12/12/2016

The Secretariats of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) and the European Cooperative Programme for Plant Genetic Resources (ECPGR) have agreed to strengthen ties with the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The agreement deals with a range of activities related to the documentation and information of crop germplasm.

ECPGR is a collaborative programme among 43 European countries, aiming at ensuring the long-term conservation and facilitating the utilization of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) in Europe.

“We are glad to sign this agreement with ECPGR, and we hope to develop similar partnerships and agreements with other relevant initiatives in other regions shortly. We do so according to the vision adopted by the Governing Body and through the promotion of synergies and connections among existing systems and national and regional information networks”, said Dr Kent Nnadozie, Secretary, a.i., of the Governing Body of the ITPGRFA.

The Region conserves PGRFA in some 650 institutions spread over 45 countries. In this context, ECPGR is responsible for the European Genebank Integrated System (AEGIS), which acts as a form of coordination mechanism. It also serves an online search catalogue (EURISCO), providing information about ex situ plant collections of the region, comprising passport data of about 1.8 million samples. It further supports the work of the European central crop databases.

The agreement acknowledges the ongoing fruitful collaboration and responds to the need for mutual support of one another in the promotion of activities and projects relevant to their mandates, such as the implementation of the programmes of work on the Global Information System (GLIS) of Article 17 and sustainable use of the Treaty. Furthermore, the agreement provides for a collaborative umbrella on scientific and technical matters related to PGRFA dealing with access to information and PGRFA documentation, including joint advocacy for the adoption of international standards.

The Treaty, through Article 16, encourages cooperation with existing international plant genetic resources networks. This renewed partnership will also facilitate the planning and joint provision of technical support to Contracting Parties of the region, thus generating synergies. Through the agreement, and under the overall guidance of the Treaty’s Governing Body, the two Secretariats will undertake the promotion of activities and projects relevant to their respective mandates, including capacity development and public awareness.