Andrew Southcott (Boothby, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties, I present the committee’s report entitled Report 74—Treaty tabled on 28 March 2006: agreement for establishment of the Global Crop Diversity Trust.

Ordered that the report be made a parliamentary paper.

Report 74 contains the findings and recommendation of the review of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties of the agreement for the establishment of the Global Crop Diversity Trust, tabled in parliament on 28 March 2006. The agreement for the establishment of the Global Crop Diversity Trust, although a separate legal instrument, will operate within the framework of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.

The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture was reviewed in the 68th report of the committee and provides a binding international framework for the conservation, sustainable use and exchange of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture for global food security. The agreement, through the establishment of the Global Crop Diversity Trust, secures the long-term conservation aims of the international treaty through long-term funding. The agreement will provide for the establishment of a trust to finance gene bank conservation of crop genetic diversity. The focus of the trust will be to secure the future of key international collections under the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research system.

The trust is a public-private partnership that will be financed by voluntary contributions from North American and European corporations and private foundations. The permanent endowment will be $US260 million and will generate $US10 million to $US14 million annually for the maintenance of eligible national, regional and international gene banks or collections of crop diversity. While the majority of funding received in the early stages has come from national governments, the trust will shortly commence fundraising, concentrating on private sources. Australia has made the largest overall financial commitment to the trust of $A12.5 million. The government informed the committee that accession to the agreement would formalise Australia’s involvement in line with its commitment to global crop diversity and complement Australia’s interests in the international treaty.

The committee has agreed to fast-track the review of this treaty, as on 6 April 2006 the Hon. Alexander Downer, Minister for Foreign Affairs, informed the committee that Australia is seeking to secure a position on the Executive Board of the Global Crop Diversity Trust. Further, the minister stated that Australia’s position on the board would ensure appropriate consideration of Australia’ s interests and that Australia’s executive board campaign would be strengthened if Australia were in a position to become a party to the trust agreement at the time of the board’s first meeting. The board’s first meeting is scheduled to take place from 12 to 15 June 2006. I thank all members of the committee for facilitation of this speedy review.

The executive board of the trust will have responsibility for the operation of the trust, control over its budget and ensure its policies are in line with those of the international treaty. The committee was informed that Australia has taken a leading role in the establishment of the trust and its ongoing management and administration. Australia was elected Chair of the Donor’s Council of the trust for an initial term of three years at the inaugural meeting of the council in October 2005. In this role, Australia is responsible for selecting four members of the executive board of the trust in the first half of 2006.

As the parliament would be aware, the period for review of proposed category 1 treaty actions by JSCOT is 20 sitting days. The period of review for this treaty would have expired in mid-August, at which time the committee expects to report on seven other proposed treaty actions which were tabled on 28 March 2006. In considering this treaty action, the committee was concerned that only one other member of the Cairns Group was a member of this treaty. The committee was also concerned that there were no other developed countries such as the United States and Canada which Australia would benchmark itself against in the area of agricultural research that were also party to this agreement. The committee was also concerned that in our three-year review of the overarching treaty this trust agreement was not brought to its attention.

However, in conclusion, on balance the committee does support Australia’s campaign to seek a position on the executive board of the trust and believes that Australia’s representation on the executive board will ensure appropriate consideration of Australia’s interests at the upcoming meeting of the governing body of the international treaty. The committee therefore recommends that the treaty reviewed in report 74 be acceded to. I commend the report to the House. (Time expired)

Kim Wilkie (Swan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Report 74 of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties contains the review of the agreement for the establishment of the Global Crop Diversity Trust. The thrust of the agreement is to establish a permanent funding structure that will help maintain the genetic plant material held in the field and in gene banks. The International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture provides for the physical maintenance of genetic plant material for food and agriculture and was previously reviewed by the committee and appears in report 68.

The committee received evidence that in the last 25 years there has been an accelerated decline in agricultural diversity due mainly to large increases in population and unsustainable practices affecting the natural environment. This situation has also negatively influenced the security of food sources and put these food sources at risk in the wild and in gene bank collections. The role of the 1,470 gene banks in existence is to conserve, manage and reproduce crop varieties and their related wild species, of which there are approximately 5.4 million samples in existence. Sixty-five per cent of gene banks are located in developing nations and receive annual funding. However, since 1996, around 60 per cent of funding for the world’s gene banks has either decreased or remained static.

It is recognised that genetic diversity is central to agricultural innovation and allows for the breeding of crops that will increase production and enhance the capacity to manage new and existing threats from pests, diseases, climate change and environmental degradation. As a major agricultural producer and plant breeder, Australia has a national interest in ensuring the maintenance of continued access to genetic material held in international gene banks. In addition to ensuring that Australia will have continued access to the genetic material held in international gene banks, the trust will complement Australia’s aid program by reducing poverty and improving food security in developing partner countries. The committee received information that new varieties of high-yielding crops secure export markets for agricultural produce and increase domestic and export earnings, thereby contributing to economic growth in a developing country.

As a joint initiative of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation and the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute, the trust will provide technical and capacity-building assistance to enable collections of genetic resources to meet required standards and promote and assist in the development of a rational and efficient system of crop diversity conservation in gene banks internationally.

An executive board, to which Australia has indicated its intention to join, will manage the trust with an annual budget of $US260 million and an annual turnover of between $US10 million to $US14 million. The Grains Research and Development Corporation of Australia has pledged $US5 million and the Australian government has pledged $US7.5 million to the trust.

In its role as Chair of the Donor’s Council, Australia is nominating a member of the inaugural executive board. Australia will also be responsible for selecting four members of the existing executive board of the trust by mid-2006. A number of Australian agencies support Australia’s pursuit of a seat on the executive board. These include the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, the Grains Research and Development Corporation, the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation and the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering Crawford Fund.

The committee has indicated its support for Australia’s pursuit of a position on the executive board of the trust, given the upcoming meeting of the organisation. However, the committee has indicated that it is concerned that it was not informed of the trust agreement during the course of its three-year review of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, which would have allowed for greater scrutiny of this agreement. The committee is further concerned that only one member of the Cairns Group of nations is involved in the treaty, given their importance to Australia. I commend the report to the House and again thank the secretariat for their ongoing work for the committee.

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The time allotted for statements on this report has expired. Does the member for Boothby wish to move a motion in connection with the report to enable it to be debated on a future occasion?

Andrew Southcott (Boothby, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the House take note of the report.

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In accordance with sessional order 39, the debate is adjourned. The resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.