Safety backup
As the CIP collections are irreplaceable, the adage of not wanting to put all your eggs in one basket is particularly true for these, and other, genetic resources collections. Therefore, the international standards for genebanks are to have collections duplicated (backed-up physically) in two geographically distinct locations from the active primary collection. One duplicate should be relatively easily available and hence housed nationally, while the second duplicate should be in another country to guarantee safe maintenance of the collection in the event of a catastrophic national disaster or unrest. The purpose of safety duplication is to maintain a copy of each accession in a form that is secure and 100% recoverable in the same condition and form as the active collection in case something were to cause a disruption of operation of the primary collection site.
