International Plant Gene Pool Made Available

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) announced the operation of a new multilateral system for the fair and equitable sharing of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. The multilateral system is a part of the legally-binding International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture that has entered into force in 2004. Through the treaty, 115 countries agreed to share their genetic diversity and relevant information about the crops stored in their gene banks to all who comply with the standardized benefit-sharing agreement.

The multilateral system provides scientists, breeders and farmers free access to genetic information of crops that feed most of the world’s population and helps share benefits derived from their commercial use. The system includes the Mutant Germplasm Repository of the FAO/IAEA Joint Division in Vienna as well as the world’s largest gene bank, held by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR). Over the past months, the system has facilitated the exchange of about 90,000 plant genetic materials.

Read more at http://www.planttreaty.org/mls_en.htm or http://www.fao.org/newsroom/en/news/2007/1000690/index.html