International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
Official Name
International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
Signatories
The treaty has 120 parties recognising and abiding by the articles of the treaty
Dates
The treaty was first signed on 9 November 2001. The treaty came into force on 29 June 2004
Languages
The treaty was written in English, French, Spanish, Russian, Arabic and Chinese
With the deteriorating state of the environment clearly becoming more recognisable this treaty was written to recognise and deal with the importance of preserving knowledge of agriculture and feeding the world's growing population.
Key Points
The objective of the treaty is the conservation and preservation of plant genetic material to help preserve the future of agriculture. Each party to the treaty shall collect samples of plants used in agriculture and document known populations of the plant, any threats to the plant and all potential uses. Research is encouraged to help lessen the threat of pests and disease and strengthening plant breeding practices.
It is encouraged that developed countries that are members of the treaty share research and knowledge of plant genetics with poorer countries and developing economies in order to sustain plant agriculture for the world's population.
Farmer's Rights
The members of the treaty acknowledge that without the experience and knowledge of indigenous and local farming communities throughout the world many plants and farming techniques would not exist today. Therefore members will allow farmers the right to protect indigenous secrets from national and international bodies.
Resources used
"INTERNATIONAL TREATY ON PLANT GENETIC RESOURCES FOR FOOD AND AGRICULTURE." 11 Dec. 2008 <ftp://ftp.fao.org/ag/cgrfa/it/ITPGRe.pdf>.
