The 18th Regular Session of the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (CGRFA) took place from 27 September to 1 October 2021 in a virtual format. For the agenda item on “Review of the work on biotechnologies for the conservation and sustainable use of genetic resources for food and agriculture”, the CGRFA considered a working document on “Biotechnologies for the sustainable use and conservation of genetic resources for food and agriculture” (document number CGRFA-18/21/6) and took note of an information document on “Recent developments in biotechnologies relevant to the characterization, sustainable use and conservation of genetic resources for food and agriculture” (CGRFA-18/21/6/Inf.1). For the agenda item on “’Digital sequence information’ on genetic resources for food and agriculture”, the CGRFA considered a working document on “Digital sequence information on genetic resources for food and agriculture: Innovation opportunities, challenges and implications” (CGRFA-18/21/5). The report and working documents of the meeting (in Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish) are available at https://www.fao.org/cgrfa/meetings/detail/en/c/1414719/. The CGRFA is an intergovernmental body established by the FAO Conference in 1983, whose Members include 178 countries and the European Union. It provides the only permanent forum for governments to specifically discuss and negotiate matters relevant to biological diversity for food and agriculture, including all plant, animal, forest, aquatic, micro-organism and invertebrate genetic resources for food and agriculture. It normally holds one regular session each biennium. Contact [email protected] for more information.