Project Number: 1245-21000-270-06
Project Type: Specific Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Oct 15, 2010
End Date: Oct 15, 2015

Objective:
In compliance with international treaties and national policies, develop innovative approaches for access and benefit-sharing that enhance donor nations’ capacity to conserve, document, and use genetic resources, and provide NPGS access to these genetic resources. The Cooperator, as head of the national plant germplasm system of Azerbaijan and the national focal point for the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (IT PGRFA) is interested in the collection, conservation, evaluation, and use of genetic resources of agronomic and horticultural species economically important to Azerbaijan. The cooperator is also the Azerbaijan national authority to provide prior informed consent for access to their native plant genetic resources. This agreement is to continue the existing collaboration in planning and executing plant explorations in Azerbaijan important to both countries and to develop and fund benefit sharing projects to the germplasm conservation program in Azerbaijan for providing access to their genetic resources.

Approach:
ARS/NGRL/PEO will identify U.S. National Plant Germplasm System germplasm needs from Azerbaijan and with the cooperator develop plans for joint plant explorations to include trips by U.S. and Azeri team leaders, other participants, general collection sites, the benefit sharing project, total trip expenses and obtain national access approval for the collection trip. The team leaders will then develop the specific trip plans and conduct the plant exploration. The collected germplasm and associated documentation will be shared between the 2 parties which will be entered into to the National Plant Germplasm Systems of both countries. Funding of the collection trip and the benefit sharing project will be paid by PEO through this agreement.