Eighth meeting of the Steering Committee
14-17 October 2001
St. Petersburg, Russian Federation

During the first cool days of October (14-17), the N.I. Vavilov Research Institute of Plant Industry (VIR) and the historic city of St. Petersburg, Russian Federation, offered their hospitality and ambience as inspiration for the eighth meeting of the ECPGR Steering Committee. Progress made by this Cooperative Programme during the first part of Phase VI (1999–2003) was evaluated, and recommendations and adjustments made for the remaining two years and beyond.

Participants included representatives from 29 of the 35 member countries, and observers from six other European countries, who were encouraged to join the Programme. Observers from the International Association of Plant Breeders for the Protection of Plant Varieties (ASSINSEL), the Man and Biosphere Programme (EuroMAB), FAO, IPGRI, the Nordic Gene Bank (NGB), and an NGO representative, actively participated in the meeting, ensuring closer links between ECPGR and their organizations. A representative from the European Commission was unable to attend, but expressed interest in attending future meetings.

The agenda included several policy items, especially relevant to the convening of this Steering Committee meeting, just prior to the final negotiations of the revision of the International Undertaking (IU), (see article above). The Steering Committee endorsed a statement expressing support for the package of benefit sharing, financial arrangements and facilitated access as identified in the draft of the IU. The statement also expressed concern for the limited list of crops to which the Multilateral System would apply, and urged it to be expanded so that the system could have maximum effect on world food security.

Regarding conservation in Europe, general support was given for a system of responsibility sharing, as indicated by the results of a questionnaire sent by the IPGRI Secretariat to collection holders. Increased involvement and responsibility by the private sector and NGOs was recommended, and further data analysis was suggested to identify appropriate responsibility sharing mechanisms to facilitate the implementation efforts of the Working Groups.

A presentation of progress made at this mid-way point in Phase VI demonstrated that several activities undertaken were directly recommended by the Braunschweig Symposium on PGRFA (1998) such as the implementation of priority activities of the Global Plan of Action in Europe. These include, inter alia, the establishment of networking activities on wild relatives of cultivated crops, on-farm conservation and underutilized crops; Working Groups’ initiatives for the rationalizing of regeneration methods and the establishment of core collections; inter-regional collaboration, and further development of a PGR information system in Europe.

The Committee noted that a larger number of activities than originally planned had taken place during the first part of Phase VI, including meetings of the Beta, Potato and Barley Working Groups. This was due to a revision of the workplans and budget, promoted by the new Network Coordinating Groups. The careful planning of joint meetings and other savings ensured the availability of the required funds, making it possible to plan for an increase in the number of activities and an expansion of the scope of ECPGR to an enlarged range of crops in the remaining two years.

Three new Working Groups were established (Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Solanaceae and Vitis), and new activities on Arachis, flax, sunflower, cucurbits, leafy vegetables, Secale and Triticale were encouraged. Meetings of the Forages, Malus/Pyrus and Prunus Working Groups were also planned. The Committee commended the Thematic Networks for their intense activity at the outset, and approved the further development of proposed initiatives, such as inter-regional cooperation workshops on policy, documentation and in situ conservation; a project to survey genetic diversity of Romanian landraces conserved on-farm; meetings of the On-Farm Task Force to promote collaborative action in Europe, and the participation of non-EU national documentation Focal Persons in the EPGRIS project meetings (see page 5).

After reviewing the objectives and modus operandi of ECPGR, the Committee recommended that two of the objectives be given increased attention during the remainder of Phase VI, specifically, to facilitate the increased utilization of PGRFA Europe and to increase awareness, at all levels, of the importance of PGRFA activities including conservation and sustainable use. Regarding the effectiveness of "full" Network meetings (i.e. more than one Working Group), the Committee felt the need to be flexible in the future and to be attentive to the perceived needs of the Networks. It was recommended that each Network carefully assess the potential benefits of full Network meetings against the high cost involved.

The design of a strategy for the future of ECPGR is expected to emerge from the work of two proposed Task Forces addressing complementary issues: 1) The impact of recent developments in relevant science, technology and international policy on crop genetic resources in general, on ECPGR policies and future workplan; 2) The implementation of relevant international agreements by genebanks and how these will affect the work of genebanks and other collection holders.

The brainstorming undertaken by these Task Forces promises to set the scene for the next Phase of ECPGR, to be discussed at the ninth Steering Committee meeting to be held in October 2003.

A detailed report of this meeting is available from the Secretariat [here].