14/03/2011

The total number of accessions reported by the European Region to be in the Multilateral System of the Treaty has gone up to 318 000 accessions during the 2010/2011 biennium, including genetic material from both governmental and non-governmental institutions. This kind of reporting has made possible to obtain an overview picture of the content of this material and its importance for food security.

The larger amount of accessions notified are those maintained by national and legal persons regarded as forming part of national plant genetic resources with a total figure of 172 433 accessions, followed by the Government with 89 577. The report also includes 57 764 accessions from institutions that have various statuses and that are reporting through EURISCO, a European network of ex situ National Inventories. In addition to those, the Secretary has also received direct notifications of inclusion of 2,317 accessions from national and legal persons regarded as forming part of national plant genetic resources.

The European Region has also informed that a number of countries have started to encourage natural and legal persons to incorporate materials in the global gene pool, like Switzerland. This country is encouraging the inclusion of national seed gene banks, but also all accessions of Swiss private organizations financed by its National Plan of Action for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.