Grahame Jackson took us up on that be-nice-to-a-genebank thing:
SPC’s tissue culture lab in Fiji — the Centre of Pacific Crops and Trees — conserves a world collection of taro (Colocasia). Last year, CePaCT distributed 6250 taro as tissue cultures in 6 months to more than 20 countries around the world…
Always glad to hear the latest from my old stomping ground.
Sadly for me, I have not been able to tap the SPC’s amazing resources. I was rebuked last year when requesting Dioscorea spp. germplasm due to the U.S. status in the ITPGRFA. Can someone help me understand? The U.S. is a signator but not a member? This is because the treaty has not been ratified by Congress? Back when trying to understand it all, came across mention that John Kerry was trying to get it through and ratified.. What’s the hold up? IPR? I know that USDA shares broadly regardless? Who’s loosing out by U.S. not being a member besides my yam collection?
Whether the US is a signatory, a party or nothing at all relative to the ITPGRFA is not relevant to the process of you obtaining material from SPC. All that needs to happen is you agree to sign the SMTA.
I agree with Luigi that the Treaty is not relevant here. The Treaty does not discriminate against non-members. This may not be apparent to some institutes: there was one distributing institute here in Britain I had to correct on this issue. But I can see a major problem with quarantine, which the US is – with good reason – very fussy about, especially for vegetative samples or tropical crops that may need third country quarantine – for example, in Puerto Rico.