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Message to the Senate of the United States
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For Immediate Release Office of the Press Secretary July 7, 2008

Message to the Senate of the United States

ÿÿWhite House News


TO THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES:

I transmit herewith for advice and consent of the Senate to ratification
the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and
Agriculture, adopted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations on November 3, 2001, and signed by the United States on November 1,
2002 (the "Treaty"). The Treaty entered into force in June 2004.

The centerpiece of the Treaty is the establishment of a multilateral system
under which a party provides access to other parties, upon request, to
listed plant genetic resources held in national genebanks. These resources
are to be used solely for purposes of research, breeding, and training in
agriculture. A recipient of such a resource must then share the benefits
from its use, e.g., a recipient who commercializes a product containing an
accessed plant genetic resource must generally pay a percentage of any
gross sales into a trust account.

Transfers under the multilateral system are to be accompanied by a standard
material transfer agreement, the current version of which was concluded in
June 2006.

Provision of plant genetic resources from U.S. genebanks is fully
consistent with the Department of Agriculture's long-standing general
practice of providing access to such plant genetic resources upon request.
Ratification of the Treaty will provide U.S. agricultural interests with
similar access to other parties' genebanks, thus helping U.S. farmers and
researchers sustain and improve their crops and promote food security.

The Treaty may be implemented under existing U.S. authorities.

I also transmit, for the information of the Senate, the report of the
Department of State concerning the Treaty, which contains an understanding
regarding Article 12.

GEORGE W. BUSH

THE WHITE HOUSE,

July 7, 2008.

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