22/12/2010

The aim of the learning module is to develop knowledge and skills to implement the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture and to use The Treaty’s standard material transfer agreement (SMTA). This module is targeted to genebank managers and technical advisers to policymakers and can also be used for education.

This work updates and replaces training module on Law and Policy of Relevance to the Management of Plant Genetic Resources developed in 2005 to help trainers and facilitators to organise a training workshop session on the Treaty.

By the end of the course, the participants will be able to discuss the significance of the Treaty and its main elements, to explain the relationship of the Treaty to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and to identify which regime of access and benefit sharing will apply to individual cases of germplasm accession.

It also helps readers to understand the process of implementation of the Treaty and its multilateral system of access and benefit-sharing at the national level and use the standard material transfer agreement (SMTA).

The content of the course is structured in two parts for the organization of a 2-day face to face workshop, but the materials may also be used separately for a shorter workshop or to support classroom teaching. The module contains practical exercises as well as background lecture notes, slides and presentations, references to relevant laws and policies with links to the documents and a bibliography for further reading.

The update of this material has also been coordinated with the contents being developed for the training materials that the Secretariat of the International Treaty is currently producing with the support of several Contracting Parties and some key stakeholders in the area of training and education. The new material will be rather comprehensive and is planned to be released during the first half of 2011.