Functional Statement

Secretariat of the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (CGRFA)

The Secretariat services the CGRFA, FAO's inter- governmental forum for the negotiation of international instruments and codes of conduct, and coordinating policy related to the conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources of relevance to food and agriculture, which keeps under continuous review all matters regarding FAO's policies, programmes and activities in this area.

In particular, the Secretariat:

(i)

supports and services the negotiations of international agreements on genetic resources for food and agriculture, in cooperation with the Legal Office and relevant technical units; provides the secretariat of Negotiating Committees; drafts and assists in drafting negotiating text; and plays an "honest broker" role;

(ii)

prepares and runs regular and extraordinary sessions of the Commission and, in cooperation with relevant units concerned, sessions of its inter-governmental technical working groups;

(iii)

obtains, synthesizes and integrates data and information necessary for the development of policy options for the Commission's consideration, reports periodically to the Commission on programmes and activities, and key developments on inter-sectoral, cross-cutting policy matters related to genetic resources for food and agriculture, including biosafety, Farmers' Rights, intellectual property rights, biotrade and bioethics;

(iv)

coordinates work related to the Commission within FAO, and with other relevant organizations;

(v)

acts as focal point for the implementation and monitoring of the Commission's decisions and recommendations, in liaison with relevant technical, legal and policy units;

(vi)

advises and assists the relevant technical services supporting the Commission's technical working groups;

(vii)

liaises, cooperates and coordinates the work of the Commission with the secretariats of relevant international organizations in the area of the Commission's mandate.

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