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56 SEEDWORLD.COM OCTOBER 2015 In Luzon Philippines farmers build terraces of rice a key crop exchanged under the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. 136 parties are contracted to the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. 64 crops are exchanged under the treaty. BY THE NUMBERS to exchange genetic resources in an easy way through the Standard Material Transfer Agreement. It might not be completely ideal but it makes the exchange of genetic resources possible and allows the flow to continue. Rice is one of the key crops exchanged under the treaty. In the Philippines the International Rice Research Institute IRRI has collected more than 100000 varieties of rice. Its staff of plant breeders at the IRRI gene bank focus on improving rice vari- eties to help farmers prepare for future challenges that might come their way. On average IRRI sends out 200 samples a day using the treatys Standard Material Transfer Agreement. According to the treaty the Standard Material Transfer Agreement is a mandatory model for contracting parties wishing to provide and receive material under the multilateral system. Everyone recognizes that its very important to send rice from one country to another but there is a big difficult question of fairness says Ruaraidh Sackville Hamilton head of IRRIs Genetic Resources Center. It needs to be used but it needs to not be misused. The treaty in general and the Standard Material Transfer Agreement give us the confidence that we are not sending rice like that and the benefits will be shared fairly. However the Access and Benefit-sharing mechanism of the treaty is not working as many had hoped and how benefits are shared seems to be a point of consternation. Theres not as much money flowing in as many had hoped van den Hurk says. Sharing Expertise In September IRRI announced that Sackville Hamilton would be joining the ITPGRFA secre- tariat at the FAO of the United Nations to bolster implementation of the treaty. He will spend part of his time in Los Baos and part in Rome. An evolutionary biologist with four decades of experience in plant genetic resources Hamilton will share his deep scientific expertise as head of the gene bank maintained by IRRI to strengthen the global information system GLIS on plant genetic resources under the treaty and its multi- lateral system of access and benefit-sharing. Ruaraidhs expertise which draws on and honors thousands of years of farmers knowl- edge will be made available to help address a broader set of global food security challenges through the scientific and informatics work of the treaty shares Robert Zeigler director general of IRRI. Hamilton will help to develop options for improving the instruments that enable the fair and equitable sharing of genetic resources. Benefits Not Realized Under the current system van den Hurk says that benefit-sharing can be monetary and non- monetary however non-monetary sharing is not always felt as sufficient particularly by developing countries. In principle when accessing genetic resources from another country the accessing party must abide by the Standard Material Transfer Agreement which has minimal upfront fees she says. Under the agreement if the developed variety is not free for research and breeding then the accessor is obligated to pay 1.1 percent of gross sales minus 30 percent. If the variety is available for research and breeding accessors are asked to voluntarily contribute the same amount.