Summary report of the annual meeting of the CGIAR held October 25-29, 1999 in Washington D.C., Ismail Serageldin presiding. The Group welcomed the World Bank proposal that Serageldin serve as chairman for up to two more years, and be succeeded by Ian Johnson, Vice-President for Environmentally and Socially Sustainable Development. TAC was asked to lead a visioning exercise, and recommend organizational changes, with review by the Consultative Council.The Group endorsed some preliminary findings of the IAEG, preliminary findings of the CBC on funding and management of systemwide programs, and a TAC panel report on systemwide programs with an ecoregional approach. It heard reports from centers on their collaboration with each other. A CDC proposal to constitute a taskforce to strengthen the Integrated Natural Resources Management agenda was also approved. There was agreement with a TAC view that the Group should not start separate research on climate change mitigation, but should convene a workshop on how the CGIAR could complement ongoing work.The CGIAR received a progress report on intellectual property rights activities at the centers, and reports from the FAO and the GRPC. It endorsed development of a multilateral system to facilitate access to plant genetic resources for food and agriculture. It was decided to renew the Finance and Oversight Committees, and restructure and continue the Private Sector, NGO, and Genetic Resources Policy Committees. Reports were received from these committees as well as TAC, the Cosponsors, the CBC, and the CDC.The CGIAR approved funding of $340 million for the year 2000 as recommended by the Finance Committee, accepted Committee recommendations on longer term financing strategy, and asked the working group to continue its efforts. It approved a process for recruitment of a new CGIAR Executive Secretary. There were standard annexes plus the reports of five committees