At the 13th Regular Session of the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (CGRFA), held at FAO Headquarters, Rome, on 18-22 July 2011, agenda item 3.1 was dedicated to "Ways and means of considering the application and integration of biotechnologies in the conservation and utilization of genetic resources for food and agriculture". For this item, the Commission considered working document CGRFA-13/11/3 entitled "Status and trends of biotechnologies applied to the conservation and utilization of genetic resources for food and agriculture and matters relevant for their future development". Additional background information provided for the item included Background Study Paper No. 52, entitled "Biotechnologies for the management of genetic resources for food and agriculture"; information document CGRFA-13/11/Inf.8, containing the report of the FAO international technical conference on Agricultural Biotechnologies in Developing Countries (ABDC-10); and the ABDC-10 proceedings, entitled "Biotechnologies for agricultural development". The report of the meeting is now available, with paragraphs 43-47 covering discussions of this agenda item. See the report and all related documents at http://www.fao.org/nr/cgrfa/cgrfa-meetings/cgrfa-comm/thirteenth-reg/en or contact [email protected] for more information. The CGRFA is an intergovernmental body, whose Members comprise 173 countries and the European Union.