Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to encourage international cooperation on the enforcement of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.

The UK has taken a lead in establishing a compliance mechanism, and is attending the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture’s sixth Governing Body in October 2015 which will consider further work to support implementation of, and compliance with, the Plant Treaty. This includes the development of online reporting tools. The UK is prepared to nominate an expert for the Plant Treaty’s Compliance Committee for the 2016-19 term.

The UK’s Darwin initiative is aimed at funding projects to help developing countries implement biodiversity conventions. Supporting the implementation of the Plant Treaty by developing countries is identified as a priority area for Darwin funding and we are now funding such projects, including one on the “Mutually supportive implementation of the Nagoya Protocol and Plant Treaty”.