The Governing Body authorized the use of the data contained in the Data Store of Easy-SMTA for the elaboration of statistics in 2011, and since then, the production of aggregated statistical data and reports has been considered an asset to support the decision-making process.

At each Session, the Secretary prepares a report on germplasm flow in the Multilateral System. The report provides information at regional and crop levels on the conclusion of SMTAs and on the transfer of material, and highlights trends on the transfer of Material Under Development and the transfer of Non-Annex 1 Material.  It also distinguishes between the transfers made by Article 15 Institutions and the other providers of the Multilateral system, offering distribution maps, charts and other resources.

The draft Thematic Study on “Germplasm exchange” contributing to the “Third Report on the State of the Worlds’ Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture”, is now available for comments. The Study contains an important dataset contributed by the Secretariat of the International Treaty for the period 2012-2019. The Treaty dataset records distributions to recipients in 179 countries, with over 1000 samples received in 131 countries over an eight-year period.

2022 report 

The analysis and the graphical representation of the data accumulated in the Data Store has shown a positive trend in use of the material from the Multilateral System. It is to be noted that there was a significant increase since the helpdesk to support users with the reporting tasks was established. The figure below has been elaborated, taking into account the average number of SMTAs reported each year. Some providers of materials have already set up tools or practices that facilitate the semi-automatic reporting to the Data Store.

Taking into consideration the international collections of the CGIAR and the materials made available by other Article 15 institutions, the total amount of materials available in the Multilateral System rose up to 2 343 549 in 2022, representing a 2.5 percent increase compared to the 2019 report. The figure below shows the distribution of the materials available by the relevant category of PGRFA holder (National/International).

As of 20 July 2022, PGRFA holders have reported the availability of 1 103 814 accessions in the MLS through the Global Information System. In total, 89 percent of the materials with records published in the Global Information System are materials available in the Multilateral System.

As of 10 June 2022, the Data Store has recorded 90 690 SMTAs (an increase of 20 percent since the last report) from providers located in 56 countries, distributing material to recipients based in 181 countries. Out of those SMTAs, 65 225 were sent to recipients in Contracting Parties to the International Treaty, while 25 465 SMTAs were sent to recipients not located in Contracting Parties. The statistical module indicates an average of 16 SMTAs reported per day since August 2017. The percentages of material of top crops are represented in the figure below.

Report on the Implementation and Operations of the Multilateral System:

-MLS report 2023 (IT/GB-10/23/9.1)

-MLS report 2022 (IT/GB-9/22/9.1)

-MLS report 2019 (IT/GB-8/19/8.1 Rev.1)

-MLS report 2017 (IT/GB-7/17/09)

-MLS report 2015 (IT/GB-6/15/8)