International law of sustainable agriculture in the 21st century: The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

Georgetown International Environmental Law Review, Summer 2003 by Rose, Gregory

The CGRFA has 165 member countries, a number that has been fairly static for several years,22 though it is open to all FAO members and associate members. The CGRFA makes its decisions by consensus, but a "one country, one vote" approach to decision making can be taken when necessary.23 The CGRFA meets biennially and operates intersessionally through Intergovernmental Technical Working Groups.24 It spends most of its time serving as a political forum, debating issues of policy for PGRFA activities.

The CGRFA Secretariat, located within the FAO Secretariat, is the expert body that undertakes the collection of preparatory information, research, and the formulation and adoption of documents prior to CGRFA deliberation. The CGRFA Secretariat is responsible for overseeing the Global System for PGRFA.25 The CGRFA is to act as the PGR Treaty's Interim Committee until the Treaty enters into force26 and thereafter will meet back to back with the Governing Body of the PGR Treaty.27

C. SCHEME: GLOBAL SYSTEM ON PLANT GENETIC RESOURCES

The FAO Global System for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture originally consisted of just a soft law framework (i.e., the International Undertaking that has now evolved into the PGR Treaty) and an inter-governmental forum (the Commission on Plant Genetic Resources). To bring together other disparate international PGRFA management efforts, the Global System has been extended to include: Codes of Conduct and Guidelines; cooperative networks for PGRFA conservation and delivery; an expanding information base on global holdings and erosion of PGRFA; and a global PGRFA management program.28 These parts, set out in Table I below, are not highly integrated but are gradually becoming more coherent. The Global System is, in effect, a short hand reference to most of the family members related to the PGR Treaty.

D. INFORMATION OVERVIEW: STATE OF THE WORLD'S PGRFA

Effective management of PGRA requires a sound information base. To inform policy formulation, the CGRFA Secretariat compiled the most recent Report on the State of the World's PGRFA for the 1996 FAO International Technical Conference on PGRFA in Leipzig. The Report was designed to expose gaps, constraints, and emergency situations to guide the CGRFA's future discussions and to provide an authoritative base for the Global Plan of Action at that meeting.29 The Report covered all aspects of conservation and the utilisation of PGRFA and identified programs being carried out by regional, international, and non-governmental organisations.30

Signatories to the International Undertaking were required to report annually to the FAO on measures they had taken or proposed to take for the exploration, preservation, evaluation, and availability of PGRFA,31 but they neglected this responsibility. Although the Report on the State of the World's PGRFA established a template for such information collection, the PGR Treaty does not impose any reporting obligations on the contracting parties.