Australian Grains Genebank Distribution Policy
The Australian Grains Genebank (AGG) is the national bio-digital resource centre that is custodian to one of the largest collections
of grain crop species globally including cultivated, landrace, progenitor, and wild relative species. The AGG manages its germplasm as a
public good and is dedicated to the widespread facilitated use to achieve the maximum possible access, scale, and scope of impact for the
development of more resilient and productive grain crop varieties. The AGG is a partnership between the Victorian Government and the
Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) and has the mandate to acquire, conserve, maintain and distribute PGRs to plant breeders
and researchers to underpin the development of more resilient and productive grain crop varieties for the benefit of the
Australian grains industry.
AGG germplasm and related information is distributed for the purposes of research, breeding, genetic resource conservation and training
for food and agriculture. Transfer for both Annex 1 and non-Annex 1 species are by legal obligation with FAO and the Governing Body of the
International Treaty of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
(ITPGRFA https://www.fao.org/plant-treaty/en) under the terms of the
Standard Material Transfer Agreement (SMTA) in accordance with the Multilateral System of the ITPGRFA. Non ITPGRFA germplasm is available
for use under alternative Material Transfer Agreements implemented by donor organisations. The AGG curator will, in accordance with
current AGG policies and procedures, determine the legitimacy of a request when necessary.
The AGG has implemented an Administration Fee to cover some of the costs associated with processing and distributing requested germplasm.
The Fee will be applied to all requests received from:
- Any requestor from developed countries excluding Australia.
- Any Private sector companies outside of Australia
- Any national or international individual or entity when requesting more than 1,000 accessions in a single request
or more than 1,000 accessions per annum.
The Processing Fee includes an administration fee of AUD$45 per request and AUD$3.00 per accession, as well as costs associated with
phytosanitary certificates and shipping for international seed distribution.
The Australian Grains Genebank distributes all seed samples in accordance with stringent regulations, including relevant national
and international phytosanitary and quarantine laws, as well as access and benefit sharing regulations.
Seed and related information are provided upon request for the purposes of research, breeding, genetic resource conservation and
training/education for food and agriculture. The AGG will not distribute germplasm internationally when importation or quarantine
requirements of the recipient country cannot be met.
The AGG requires users of germplasm transferred under SMTA to return a subset of data and information collected during evaluation
and use to prescribed standards (subject to any Intellectual Property agreements of the users). This enables AGG to continually improve
the value of the germplasm data, and to meet compliance on return of data to source genebanks under terms and conditions of the SMTA.
Guidelines for return of data are available by contacting the AGG.
Accessions listed in the GRIN-Global database as “not available” due to insufficient or low viability seed and/or scheduled for
regeneration will generally not be available for distribution.
AGG will not distribute germplasm internationally when they cannot comply with the importation or quarantine requirements of the recipient country. Costs associated with the provision of any required phytosanitary certificate and shipping may be charged to the recipient.
The AGG makes no warranties, express or implied, regarding the quality, viability, or purity (genetic or mechanical), safety of
and/or use of AGG held germplasm including any warranty of merchantability, or fitness for a particular purpose, including without
limitation, production, breeding, crossing, testing, commercialisation, or non-infringement of third-party intellectual property.