Seed samples stored in the seed vault are copies of samples stored in the genebanks reservoir. Researchers, plant breeders and other groups that wish to have access to seed samples do not have access to the seed vault; They must request samples in the genebanks repository.

The seed vault works like a safe in a bank. The bank owns the building and the depositor owns the contents of its box. The government of Norway owns the building and the genebanks deposit owns the seeds they send. Sampling in Svalbard does not constitute a legal transfer of genetic resources.

The only time that an institution claimed the seeds saved previously in Svalbard was in 2015, on the occasion of the war in Syria. The bank that was in Aleppo (ICARDA) housed the varieties of the driest areas of the world, but the conflict caused the warehouse to be totally destroyed.