In an about-face, the Bush Administration has signed a genetic resources treaty it once opposed. Last week in Rome, the United States signed the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, which calls for free exchange of the seeds stored in the world's publicly owned "gene banks."
Last year, U.S. officials said that they were "precluded" from signing the treaty because it restricts the patenting of genes from seed banks, a position that might conflict with U.S. law. In addition, the U.S. wanted the freedom to block seed transfers to nations, such as Cuba, that are subject to economic sanctions. But agricultural researchers and biotech and seed companies affected by the treaty argued that U.S. officials "should be at the table" when seed-transfer rules are drafted, said Peter Bretting, a manager of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Plant Germplasm System.
The Senate must ratify the treaty once Administration officials hammer out details and submit it for a vote.
