Internally, we are governed by a General Assembly where all the ordinary and associate members have voting rights related to their fee level. The General Assembly is the decision maker and it meets generally once a year. We also have a Board of Directors of 24 members from the 5 continents, an Executive Committee of 5 members and the General Secretariat, based in Nyon, Switzerland. We have Sections by Crops and Standing Committees on specific horizontal subjects such as Intellectual Property, Sustainable Agriculture, Trade Rules, … .

ISF organized annual congresses, bringing together up to 1’500 seedswomen and seedsmen to:

• Exchange information on recent developments in seed trade and plant breeding;
• Identify mutual concerns, enable strategic thinking and discussion on these issues, and adopt common positions;
• Meet customers and suppliers to negotiate business contracts.

We also publish congress reports, a quarterly newsletter, seed statistics, …, for the members.

ISF also has:

• Trade rules that clarify and standardize the contractual relations between buyers and sellers at the international level;
• Procedure Rules for Dispute Settlement for the Trade in Seeds for Sowing Purposes and for Management of Intellectual Property.

Externally, we represent the seed and plant breeding industry at international level and ISF has an official observer status among others at the following organizations:

• UPOV, the International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants;
• OECD, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development;
• FAO, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations;
• CBD, the Convention on Biological Diversity.

ISF maintains regular official contacts with these bodies in order to promote the viewpoint and defend the general interests of its members, notably in improving the conditions of international seed trade and strengthening intellectual property rights worldwide.