Utilisation and conservation of genetic diversity

Utilisation and conservation of farm animal genetic resources 211

Chapter 9. Practical implications of utilisation and management

Such trends lead to an increasing threat to our food supply. his might force the global society to develop a ‘regulation system’ for the exchange of genetic material. Such a ‘regulation system’ should be based on such principles as: he exchange or trade of genetic material should be stimulated when it gives beneit for the sellers and the buyers and when it contributes to sustainable development of an animal population in the new production environment. he ‘regulation system’ should put responsibility on both the sellers and the buyers to secure that the genetic material transferred is adapted to the new production environment. When the genetic material has not been exposed to the new environment earlier, the seller should develop a test program to avoid failures that might give large damage for the local production system and the local breeds in the importing country. he ‘regulation system’ should not require large transaction costs to manage the transfer of the genetic material. he ‘regulation system’ may be based on a standard transfer agreement, which may be linked to the national jurisdictions of the receiving country, or may be a multinational agreement signed by the parties involved. he ‘regulation system’ may be a formal treaty similar to the FAO´s Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources used in agriculture. However, a treaty for animal genetic resources should not be a copy of Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources, because of the large diferences in ownership, technical diferences and the diferent requirements for conservation in situ and ex situ. In a transfer agreement it should be clariied whether the transferred material is used for food and agricultural production only, or for breeding purposes. he latter implies further use for inventions and may raise problems related to intellectual property rights through the patenting system. he scope of use of the transferred material must be clearly determined in the material transfer agreement, which may require negotiations between the parties to agree on beneit sharing of the added values obtained from the transferred material ater an invention.

8. Sustainability issues for the different stakeholders

here is a real need for a better understanding of the sustainability issues, where the stakeholders have diferent perspectives. In the short term, the diferent stakeholders in animal breeding can have very diverging objectives: 1 animal breeders and producers focus mainly on production and the factors that may reduce the costs of primary production; 2 manufacturers and retail groups focus on product quality, quantity, • • • • • 212 Utilisation and conservation of farm animal genetic resources Erling Fimland and Kor Oldenbroek the proitability of manufacturing, and adding value to the primary product; 3 consumers and the general public are primarily concerned with issues of product quality, safety, prices, cultural and political issues, including animal welfare, environmental impact and pollution. In the long-term, the preferences of society dictate the broad framework supporting the production of animal products and, as the urbanisation of society continues, these preferences will become increasingly aligned with those of the consumers. herefore, despite the diferences in short-term objectives, stakeholders do share many long-term objectives for securing the sustainable production of animal products Woolliams et al., 2005. he complexity of these issues requires a thorough analysis and serious discussions and negotiations between stakeholders, including the national, regional and global political levels. References Avendãno, S., J.A. Woolliams and B. Villanueva, 2004. Mendelian sampling terms as a selective advantage in optimum breeding schemes with restrictions on the rate of inbreeding. Genetical Research 83: 55-64. Barlow, R., 1983. Beneit-cost analyses of genetic improvement program for sheep, beef cattle and pigs in Ireland. Ph.D. hesis, University of Dublin. Ref. by E.P. Cunningham, Present and future perspective in animal breeding research. XV. International Congress of Genetics, New Delhi, India, 12-21 December 1983. Cunningham, E.P. ed., 2003. Ater BSE – A future for the European livestock sector. EAAP publication No. 108. Wageningen Academic Publishers, Wageningen, he Netherlands. Drucker, A.G, 2001. he Economic Valuation of AnGR: Importance, Application and Practice. In: Proceedings of the workshop held in Mbabane, Swaziland, 7-11 May 2001. EFFAB, 2005. Code-EFABAR. Code of Good Practise for Farm Animal Breeding and Reproduction FOOD- CT-2003-506506. www.code-efabar.org FAO, 2004. he Legal Framework for the Management of Animal Genetic Resources, Background Study Paper NO. 24. tp:tp.fao.orgagcgfraBSPbsp24e.pdf Fimland, E., 2006. Institutional issues and frameworks in ex situ conservation of Farm Animal Genetic Resources FAnGR. J. Gibson, S. Gamage, O. Hanotte, L. Iñiguez, J.C. Maillard, B. Rischkowsky, D. Semambo and J. Toll eds., 2006. Options and Strategies for the Conservation of Farm Animal Genetic Resources: Report of an International Workshop and Presented Papers 7-10 November 2005, Montpellier, France [CD- ROM]. CGIAR System-wide Genetic Resources Programme SGRPBiodiversity International, Rome, Italy. Foulley, J.-L. and L. Ollivier, 2006. Allele Diversity. Proceedings 8 th World Congress on Genetics Applied to Livestock Production, CD-ROM Communication No. 33-09. Grundy, B., B. Villanueva and J.A. Woolliams, 1998. Dynamic selection procedures for constrained inbreeding and their consequences for pedigree development. Genetical Research 72: 159-168.