Is cúis mhór áthais dom theacht anseo le freastal ar an choiste an-tábhachtach seo, Coiste Talmhaíochta agus Bia an Oireachtais. Tá rún an-tábhachtach le bheith againn inniu faoin Chonradh Idirnáisiúnta um Acmhainní Géinteacha Phlanda do Bhia agus Talmhaíochta agus tá mé ag súil go mbeidh tacaíocht an choiste ar fáil ar an rún a chuirfear ansin faoi bhráid na Dála le reachtáil ar son na tíre.
My Department is arranging to have the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture ratified, in tandem with all other member states, at a joint ratification ceremony on a date to be decided but will most likely be in the first four months of 2004. The approval of the select committee is required so that my colleague, the Minister for Agriculture and Food can ratify the treaty during the Irish Presidency of the European Union. It is for this reason the motion is being debated. I will outline background information on plant genetic resources and, hopefully, reply to members' questions.
Following Government approval, the treaty was signed by Ireland, in tandem with all other member states, at a joint signing ceremony in Rome last June. The treaty arises from the bringing together of two distinct international instruments, the international undertaking on plant genetic resources for food and agriculture and the Convention on Biological Diversity involving the governance of plant genetic resources on a worldwide scale.
Plant genetic resources is the term given to the diverse forms of plant life on the planet. The ever increasing demands being made on the earth's natural and cultivated resources to feed and sustain human life have led to a serious depletion of the diversity of all forms of plant life. State authorities and non-governmental organisations began to view this drain with increasing alarm and the first serious efforts to address this on a worldwide scale came in 1983, with the establishment, under the aegis of the Food and Agricultural Organisation, FAO, of a non-legally binding International Undertaking on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, PGRFA. The objective of this undertaking was to ensure that plant genetic resources of agricultural importance and especially those relevant to future food security were collected, preserved and, ultimately, utilised in commercial plant breeding programmes.
During the 1980s and early 1990s biodiversity had become an issue of worldwide concern at the highest level. This led to the holding of the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, often referred to as the earth summit. Almost 180 governments, including Ireland, were represented at the summit. One of the major outputs from this conference was the Convention on Biological Diversity. The convention was signed by more than 150 countries including Ireland and the EU and has been ratified at this stage by a similar number of countries.
The objectives of the Convention on Biological Diversity are the conservation of biological diversity; the sustainable use of its components; and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising from the use of genetic resources. The convention specifically covers biological diversity at the genetic level. Many of the richest areas of biodiversity are found in the least developed countries. The convention recognises that biological diversity should be conserved for reasons of ethics, economic benefit and human survival. Issues such as access to genetic resources, sharing of benefits from the use of genetic resources and access to a transfer of technology, including biotechnology, are included under the convention.
The convention differed to the international undertaking of 1983 in its approach to plant genetic resources by recognising, among other things, that control over such resources is a matter for national sovereignty. The FAO accepted this advance in thinking and ordered that its international understanding should be revised to harmonise with the Convention on Biological Diversity position. The fruit of that harmonisation is the international treaty on which approval to ratify is sought from the committee.
Apart from stipulating that control over genetic resources is a national issue, the treaty also deals with the following specific issues: the obligation to provide access to all genetic resources contained in annexe 1 of the treaty - there will be unlimited access, through a multilateral system to all plant genetic resources in the public domain, for example gene banks and national collections, etc. Access includes associated technology, information and records; fair and equitable benefit sharing between commercial users and those who develop the genetic resources - benefits could include money, information and technology, with the FAO preferring to emphasise the importance of sharing the latter two features over money; farmers' rights - farmers who have played a role in conserving genetic resources, especially in Third World countries, should get recognition for performing a vital function and, thereby, be provided with a tangible benefit in return; supporting components - promotion and effective implementation of the rolling global plan of action for the conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture through national actions and International co-operation to provide a coherent framework for capacity building, technology transfer and exchange of information; develop and strengthen the global information system to facilitate the exchange of information based on existing information systems on scientific, technical and environmental matters related to plant genetic resources for food and agriculture; and intellectual property rights - recipients of a plant genetic resource shall not claim any intellectual property or other rights that limit further access to that plant genetic resource or their genetic parts or components in the form received through the multilateral system.
I would also like to outline the position regarding plant genetic resources in Ireland. Plant conservation activities involve various organisations such as Departments, universities, Teagasc and other NGOs. However, the specific management and use of genetic resources in Ireland are in the hands of farmers, breeders' organisations and commercial industry. Co-operation, therefore, among all these players is crucial to the better management and conservation of genetic resources. This should enable the development and use of a wider array of genetic resources in commercial agriculture.
The Department of Agriculture and Food has direct responsibility for facilitating the conservation and utilisation of genetic resources for food and agriculture. In fulfilling its responsibility, the Department co-ordinates the implementation of national activities, which have the following primary policy objectives: the utilisation of genetic resources to increase national food security; the conservation of unique genetic resources, whose survival is endangered; and promoting public awareness of genetic resource management strategies. The Department is aided and advised in this task by an advisory committee on genetic resources for food and agriculture, which comprises stakeholders, experts and officials from a number of relevant Departments.
The Department operates a programme under which grant aid is provided for conservation projects. Since 1996, it has provided almost €600,000 in grants to support the location, research and conservation of Irish-based genetic resources. Almost two thirds of this amount has been directed to plant genetic resources, with the remainder going to animal genetic resources. The plant projects to benefit most under this programme relate to apples, grasses, cereals and beet. I trust this information is of assistance to the committee in its consideration of this important motion and I look forward to members' comments.