which is said to fully benefit the conservation work. Should a product based on the provided genetic resources later get commercialized, an additional voluntary equitable sharing of benefits will take place. This could, for example, relate to a flavor composition based on traditional crop varieties that a manufacturer uses to produce food products or beverages.
Patent Waiver Details
Symrise is waiving patent applications based on the belief that Symrise and ProSpecieRara consider crop diversity to be an important common good: Everyone should be able to freely access it. This applies to both the biological resources made available by ProSpecieRara as part of the collaboration and to their components. Symrise also waives its right to patents on the direct use of biological resources, for instance as plant extracts in food or as aromatic fragrance ingredients in cosmetic products.
To combat the loss of crop diversity, Symrise and ProSpecieRara consider tying the commercial use of plant genetic resources to the payment for a fair share of benefits a promising practice.
Bernhard Kott, CSO, Symrise, stated, “Ancient and endangered crops serve as a valuable source of good taste. They, therefore, provide valuable inspiration for the creation of unique flavor compositions. We too want to discover further potential uses for our fosterlings."
Béla Bartha, managing director, ProSpecieRara, adds, “To do this, we will evaluate our varieties and make planting material available as part of the agreement.”
Bartha continued, “We want that this exemplary collaboration encourages more companies to join in. To conserve biodiversity permanently, we urgently need the wide-ranging commitment of business and society.”
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