02/06/2013

Bandung, Indonesia – A group of ministers of agriculture and high-level representatives in Bandung applauded the contribution of the International Treaty to Biodiversity Conservation, Climate Change and Food Security during the Third High-level Roundtable on the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture convened by the Government of Indonesia on 2 July 2013.

The Round Table, organized on the occasion of the International Conference on Biodiversity, Climate Change and Food Security, was attended by high-level representatives from member countries of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, and reviewed progress made in the implementation of the Rio Six-point Action Plan. They also discussed other important issues in preparation for the Fifth Session of the Treaty’s Governing Body that will be held in Muscat, Oman, from 24 to 28 September 2013.

In his opening speech in Bandung, the Indonesian Minister of Agriculture, H.E. Suswono noted the global challenges of climate change and water scarcity currently facing the world and said that “plant genetic resources for food and agriculture are the main tools with which we can combat these challenges.” He pointed to the Treaty as an important mechanism in facing these challenges and appealed to all countries to fully implement and enhance the efficiency of the Treaty, particularly through improved, innovative benefit-sharing methods, projected in-built reviews of the Treaty and the possible expansion of multilateral access under the Treaty.

In a video message, H.E. Fuad Ibn Jaafar al-Sajwani, Minister of Agriculture of the Sultanate of Oman, invited all Contracting Parties to Muscat to attend the Fifth Session of the Governing Body and said that “the outcomes of the Round Table in Bandung will provide an important element in the discussions to be held in Oman”.

The Round Table participants commended the Treaty for the substantial progress made in the short period since the adoption of the Rio Six-point Action Plan. They also stressed the importance of pre-breeding in underwriting food and nutrition security by providing the widest possible range of useful genetic variations to plant breeders. The Public-Private Partnership for Pre-breeding, which the Rio Six-point Action Plan had called for, is expected to take definite shape during 2014.

H.E. Paulo Alberto Da Silveira Soares, Ambassador of Brazil to Indonesia, informed the participants of the establishment of the Platform for the Co-Development and Transfer of Technologies, formulated in response to requests from the Governing Body of the Treaty. This Platform comprises both public and private organizations with technical expertise from various regions of the world, ready to share international expertise within the Treaty’s non-monetary benefit-sharing mechanisms. He said that Brazil believes that it is essential to expand the crops included in the Multilateral System of the Treaty in order to ensure global food security.

Mr Modesto Fernández Díaz-Silveira, Co-Chair of the Treaty’s Ad Hoc Advisory Committee on the Funding Strategy, spoke of a number of innovative approaches for the mobilization of income for the Treaty’s Benefit-sharing Fund.

The participants reiterated the crucial importance of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture as a pillar of human life on the planet, and a crucial contributor to food security, social and economic development, and pointed to the central role of the Treaty in this regard at international policy level.  

The first High-Level Round Table on the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture took place in Rome in December 2010 and was hosted by Italy, while the second one took place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in June last year on the occasion of the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development.