Louise Fresco (left), FAO Assistant Director-General for Agriculture noted the rapid speed of ratifications and said that the Treaty currently has 61 Contracting Parties and the first meeting of the Governing Body should convene no later than two years from the Treaty entry into force.

Fernando Gerbasi (Venezuela), Chair of the first meeting of the ITPGR Interim Committee, opened the session highlighting ITPGR’s entry into force on 29 June 2004 and Spain’s offer to host the first meeting of the Governing Body. Above photo L-R: CGRFA-9 Chair Robert Bertram (US) in a lively discussion with Fernando Gerbasi (Venezuela), Chair of the first session of the ITPGR Interim Committee.

Delegates then elected the meeting’s Bureau. Upon a proposal by Portugal, on behalf of Europe, North America and Southwest Pacific, delegates elected Bryan Harvey (Canada) as Chair of the meeting, and Anders Christiansen (Denmark) (above center) and Kristiane Herrmann (Australia) ( above right) as Vice-Chairs. Panama, on behalf of the G-77, nominated Carlos Pozzo Bracho (Venezuela), Champak Chatterji (India) (above left) and Javad Mozafari (Iran) as Vice-Chairs, and Modesto Fernández (Cuba) as the meeting rapporteur, while nomination of one Vice-Chair is pending.

José Esquinas-Alcázar, CGRFA Secretary, presented the report (CGRFA/MIC-2/04/Inf.2), outlining the meeting agenda, and stressing that a successful first session of the Governing Body would pave the way for fast implementation of the Treaty.

Bryan Harvey, Chair of the second session of the ITPGR Interim Committee, expressed appreciation to Gerbasi for his contribution, and invited a report on progress and activities since the first meeting of the Interim Committee.

Noting with concern the limited participation of developing countries in the Expert Group meeting, BRAZIL proposed a more participatory and multi-disciplinary approach for the contact group. Above photo L-R: Maria Angelica Ikeda and Saulo Ceolin (Brazil)

Eng-Siang Lim (Malaysia), Chair of the Expert Group on the terms of the standard MTA, presented the group’s report.

The US proposed that the decision on the chair, composition and  Terms of References (TORs) of the contact group be made at this meeting. Above photo: David Hegwood (US)

IRAN stressed the need to convene an open-ended inter-sessional working group, as agreed at the first session of the Interim Committee, and called upon FAO to continue exploring funding possibilities. Above photo: Naini Noori (Iran)

The EU suggested convening the small group on draft rules of procedure as soon as possible. Above photo: Hans Hoogeven (The Netherlands on behalf of the EU)