National Awareness Workshop on International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, Multilateral System of Germplasm Access and Benefit Sharing, Convention on Biological Diversity, Nagoyo Protocol and Draft Access and Benefit Sharing Policy of Bhutan held in Thimphu.
A National Awareness Workshop on “International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture”, “Multilateral System of Germplasm Access and Benefit Sharing”, “Convention on Biological Diversity”, “Nagoyo Protocol” and “Draft Access and Benefit Sharing Policy of Bhutan” was held in Thimphu on 3rd December 2014.
National Awareness Workshop was conducted as a part of series of awareness raising programs being conducted by NBC at various levels on themes surrounding biodiversity. The objectives of the National Awareness Workshop was to create awareness and understanding on the international treaties and conventions surrounding biodiversity and in particular on International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) and Multilateral System (MLS) of germplasm exchange under ITPGRFA regime.
The key areas covered during the National Awareness Workshop included:
- Germplasm exchange situation and scenario pre CBD, CBD and post CBD;
- International treaty on Plant Genetic Resources (ITPGRFA) and its salient features;
- Objectives of Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources (ITPGRFA);
- Interrelationships between CBD and ITPGRFA;
- Differences between CBD & ITPGRFA;
- Multilateral System (MLS) of germplasm access under ITPGRFA;
- Mechanism of sharing germplasm under MLS and Standard Material Transfer Agreement (SMTA);
- Benefit Sharing Fund (BSF) under MLS;
- Draft Access and Benefit Sharing (ABS) Policy of Bhutan;
- Prospects & benefits of participation in MLS;
- Initiatives & status related to ABS in Bhutan;
- Process and procedure for access of and benefit sharing in Bhutan.
The National Awareness Workshop was attended by more than 30 officials representing policy makers, researchers, professionals, academia and conservationist from various organizations. The participants were from Policy and Planning Division, Department of Agriculture, Council of RNR Research of Bhutan, Bhutan Agriculture and Food Regulatory Authority, Research and Development Centre Yusipang, National Seed Centre, National Plant Protection Centre, National Potato Program, National Organic Program, College of Natural Resources, Bhutan Alpine Seeds and National Biodiversity Centre.
The National Awareness Workshop was organized by the National Biodiversity Centre (NBC), Ministry of Agriculture and Forests with funding support from GRPI2 project funded by Bioversity International.
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