The latest issue of the "Leading the Field" newsletter of the Secretariat of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGR), an article by ITPGR Secretary Shakeel Bhatti reflects on the Treaty's first ten years of implementation.
He underscores the setting up of the Multilateral System of Access and Benefit-Sharing with its standard Material Transfer Agreement, and the establishment of the Benefit-sharing Fund.
March 2012: The Secretariat of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGR) has published the March 2012 edition of its Leading the Field newsletter, which features an article by ITPGR Secretary Shakeel Bhatti on the Treaty’s first ten years of implementation.
Bhatti highlights that in its first decade, the Treaty has passed from being a legal text to becoming a global operational system that facilitates the daily exchange of genetic resources in 127 countries and shares the benefits from those resources through agrobiodiversity conservation and food security. Among its major achievements, he underscores the setting up of the Multilateral System of Access and Benefit-Sharing (ABS) with its standard Material Transfer Agreement, and the establishment of the Benefit-sharing Fund.
The newsletter also includes a compilation of latest news and highlights, including recently-approved benefit-sharing projects, the publication of the training module on conservation and sustainable use, and the 10th anniversary event. It also features articles on the Multilateral System and the Benefit-sharing Fund. [Publication: PlantTreaty News – Leading the Field: Newsletter of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Volume III, March 2012]