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This website is designed to guide users through the
area of international treaties, conventions, standards and guidelines
applicable to biotechnology. |
Title: International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture |
Summary of Provisions:In line with the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD), the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources (ITPGR) addresses the problem of ensuring access and fair-sharing of the benefits of genetic resources, in this case specifically in the areas of food and agriculture. Regulating and harmonising international practices regarding plant genetic resources, within a multilateral system, is viewed as key to ensuring their sustainable use. Sustainable use of plant genetic resources is crucial to short-term and long-term food security. The Treaty encourages the conservation of plant genetic resources through national and international collections of seeds and plants. The Treaty also seeks to balance the rights of various groups involved, for example farmer's rights are specifically mentioned and protected (Article 9). In common with the CBD the need for financial resources and technical assistance for less developed countries is recognised. The Treaty is overseen by the Commission on Genetic Resources in Food and Agriculture (CGRFA), a permanent body established in 1983, with the original role of overseeing the International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources.Summary of Development:The Treaty is an adaptation of the Food and Agriculture Organisation's (FAO's) International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources, originally adopted by the FAO in 1983. There was some reinterpretation of the Undertaking in the late 1980s and early 1990s, through resolutions of the FAO Conferences, which were annexed to it. Then in 1992, Agenda 21 (an outcome of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development) specifically called for the FAO to both strengthen the Undertaking and adapt it in line with the Convention on Biodiversity. In 1993 the process of revising the Undertaking was begun within the FAO and the CGRFA adopted a revised Undertaking in July 2001 (http://www.fao.org/ag/cgrfa/IU.htm). This then became the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture when adopted by the FAO conference in November 2001. It operates alongside the Bonn Guidelines on Access to Genetic Resources, adopted by the Conference of the Parties to the CBD in April 2002.Current Status:The treaty now has 119 States Parties, it entered into force on 29th June 2004.PrecursorsThe International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources (1983). Agenda 21 and the Convention on Biodiversity (1992).International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources Related Summaries on the Genomics Gateway Site:Bonn Guidelines on Access to Plant
Genetic Resources Page last updated 26th March 2009. Comments/enquiries to catherine.rhodes-2 'at' manchester.ac.uk
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