Rome, Italy
October 29, 2007
The 11 genebanks supported by the
Consultative Group on
International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) today reported
that they had distributed almost 100,000 samples of plant
material under the terms of the new Standard Material Transfer
Agreement (SMTA). The agreement is the legal instrument under
which material and information is transferred under the
International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and
Agriculture. In essence, it ensures that material and
information remain freely available and implements the
multilateral system of access and benefit sharing of the Treaty.
The Governing Body of the International Treaty starts its second
meeting today and the report is one of the documents it will
consider. The report shows that CGIAR centres sent out 97,669
samples between 1 January and 1 August 2007. They received 3988
samples of new genetic material for safe-keeping in trust for
the global community. The report was prepared by the CGIAR's
System-wide Genetic Resources Programme, which is hosted by
Bioversity International and which coordinates the CGIAR
centres' activities in this area.
In the whole of 2004, the last year for which figures are
available, the centres sent out 90,504 samples and received 5033
new accessions.
"The figures for the first seven months of 2007 are a clear
increase, especially for distributions," said Emile Frison,
Director General of Bioversity International.
Cary Fowler, Executive Secretary of the
Global Crop Diversity
Trust, agreed, but added that the amount of new material coming
in to CGIAR and other genebanks was somewhat disappointing.
"We've seen that climate change is happening now," Fowler said,
"and we are going to need genebanks to cope with that. Crop
diversity is essential for agriculture to adapt to changing
conditions and we should therefore be bringing more material
into safe-keeping."
There has been a shift in the type of material that is being
distributed by CGIAR genebanks. "A high proportion consisted of
plant genetic resources 'under Development'," explained Gerald
Moore, Honorary Fellow at Bioversity International and an author
of the report. That means that breeders are releasing improved
lines for further work and assessment by others, which is
vitally important for the further improvement of crop varieties.
The use of the SMTA to do this ties the material and any
products derived from the material to the access and benefit
sharing system of the Treaty and means that these lines will
always be available for others to make use of.
The report says that the centres encountered no overwhelming
difficulties in implementing the SMTA for all material. Only
three potential recipients – all in the US – refused to sign the
SMTA, and some other requests for material were abandoned after
the requestors were made aware of the SMTA.
The report identifies areas where the operation of the system
could be eased. The length and complexity of the SMTA itself,
which is often translated into the recipient's language, means
that the documentation often exceeds the size and weight of the
seeds being transferred. "Smaller and more compact versions of
the SMTA would be helpful," the report notes. There is also a
suggestion that when improved material is being exchanged among
a large collaboration of breeders and others a single clause,
which refers to the SMTA, in the general framework agreement
would be simpler than inserting the SMTA in each and every
dispatch.
There remains a crucial need to train potential users about the
International Treaty. "The lack of awareness and understanding
seems almost universal," commented one centre. "We receive
frequent requests for specific information or for training
courses." Some centres have already delivered training
programmes and more are in the pipeline.
"The report shows that the Centres have embraced the Treaty and
are putting it to work," said Emile Frison, Director General of
Bioversity International. "With more awareness, and more
training, which we stand ready to help provide, the Treaty will
really come into its own as an international instrument to
improve agriculture for those who need it most." |
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