ICS Scientist Attended the 5th Session of the Governing Body of the International Treaty

A Chinese delegation attended as observers to the 5th Session of the Governing Body (GB) of the International Treaty of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGR) during September 24-28, 2003 in Muscat, Oman. The delegation was led by Ms. Ma Shuping, Deputy Director of the Bureau of Seed Management of Ministry of Agriculture and Mr. Wang Shumin, Research Fellow of Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences.

GB5 is the 5th session of the GB and chaired by Mr. Javad Mozafari Hashijin (Iran), President of the Bureau of GB5. Mr. Fuaad Bin Jaafar Al-Sajwani, Minister of Agriculture and Fishery of Oman attended the opening ceremony and closing ceremony, and Director General of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Dr. Wang Ren, Assistant Director General of Agriculture and Consumer Protection Department delivered speeches to the conference through videos. More than 350 participants from 129 Parties, some non-Parties, Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), International Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV), Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), and non-governmental organizations attended the event.

GB5 reviewed the 25 topics in the implementation in last two years, including "the multilateral system of access and benefit-sharing", "sustainable utilization of plant genetic resources", "funding strategy", and "implementation of farmers' rights", and discussed and adopted 12 resolutions, providing a guide to successful implementation of ITPGR in the next two years.

China has not yet joined in ITPGR, but has to seriously consider it, given the development of the modern seed industry and the urgent need of overseas excellent genetic resources in plant breeding. It is suggested that the National Crop Germplasm Committee accelerate the studies on this issue and seek the views of various ministries, organs, and experts, so as to help China join in ITPGR.