24/09/2013

Muscat, Oman -  The Secretariat of the International Treaty today presented two new innovative packages of information technology tools to support the implementation of the International Treaty with the aim of supporting users with the transfer of seeds and other genetic material and in the management of these important resources at the national level.

The presentation took place on the margins of the Fifth Session of the Governing Body that is meeting this week in Muscat, Oman, where more than 450 delegates from all around the world are discussing the plans and Treaty activities for the next two years. 

The first package of tools presented in the event was “Easy-SMTA”, an online system that allows users of the multilateral system to generate legal contracts with a few clicks and in an easy way, thus facilitating the global exchange.

The second package included four tools to elaborate maps and analyses to support the management of plant genetic resources, namely Geoqual, Representa, Ecogeo and Col Nucleo.  Two other tools were announced.  These tools are based on open-source code and are accompanied by technical documentation. 

The tools have been developed thanks to the financial and technical of the Government of Spain as part of the non-monetary benefit-sharing of the International Treaty and are being released under the name of CAPFITOGEN, an initiative that also provides training and support.  These tools represent an effort to bring some scientific and technological advances to the technical community working on the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources.