Mutually beneficial public-private partnerships, as an integral part of crop improvement, are critically important for pre-breeding. Such partner ships enhance the adaptive capacities of cropping systems to climate change, and respond to the need for increasing productivity, in order to feeding an increasing global population. A technical consultation on promoting public- private partnerships for pre-breeding was according ly convened in Rome, Italy in May 2013. Participants presented on a wide range of approache s to crop improvement involving public- private partnerships. They agreed on the importance of conducting a thorough needs assessment, to identify the objectives of, and arti culate the most effective arrangements for a global initiative to promote Public-Private Partner ships for Pre-breeding, under the aegis of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. They stressed the importance of securing the support of stakeholders through wide consultation, and of clarifying the remit of the proposed global initiative, in 201 4. Overall, there was a strong support for exploring the possibility for the establishment of a global initiative to promote Public-Private Partner ship For Pre-breeding that specifically addresses the imperative of broadening the genetic base of breeding materials, and of ensuring the access of plant breeders throughout the world t o the widest possible range of high quality pre-commercial, pre-bred materials that are in suit able forms to be used in plant breeding. Towards this end, it was agreed, amongst immediate next steps, that a thorough needs assessment be carried out and the models currently in practice in Brazil, Germany and the Nordic countries be reviewed. Outcomes of this consultation will be presented in the form of a Declaration of Intent at the Third High-level Roundtable on the International Treaty (Bandung Indonesia, 02-04 July 2013), and to the Fifth Session of the International Treaty’s Governing Body (Muscat, Oman, 24-28 September 2013)