Brussels, 01/04/2004 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday, the EU and nine of its Member States submitted their instruments to ratify the international treaty on phytogenetic resources for food and agriculture to the FAO (the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations), which will allow the Treaty to enter into force in 90 days. This Treaty will facilitate the access, for research and selection purposes, of seeds of the main species of plants used in agriculture. Sharing trade benefits to the profit of conservation and the sustainable use of genetic resources will mark important progress in North-South relations, said the European Commission.
In order for the Treaty to enter into force, it must be ratified by at least forty countries. By submitting their ratification instruments to the FAO on 31 March, the EU, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, Sweden, the United Kingdom and two accession countries, Estonia and the Czech Republic have brought the number of ratifications from 36 to 47, and thus allowed the Treaty to enter into force on 29 June 2004.
The Treaty establishes a legally binding global framework for the use of genetic resources in research and selection, the multilateral system for which does not cover all agricultural plants, but just the main ones, such as oats, apple, rice, potato, wheat, maize and 29 fodder crops. The parties to the Treaty will have guaranteed access to genetic resources, and will share the commercial advantages and other benefits of using them. In practice, "facilitated access" means that any public or private body involved in research or selection in all countries party to the Treaty will be able to procure seeds of plant species covered by the Treaty from a public body established in another contracting country, free of charge and without having to go through individual bilateral negotiations. Until now, selectors have had to negotiate bilaterally with the country of origin, as per the convention on biodiversity which has been in force since 1993. This obligation, which pre-supposed time and financial means, could also lead to a monopoly on genetic resources. For European selectors, the new Treaty carries enormous advantages, by opening up access to a great many genetic resources, and guaranteeing their commercial availability.