23/09/2015

The Secretariat of the International Treaty is pleased to report on recent progress made with the global survey on descriptors required to identify Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (PGRFA) in the context of the Global Information System of Article 17.

The survey asked participants to select the PGRFA minimum essential information (descriptors) and other highly recommended attributes to be declared and aggregated through the Global System to facilitate interoperability and further access to technical and scientific information about PGRFA.

The results of the survey are a valuable contribution to the design of the Global Information System (GLIS) called for by Article 17 of the Treaty. This process has involved consultation with some 200 experts from 98 institutions in 62 countries. Organizations include, but are not limited to, national programs, research institutions, universities, the National Focal Points of the Treaty as well as regional and thematic initiative and networks and the private sector. Areas of expertise, also well-balanced, include breeders, researchers, curators, and information and data management specialists.

“The broad perspective gained from this diverse input, gives these initial DOI associated descriptors, the status of a valid mandatory key set to identify PGRFA material and it constitutes available step forward to respond to the needs of the global community”, said Shakeel Bhatti, Secretary of the International Treaty. “We will report on the developments made on the Global Information System at the upcoming Sixth Session of the Governing Body in early October 2015”.

The preliminary results show that there is a strong consensus on a strategic key set of descriptors to be considered mandatory and few more to be proposed as highly recommended. The Secretariat of the International Treaty is currently working with partner organizations and final users on the elaboration of draft guidelines to facilitate their application to the various user cases including genebanks, researchers, sequencing facilities, etc.

DOIs are instrumental for the future of the Global Information System as they will make easier to discover and access information related to plant genetic materials expanding the current accession level information and will make more effective the harvesting of such information through automated means.