[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 44, Number 27 (Monday, July 14, 2008)]
[Page 971]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Message to the Senate Transmitting the International Treaty on Plant 
Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture

July 7, 2008

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.

Note: This message was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
July 8.