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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3>PLANT GENETIC
RESOURCES: NEW RULES FOR INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE<BR>June/July 2003<BR>ERS
Information Newsletter<BR></FONT><A
href="http://www.ers.usda.gov/News/June_July2003Media.pdf"><FONT
face="Times New Roman"
size=3>http://www.ers.usda.gov/News/June_July2003Media.pdf</FONT></A><BR><FONT
face="Times New Roman" size=3>Plant genetic resources (also called germplasm)
are critical to meeting<BR>rising public expectations concerning the quantity
and the quality of food.<BR>All crops descend from wild and improved genetic
resources from around the<BR>world. To make crops more resistant to pests and
diseases and to improve<BR>other attributes, modern plant breeders must
continually seek new genetic<BR>resources from outside the stocks with which
they routinely work. To assure<BR>the preservation of diverse germplasm, some of
which is endangered, and to<BR>facilitate equitable international exchange of
germplasm, delegates from 116<BR>countries voted in November 2001 to approve a
new United Nations<BR>International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food
and Agriculture.<BR>The treaty is certain to have effects on the United States,
which has the<BR>largest national germplasm collection in the world and the
largest<BR>investment in plant breeding. Kelly Day-Rubenstein; (202)
694-5515;<BR></FONT><A href="mailto:kday@ers.usda.gov"><FONT
face="Times New Roman"
size=3>kday@ers.usda.gov</FONT></A><BR></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>