Documents

Documents and SMTA

Documents - Informed consent and privacy statement

Before deciding whether to participate, please read this document carefully. In accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (EU Regulation 2016/679), by agreeing to the following document, I declare that I have been informed that:

• All data are collected and treated anonymously in accordance with privacy laws and only for research purposes;
• Participation in the study is voluntary and free;
• The personal data provided will be processed by the Miquel Agustí Foundation of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia-BarcelonaTech (Prof. Joan Casals), by the Institut de Conservació i Millora de l’Agrodiversitat Valenciana from Polytechnic University of Valencia (Prof. Maria José Díez), and by the University of Tuscia, Viterbo, Italy (Prof. Andrea Mazzucato);
• Your consent is freely expressed and can be revoked at any time during the completion of the experiment, even without notice, without causing any disadvantage or prejudice.

If you have any doubts or need more information you can contact us by e-mail at the National information points writing in Spanish /Catalan (harnesstom@fundaciomiquelagusti.cat), in Italian (harnesstom@unitus.it) or in Bulgarian (harnesstom.bg@abv.bg) (All info points also respond in English).

Standard Material Transfer Agreement (SMTA)

The "Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture" (ITPGRFA; "Treaty") has been in force since 2004. A Multilateral System of Access and Benefit Sharing (MLS) facilitates access to plant genetic resources for food and agriculture (PGRFA) and associated information for 64 agricultural crop and forage species. The MLS was created to facilitate exchange of material and information while ensuring appropriate sharing of benefits derived from the use of PGRFA.

The Standard Material Transfer Agreement is a mandatory model for parties wishing to provide and receive material under the Multilateral System. It is the result of lengthy negotiation among the Contracting Parties to the Treaty and may not be varied or abbreviated in any way. However, as a template, it contains some paragraphs and sections that need to be completed to each use.

The SMTA provides a standardized, mutually agreed way to facilitate access to and fair use of PGRFA for conservation, development and training to promote sustainable agricultural development.

Without the SMTA, anyone could claim ownership of the PGRFA material and information received, apply for patents, or assert other forms of intellectual property rights. Additionally, at each transfer, potentially lengthy negotiations would be required to define the terms of the transfer.

The text of the SMTA is fixed by the Treaty and cannot be changed: the SMTA must be accepted as it is. It is a private contract between the provider and the recipient and is legally binding regardless of their status or the countries in which they reside. Among other obligations, the recipient can transfer the material received to third parties only under a new SMTA.

Recipients have no financial obligations if they directly consume the harvested products (also, the harvested products can be sold as vegetables for consumption). The PGRFA material can be used or redistributed free of charge for research and breeding purposes. Farmers are invited to request and farm with PGRFA. They can grow and sell the products commercially just as they would with any other variety. They just can't patent them. However, use for chemical, pharmaceutical or other industrial purposes other than food or feed production is expressly prohibited.

Easy-SMTA is the IT System developed to support the MLS of the Treaty. This System has been developed by the Secretariat of the Treaty. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (http://www.fao.org/home/en/) is the institution hosting this Secretariat and as designated Third Party Beneficiary, monitors the execution of SMTAs.

Want to read more?

Full details on the Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture ("Treaty") (http://www.fao.org/plant-treaty/overview/textstreaty)

Full details on the Multilateral System and SMTA (http://www.fao.org/plant-treaty)