EU: “Unwavering support” for FAO International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

The European Commission voiced the EU’s continued commitment to the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) during meetings held this month. The Treaty’s Secretariat held an informative exchange with officials of the European Commission's Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA) and its Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE), followed by a standing committee meeting on funding strategy and resource mobilization.

During the standing committee meeting on funding strategy and resource mobilization, the EC announced the EU’s willingness to continue providing substantive support to the Treaty and restated the EU’s shared commitment to fulfilling Agenda 2030 and achieving the SDGs, while promoting the sustainable use and breeding of crops, a global system to access plant genetic materials, and boosting farmers rights while building their resilience.  

Policy Officer for Agriculture Biodiversity, genetic resources and seed systems at the EU Commission DG INTPA, Darrell Sexstone, expressed the European Union’s continued appreciation for the International Treaty’s work to conserve invaluable natural resources, particularly in developing countries and key centers of crop biodiversity.

“The project was extended twice in nine years. The contract modifications over such a long period of time demonstrate the EU’s unwavering support for the Treaty and the Fund,” Sexstone said.

The European Union has been a contracting party of ITPGRFA since 2004, and in 2011 provided financial resources to develop the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources through the treaty’s Benefit Sharing Fund.

At the meeting, Director of the FAO Resource Mobilization and Private Sector Partnerships Division, Alexander Jones, presented the FAO’s new Strategy for Private Sector Engagement 2021-2025. He stressed that the private sector could be a strategic development partner, offering innovative tools, resources, knowledge, and technologies that are critical for reinforcing FAO’s impact.