Law No. IX-533 on Plant National Genetic Resources.

This Law regulates the accumulation, storage, and sustainable use of national plant genetic resources within the Republic of Lithuania. It defines these resources as plants or their parts possessing functional reproductive properties, including populations, individual plants, seeds, and meristematic tissues. National status is assigned to resources selected for their ecological, breeding, or economic importance and recorded in the national information system. The Law establishes these resources as a component of the State's natural resources and designates the Ministry of Environment as the primary coordinating authority tasked with organizing resource accumulation and storage, establishing procedures for their renewal and exchange, and managing both the national information system and international cooperation.
The administrative structure consists of a National Plant Genetic Resources Commission for resource selection and specialized Coordination Centers. These centers are tasked with the research and preservation of specific botanical groups such as agricultural, forest, medicinal and aromatic, and ornamental plants. These institutions are authorized to enter into agreements with land owners and managers regarding the conservation of these resources. The Law also sets forth the functions of the State in organizing the storage, renewal, and exchange of genetic material between scientific and educational institutions.
Conservation is organized through three specific methods: in situ within natural habitats, ex situ in field collections or seed banks, and inter situ in cultivated environments where specific hereditary traits have developed. The text prescribes requirements for the establishment of genetic reserves and seed stands, providing that economic activities must not result in the destruction of protected resources. Access to and the use of national genetic resources are permitted for legal and physical persons provided such activities are conducted in good faith and do not cause the destruction of the resources. The Law concludes with provisions regarding legal liability, damage compensation, and the principles for international cooperation and the movement of genetic material across borders.