On 29 November 2011, the FAO Council adopted the Second Global Plan of Action for Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, that was agreed by the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture in July 2011. It contains a set of 18 Priority Activities, several of which are relevant to biotechnologies, such as Priority Activity 9 (on supporting plant breeding, genetic enhancement and base-broadening efforts) and 1 (on surveying and inventorying plant genetic resources for food and agriculture). The original Global Plan of Action was adopted through the Leipzig Declaration in 1996. See an FAO press release at http://www.fao.org/news/story/en/item/113740/icode/ (in Arabic, English, French and Spanish) or contact [email protected] for more information. FAO is governed by the Conference of Member Nations, which meets every two years. The Conference elects a Council of 49 Member Nations to act as an interim governing body and the Plan of Action was adopted at the Council’s 143rd Session, held in Rome from 28 November to 2 December 2011.