International Institute for Sustainable Development - Reporting Services (IISD RS) @ Second Session of the Governing Body of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture; 28 October - 2 November 2007; Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) headquarters, Rome, Italy

Plenary:


CGRFA Acting Secretary Clive Stannard drew attention to a draft joint statement of intent to establish an interface between the work of the ITPGR Governing Body and the CGRFA.		Regarding text on cooperation with the CGRFA, Brazil proposed that the ITPGR Governing Body and the CGRFA should “coordinate their participation” in international meetings, rather than "endeavor to harmonize their positions."		Evans Sikinyi, Kenya, called for removing duplication between the two bodies.

Consultations among members of G-77/China during the morning plenary.


Cesar Tapia, Ecuador, said states have a duty to avoid giving overlapping instructions to the CGRFA and the ITPGR Governing Body.		Elizabeth Matos, Angola, called for assistance in compiling information for the Global Plan of Action.		Mónica Martínez, Ecuador, for GRULAC, said the group is still awaiting signals of commitment from contracting parties to this "legally binding Treaty," given the repeated mention of "voluntary" contributions.


Arturo Martínez, FAO Secretariat		ITPGR GB-2 Chair Godfrey Mwila and Shakeel Bhatti, ITPGR Secretary


Malaysia welcomed the FAO and Bioversity International joint programme of technical assistance on Treaty implementation and called for continued assistance to developing countries.		Armenia, for the European Regional Group (ERG), proposed consultation between the ITPGR Governing Body and the CGRFA, and the Global Crop Diversity Trust on the appropriate partition of fields, activities and tasks, to be reported to GB-3.


Campbell G. Davidson, Canada, suggested stating that farmers’ rights are about "encouraging parties to enable farmers to equitably participate in sharing the benefits from their contribution."			Pat Mooney, ETC Group, opposed deleting a reference to recognizing that guidance and assistance from the Governing Body is required to make progress in farmers’ rights implementation.

A contact group discussed the terms of reference (TOR) for an intersessional ad hoc advisory committee on the funding strategy on the basis of draft TOR proposed by the EU.


Spain pledged “substantial contributions" to the core administrative budget and the Trust Fund.		Delegates applauding announcements made by Italy and Spain regarding their substantial contributions to the core administrative budget.


Delegates addressed a draft resolution on farmers' rights introduced on Wednesday by Angola, for the G-77/China.		Modesto Fernández, Cuba, requested adding reference to indigenous and local communities.


Cosima Hufler, Austria		Javad Mozafari, Iran, and Sugiono Moeljopawiro, Indonesia		Armenian delegates


A representative of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research said several developing countries had sought technical assistance to implement the Multilateral System.		The EU emphasized the need for some sort of a technical advisory committee, and suggested that ad hoc bodies would be most appropriate in the short term, with possible establishment of a joint permanent technical advisory committee in the future.

Side Event
A side event on the Svalbard Global Seed Vault was organized by the government of Norway. The Seed Vault will open in February 2008 and store duplicates of genebank collections of plant genetic resources, to serve as backup for the world's most important crops.

Snapshots

ENB Team

Happy Birthday Elsa!!!