This publication presents the Proceedings of the Regional Technical Meeting on Seed Policy and Programmes for the Central and Eastern European Countries, Commonwealth of Independent States and other Countries in Transition, held in Budapest, Hungary from 6 to 10 March 2001. The meeting was organized and implemented by the Agricultural Research Institute of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Martonvásár, Hungary, in close collaboration with FAO's Seed and Plant Genetic Resources Service. In line with the Rome Declaration on World Food Security and the World Food Summit Plan of Action, the meeting recognized that one of the major challenges facing most countries in the region is the need to invest significant resources in strengthening their capacity to increase the availability of good quality seed of a wider range of plant varieties. This will contribute to the maximization of both agrobiodiversity and productivity, in order to achieve national food security while reducing environmental degradation and the depletion of natural resources. The meeting proposed and agreed to establish an Inter-Governmental Regional Consultative Group on Seed Sector Development for Central and Eastern European Countries, Commonwealth of Independent States and other Countries in Transition, to which the acronym CGSSD-CEEC/CIS/CT was given. The Consultative Group, through five technical working groups, will facilitate intercountry scientific, legal and technical collaboration on seed production and supply, and promote crop genetic resources evaluation, conservation and utilization in the whole region.
- Variety-level Genetic Use Restriction Technologies (V-GURTs), where seed produced from the crop would be sterile unless a special treatment be applied to the seed; and
- Trait-specific Genetic Use Restriction Technologies (T-GURTs), where seed produced from the crop would be fertile, but expression of a given high-added-value trait would require a special treatment.
