In adopting the International Treaty, the FAO Conference requested the Commission on Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture to act as Interim Committee for the Treaty, and decided to establish an Expert Group to develop and propose recommendations on the terms of the Standard Material Transfer Agreement (SMTA). It requested the Interim Committee to prepare, for the consideration of the Governing Body, on the basis of the work of the Expert Group, “a draft Standard Material Transfer Agreement provided for in Article 12.4 of the Treaty for facilitated access, which shall include, inter alia, recommended terms for commercial benefit-sharing under Article 13.2d(ii)”.

The Expert Group on the Terms of the Standard Material Transfer Agreement met in Brussels, at the invitation of the European Commission, from 4 to 8 October 2004. The basic lines for the draft Standard Material Transfer Agreement were laid down.

The result was reported to the Second Meeting of the Interim Committee (Rome, 15 - 19 November 2004), which established the Contact Group for the Drafting of the Standard Material Transfer Agreement.

The Contact Group met twice: in Hammamet, Tunisia, from 18 to 22 July 2005, with financial support provided by the United States of America; and Alnarp, Sweden, from 24 to 28 April 2006, at the invitation of Sweden. That meeting adopted the draft text of the Standard Material Transfer Agreement that was later on approved.