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

Closing Ceremony

Clive Stannard, CGRFA Acting Secretary; José María Sumpsi Viñas, Assistant Director General, FAO Department of Agriculture and Consumer Protection; Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary, CBD; Jacques Diouf, Director-General, FAO; ITPGR GB-2 Chair Godfrey Mwila; and Shakeel Bhatti, ITPGR Secretary (from left to right)


Ahmed Djoghlaf, CBD Executive Secretary, praised the achievements of GB-2, noting that work under the Treaty also supports CBD work, including the work programme on agricultural biodiversity and the cross-cutting initiative on biodiversity for food and nutrition. He also emphasized the Global Crop Diversity Trust as a key element of funding ex situ biodiversity conservation.		Jacques Diouf, FAO Director General, called on parties to provide the necessary financial resources and political support to implement the Treaty and effectively regulate thousands of daily germplasm transactions. He underscored the importance of ensuring coherence in the Treaty’s operational implementation at the global and national levels, and commented that the Treaty is an innovative tool that responds to many crucial objectives, including food security in the face of climate change.


		Clive Stannard, Acting Secretary, CGRFA


Secretary Bhatti said that GB-2 achieved a major step towards implementing the Treaty, and pledged to continue working in collaboration with contracting parties to “make this vision a reality.”			Ahmed Djoghlaf, Executive Secretary, CBD; Jacques Diouf, Director-General, FAO.

Plenary:


François Pythoud, Switzerland, presented the results of the budget committee's deliberations on the budget and work programme.		Tunisia offered to host the third session of the Governing Body, to be held in the first quarter of 2009.


José María Sumpsi Viñas, Assistant Director General, FAO Department of Agriculture and Consumer Protection, said he would support an increase in the FAO contribution towards the Treaty at the upcoming FAO Conference. He stressed the need for an efficient use of financial resources and for improved cooperation with the Global Crop Diversity Trust.		Elisabeth Koren, Norway, highlighted the outcomes of the Interlaken Conference on Animal Genetic Resources and noted the importance of the Treaty for grassland and forest genetic resources, which is relevant to the successful implementation of the Global Plan of Action on animal genetic resources.


Campbell G. Davidson, Rapporteur		Mónica Martínez, Ecuador		Saulo Ceolin, Brazil


The Netherlands announced its contribution of US$62,837 to the Treaty, based on the FAO scale of contributions.		The United States noted active work towards ratifying the Treaty.