The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee will be voting today on one of the the American Seed Trade Association’s (ASTA) top legislative priorities – the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. ASTA is urging the Committee to vote in favor of the Treaty to move it forward to the full Senate for ratification.
ASTA president and CEO Andy LaVigne says the Treaty, which was a big topic at the association’s annual meeting this week, is a simple and non-controversial solution to enable the exchange of plant materials globally.
“The treaty was adopted globally back in the late 1990s and companies began to adopt it in the early 2000s,” said LaVigne. “President Bush pushed it forward to the Senate for passage back in 2008 so this has been hanging out there for eight years trying to get through Senate ratification.”
LaVigne says research shows that more than seventy percent of the food we eat and grow comes from crops that are not native to the U.S. and American researchers need access to global plant materials as they work to develop the next generation of plant varieties to prepare for future challenges like evolving plant pests and diseases, changing climates, and feeding a growing population.
The Treaty has been ratified by more than 139 countries, many of which are both competitors of U.S. agriculture as well as important sources of seed exchange for public and private breeders here at home. Ratification would require no new laws, and it would not require any appropriations from Congress.
In this interview, LaVigne talks about the treaty and the issue of GMO labeling, which is also on the Senate’s plate as a state law in Vermont is due to be implemented by July 1. Interview with Andy LaVigne, ASTA