**5. Sharing and exchange**

As highlighted in the recent reports by Campbell et al. [3] and Abdullaev et al. [8], all existing cotton germplasm resources, deposited and preserved in the country, are available for cotton researchers, breeders, and students who are conducting the cotton research. Written requests should be addressed to the directors of institutions, and should describe the purpose of the germplasm usage and specify the amount of seeds requested. Directors of institutions, with approval and on the responsibility of germplasm curators, grant the distribution of requested germplasm. If a specific germplasm with commercial interest is requested, a bi-lateral agree‐ ments are sought defining the condition of sharing that varies according institutions' internal regulations. All granted requests are registered in the germplasm exchange book of the collection.

Previously, germplasm requested by foreign institutions were officially sent under a standard "research purposes only" Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) and accompanied by proper phytosanitary certificates upon approval of the National Coordinator of Plant Genetic Resources (PGR) of Uzbekistan and responsible offices at the MAWR. Presently, any genetic and biological material sharing is granted by approval of Committee for Coordination of Science and Technology Development under the Cabinet of Ministry of Uzbekistan with "a research purpose only" MTA.
