At its Sixth Session (Rome, 5–9 October 2015), the Governing Body of the Treaty adopted Resolution 4/2015 and requested the Secretary to invite further inputs from Contracting Parties and relevant stakeholders to collect additional and prospective tools for the Toolbox. The Secretariat of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) is developing the Toolbox to provide Contracting Parties and all interested stakeholders with a comprehensive set of resources, including technical information, policy options, regulatory guidelines, training opportunities, decision tools, and other materials to enhance the effectiveness of activities promoting the sustainable use of PGRFA. Thanks to the generous contribution made by Italy, this Expert Meeting was convened with the specific objectives of:

• Defining the required contents and functioning of the Toolbox modules;
• Collecting resources for inclusion in the Toolbox;
• Identifying additional topics and resources required.

The meeting was hosted and locally organized by the Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna and Rete Semi Rurali, and took place near Volterra in Tuscany, Italy. 

Useful documents:

1. Resolution 07/2013 – Fifth Session of the Governing Body
2. Resolution 04/2015 – Sixth Session of the Governing Body
3. Item 14 of the Provisional Agenda – Fourth Session of the Governing Body - Document IT/GB-4/11/17
4. Item 6 of the Draft Provisional Agenda – First Meeting of the Ad Hoc Technical Committee on Sustainable Use of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture - Document IT/ACSU-1/12/Inf. 4
5. Report of the First Meeting of the Ad Hoc Technical Committee on Sustainable Use of PGRFA
6. Item 6 of the Draft Provisional Agenda – First Meeting of the Ad Hoc Technical Committee on Sustainable Use of PGRFA - Document IT/ACSU-1/12/5
7. Item 10 of the Provisional Agenda – Fifth Session of the Governing Body – Implementation of Article 6, Sustainable Use of PGRFA
8. Report of the Second Meeting of the Ad Hoc Technical Committee on Sustainable Use of PGRFA
9. Second Global Plan of Action for PGRFA
10. Item 11 of the Provisional Agenda – Sixth Session of the Governing Body - Document IT/GB-6/15/Inf.3