Integration of Conservation Strategies of Plant Genetic ... - Genres

Australian collecting mission has been established in France for many years, collecting potential agents
for biological control on Australian farms. These efforts have given rise to important national, and
international, collections of stored material.
The first germplasm collections were set up by scientists interested in the study of genetic diversity. The
collections soon took on a second role, of conserving material that is threatened with extinction in its
native habitat. The argument was that such germplasm is irreplaceable - at least in the form of an
integrated genome, and accompanying cytoplasm. It is a natural resource, and there is much evidence
that the resource is disappearing.
Since the start of the first scientific research on the origin and extent of genetic diversity, scientists have
made informal working contacts across national borders. As the number of workers increased, various
international secretariats have been set up, to establish standards and to help coordination of effort in
germplasm collections. Important efforts in these areas have been and are made by, for example - the
Food and Agriculture Organisation, Rome; the International Board of Plant Genetic Resources, Rome;
the European Asssociation for Animal Production; the World Council for Nature and the Botanical
Gardens Conservation Secretariat; the United Nations Environment Programme. The early workers
would be amazed to see how far their subject has advanced. Indeed genetic diversity, and genetic
erosion, have become important subjects of political debate; see, for example the Convention on
Biological Diversity, signed by the Community and by its Member States on June 9 1992 at the United
Nations Conference on Environment and Development, in Rio de Janeiro. The subject has been debated
in European forums for more longer; see the European Parliament's Resolution of the genetic diversity
of cultivated plants, of 20 February 1986, and the discussion in the Council of Agricultural Ministers
on the conservation and utilization of plant genetic resources, on 26-27 March 1990.
3. The Proposed New Regulation
In 1992 the Commission made a report to the Council on the conservation and utilization of plant
genetic resources (SEC(92) 874 final of May 1992). The report lists a wide range of actions already
taken by the Commission, in various programmes of scientific research and technological development.
It also lists various problems that had become apparent during these programmes. The report that there
was a certain overlapping of programmes between the Member States, with a duplication of effort and
of conserved material. There was also a tendency to put material into store without information on the
detailed characters that are of interest to potential users. Almost all collections report that they need
more facilities and staff simply to finish the job of characterising the material already in store.
There is thus a need for action. The principle of subsidiarity in the Maastricht Treaty lays down that
responibility for action at national level lies primarily with national authorities. Much of the effort in
germplasm resources lies in this category. But there is also a need for action at Community level, in
order to coordinate the existing efforts, to fill gaps, and to improve the efficiency of the work. These are
the objectives of our proposed new Regulation, currently under discussion in the Council of Ministers
and in the Parliament.
The proposed Regulation would lay the basis for a five year programme, complementary to the work
already being undertaken in the Member States. The Programme would be oriented exclusively towards
practical actions; scientific research, and technological development, are excluded (these are in principle
already covered by the Community Framework Research Programmes). The programme would aim to
help the routine tasks of conservation, characterisation and utilisation: provided that they be undertaken
on a Community basis (the support of individual collections is a matter for the individual Member
States). The work programme has been written in such a way that each project will follow a logical