SEPTEMBER 2017 GERMINATION.CA 33 “When we first initiated our efforts in this area two years ago, ISF had to clarify its role and focus,” says Keller. Consequently, three key objectives were identified: 1. To facilitate policies across countries that don’t impede, but rather enable the adoption of new technolo- gies and foster harmonized regulations across countries. 2. To communicate with ISF members and other parts of the value chain. 3. To create alliances with stakeholders, public plant breeders and research institutes. When the working group started, members focused first on policy. Laying the Groundwork The working group started by hosting off-the-record meetings, designed as an information exchange, with individuals from key countries. They were asked: “What could be done to facilitate consistent science-based poli- cies across countries?” This led to some very good discus- sions, Slutsky says. From there, the Plant Breeding Innovation Working Group developed a concept paper to foster discussion and serve as a roadmap for national seed associations and ISF members when working with governments and stakehold- ers. The paper provides a detailed background on plant breeding and the tools and technologies available today. “Essentially, if you can reach the same product end- point with traditional plant breeding as with the new technologies, then we believe they should be governed the same as products derived from traditional breeding,” Slutsky summarizes. The paper, which has been translated into Chinese, Korean, French and Spanish, with more languages to come, outlines criteria to help governments determine if products should fall within, or out of, the GM regulatory framework. “Our hope is that if governments follow the criteria pro- vided, there will be consistency among countries,” she says. Meanwhile, the communications subgroup of the Plant Breeding Innovation Working Group has been develop- ing a communication toolkit that comprises infograph- ics, presentations and a discussion guide on how to talk about the topic. “These tools are designed to support our national and regional seed associations in their communications with their public stakeholders, policymakers and members,” explains Jennifer Clowes, ISF communications manager, who is coordinating this project. The Road Ahead But the Plant Breeding Innovation Working Group isn’t done; there’s a lot of road ahead. The communications subgroup will be developing a frequently asked questions document. The primary working group will expand its reach by collecting input and feedback from more coun- tries. Additionally, the working group will begin talking about the importance of plant breeding innovation as part of other international meetings. These include the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Asia-Pacific economic community. “These are places where governments are already meeting,” Slutsky says. “We are trying to get on the agendas to talk about the concept paper and discuss the importance of plant breeding innovation. In some cases, we’ll even look to host a side event.” FAO hosted a meeting on agricultural innovation, while OECD convened in Canada on gene editing, and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation held a two-day workshop last June on plant breeding and the use of gene editing. Now ISF encourages members to start communicating with their governments and to proactively engage in con- versations with their partners and downstream stakehold- ers in the value chain. “It’s important that our conversations don’t just focus on the technology of gene editing,” Keller says. “Gene editing wouldn’t be useful at all if we didn’t have the accumulation of knowledge such as genome mapping, marker-assisted selection and others. As co-chair of the International Seed Federation’s Plant Breeding Innovation Working Group, Bernice Slutsky knows the next year to two years are critical in terms of paving the path ahead.