Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew policy information on the International Treaty for Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

The International Treaty for Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, ITPGRFA aims to conserve plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA); to use PGRFA sustainably; and to share benefits arising from their use, in harmony with the Convention on Biological Diversity (see also Kew's publication, the CBD for Botanists. The ITPGRFA was adopted by the members of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization in 2002, and came into force in 2004. It is a legally binding treaty which covers plant genetic resources relating to food and agriculture.

Under the ITGRFA, countries established a Multilateral System to facilitate access to plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, and to share the benefits in a fair and equitable way. The Multilateral System applies to over 64 major crops and forages (see Annex 1 of the ITPGRFA).

The ITPGRFA requires that facilitated access to PGRFA is given where PGRFA is under the management and control of Contracting Parties. Access to PGRFA is provided solely for the purpose of utilisation and conservation for research, breeding and training for food and agriculture.

As The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body, seed collections (and associated data) held at Kew which are eligible for inclusion under the Multilateral System are made available free of charge to bona fide users from countries that are parties to the ITPGRFA for the purposes of research, breeding and training by bona fide organisations in relation to food and fodder production.

Some collections of species listed under Annex 1 of the ITPGRFA held by Kew have been provided under pre-existing legally binding bilateral agreements (such as access and benefit-sharing agreements or memoranda of understanding) with the provider country of the material. In these cases, Kew is not able to make collections available under the Multilateral System due to terms in those agreements. In addition, small collection size or seed dormancy problems may preclude inclusion of some collections in the seed list; we will endeavour to keep this to a minimum.