Report of the Ninth Meeting of the CGIAR Genetic Resources Policy Committee

Abstract

Report of the ninth meeting of the CGIAR Genetic Resources Policy Committee (GRPC), held at the M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation in Chennai, India in February 1999. The meeting was preceded by a consultation on underutilized crops. The summary report of the consultation was listed as an annex to this report, but is not attached to this copy. The GRPC encouraged more attention to these crops by the CGIAR and highlighted a number of points in the conclusions and recommendations of the consultation. It saw a particular role for IPGRI as a potential focus for underutilized crops in the CGIAR. The GRPC reviewed recent work of the Systemwide Genetic Resources Program (SGRP). The Committee endorsed SGRP efforts to obtain special funding for an upgrade of center genebank facilities and operations. It endorsed the effort to elaborate a strategic approach to in situ conservation. The GRPC said that the IPGRI Board was the logical body to provide oversight of the SGRP, with the Inter-Center Working Group on Genetic Resources (ICWG-GR) continuing to provide advice.In connection with the System Review, the GRPC was please that ISNAR was establishing a central advisory service on intellectual property rights. It suggested some changes in the revised terms of reference being proposed for the GRPC.In connection with the renegotiation of the International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources, the GRPC pointed out that the outcome of these negotiations was critical to the ability of the centers to accomplish their goals. The Committee noted that the uncertainty of the present status was having a negative effect on the work of many centers. If an appropriate response to a set of proposals was received from the N. I. Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry in St. Petersberg, the Committee urged the CGIAR to participate in a mission to explore means for stabilizing the Institute.