United States joins pioneering plant genetic resources treaty
Today FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva and Thomas M. Duffy, Chargé d'Affaires ad interim of the U.S. Embassy to Rome, marked the entry into force of the treaty for the United States during a ceremony at the UN food agency's Rome headquarters.
"The United States looks forward to working with U.S. stakeholders and international partners to continue to strengthen the Treaty to conserve the resources needed for agricultural productivity, resilience and food security," said Duffy.
"We welcome the membership of the United States of America and we hope that as new countries join the International Treaty, the increased exchange of material and the flow of benefits resulting from their use will translate in more support to local farmers in developing countries who conserve seeds and other planting material," said Graziano da Silva.
"Biodiversity can help us face the impacts of climate change. We need to ensure that farmers have access to seeds, and to promote and support breeding programs in different regions to find the best way to adapt. That is what FAO's Seed Treaty is all about," added the FAO Director-General.
The United States officially deposited its certificate of adherence to the treaty with FAO three months ago, triggering a three month count-down to its entry into force for the country.
Sharing the wealth
The Treaty prevents anyone accessing genetic resources under the Multilateral System from claiming intellectual property rights over those resources in the form in which they received them, and ensures that access to resources already protected by international property rights is consistent with international law.
And under the Treaty's Benefit Sharing fund, those who commercialize plants bred with material from the Multilateral System pay a share of their returns into a trust fund that is used to support efforts to help developing countries improve the conservation and sustainable use of their plant genetic resources.
To date, the Treaty has disbursed almost $20 million through the fund to help one million farmers stay ahead of climate change through 61 projects in over 55 developing nations. More than 220 civil society organizations, non-governmental organizations, universities, gene banks, national and international research institutions, rural community groups and producers' organizations have been involved in executing these projects.
For more information:
George Kourous
FAO Media Relations (Rome)
Tel: +39 06 570 53168
[email protected]
fao.org
