Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04ROME3105
2004-08-11 12:40:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Rome
Cable title:  

PLANT GENETIC RESOURCES: MATERIAL TRANSFER

Tags:  EAGR ETRD EAID SENV KIPR AORC FAO 
pdf how-to read a cable
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS ROME 003105 

SIPDIS


STATE FOR E, EB, OES/ETC - NEUMANN, EB/TPP/BTT - MALAC
AND IO/EDA - KOTOK
USDA FOR FAS - RICHEY, REICH AND HUGHES
AND ARS - BRETTING AND BLALOCK
USAID FOR EGAT/ESP - MOORE AND BERTRAM

FROM U.S. MISSION TO THE UN AGENCIES IN ROME

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAGR ETRD EAID SENV KIPR AORC FAO
SUBJECT: PLANT GENETIC RESOURCES: MATERIAL TRANSFER
AGREEMENT EXPERT GROUP TO MEET 4-8 OCTOBER 2004

REF: (A) ROME 1417; (B) ROME 1057;
(C) ROME 0280

UNCLAS ROME 003105

SIPDIS


STATE FOR E, EB, OES/ETC - NEUMANN, EB/TPP/BTT - MALAC
AND IO/EDA - KOTOK
USDA FOR FAS - RICHEY, REICH AND HUGHES
AND ARS - BRETTING AND BLALOCK
USAID FOR EGAT/ESP - MOORE AND BERTRAM

FROM U.S. MISSION TO THE UN AGENCIES IN ROME

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAGR ETRD EAID SENV KIPR AORC FAO
SUBJECT: PLANT GENETIC RESOURCES: MATERIAL TRANSFER
AGREEMENT EXPERT GROUP TO MEET 4-8 OCTOBER 2004

REF: (A) ROME 1417; (B) ROME 1057;
(C) ROME 0280


1. Summary: The Expert Group on the Terms of the
Standard Material Transfer Agreement (MTA) will hold its
first meeting on 4-8 October in Brussels, hosted by the
European Commission (EC). The standard MTA will specify
the terms for access and benefit sharing under the
multilateral system envisioned in the International
Treaty (IT) on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and
Agriculture. The work of the Expert Group is therefore
crucial, since the IT cannot be implemented fully until
the standard MTA is agreed. Officials at the FAO
Secretariat (which also serves as secretariat to the IT)

SIPDIS
outlined their preparations for the meeting and
procedural issues that need to be addressed. They
believe that the Expert Group's first tasks include
bringing new delegates up to speed and building North-
South confidence. End summary.


2. According to its Terms of Reference (TOR),the Expert
Group "shall develop and propose recommendations, which
may be considered by the Interim Committee for the
Treaty, on the terms of the standard MTA, in accordance
with Article 12.4 of the IT." The Group is also asked
"to provide advice and, where appropriate, propose
options and/or elements for inclusion in the standard
MTA" on various topics. These include, inter alia, the
level and form of payments, whether to exempt small
farmers from developing countries or transitional
economies from payments, what constitutes
"commercialization" under the IT, what constitutes
"incorporation" of material, etc.


3. In the past several months, U.S. Mission has held
periodic discussions on arrangements for the upcoming MTA
Expert Group meeting with Jose Esquinas-Alcazar,
Secretary of the FAO Commission on Genetic Resources for

SIPDIS
Food and Agriculture, most recently on 9 August. We

raised a number of practical and procedural questions,
and sought the Secretariat's views on the meeting more
generally. Key points of the discussion are reviewed
below.


4. EC Support: On 15 July, the EC Directorate General
for Health and Consumer Protection (SANCO) formally
offered to host and pay for the MTA meeting on 4-8
October and preparatory meetings of developing-country
delegations on 1-3 October. FAO Director General Diouf
accepted the EC offer in a letter signed 10 August. The
EC and FAO Secretariat have been working out a memorandum
of understanding (MOU) that spells out the details. Once
the MOU is approved and an agreement with the Belgian
government regarding privileges and immunities is
finalized, FAO will be able to issue invitations to the
meeting. The MTA meeting was to have been held in 2003,
but had to be rescheduled several times for lack of
sufficient voluntary contributions. With the EC's offer
and other contributions in the pipeline, Esquinas is now
confident that FAO will have adequate resources for all
IT-related meetings programmed for CY 2004.


5. U.S. Contribution: As instructed by USDA, U.S.
Mission informed FAO on 28 July that the USG contribution
of approximately $50,000, originally earmarked for the
first MTA Expert Group meeting, could be used for other
IT-related events if -- as is now confirmed -- the MTA
meeting is fully funded. We added the stipulation that
the contributions of the USG and other donors to the IT
process should be recognized explicitly at the MTA
meeting.


6. Participation of Advisors and Observers: We asked
about the possibility of attendance of additional
advisors and observers, in addition to the two experts
and two advisors from North America region specified in
the TOR. Esquinas said that the FAO Legal Office
understands the TOR to mean that this is a restricted
meeting, and no others may be present in the meeting
room. The Legal Office has determined, however, that it
would be acceptable for an advisor's seat at the table to
rotate among several individuals, but only one of them
could be physically present at any one time.


7. Participation - Continued: Esquinas pointed out that


the matter of representation on the MTA Group had been
contentious at the first Interim Committee (IC) meeting,
and the numbers were arrived at after long negotiations.
In particular, developing countries feared that, in the
absence of strict limits, the wealthier governments could
pack the MTA with their own experts. Therefore, any
decision by the Secretariat that would appear to deviate
from the numbers set in the TOR would not only be legally
questionable, but would raise serious political
difficulties. Even the Legal Office's ruling on the
possibility of rotating advisers may raise some eyebrows
or hackles, Esquinas thought. Against this background,
FAO's acceptance of the EC offer to host the first MTA
meeting also is somewhat controversial. As for the
presence of industry observers, that was discussed at the
IC, but no conclusion was reached other than the
statement in the TOR that "advisors may include, inter
alia, representatives from government, industry, academia
and civil society."


8. International Organizations: Regarding participation
of international organizations, even the Convention on
Biological Diversity secretariat is not included in the
list of Expert Group members spelled out in the TOR.
Only the Consultative Group on International Agricultural
Research (CGIAR) may nominate a representative. The
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the
International Union for the Protection of New Varieties
of Plants (UPOV) may only do so upon the request of the
Expert Group.


9. U.S. Expert: We informed the Secretariat, on
instructions from USDA, that the U.S. expert at the
meeting would continue to be David Hegwood, who,
effective 17 August, will become Minister Counselor and
Alternate Permanent Representative at U.S. Mission Rome.
We explained that no final decision had been taken on the
occupant(s) of the single U.S. advisor slot.


10. List of Experts: Esquinas said that the Latin
American and Caribbean Regional Group (Grulac) has not
yet designated its four experts. He is reluctant to
release the list of experts and advisors until it is
complete. He added, however, that he will not allow the
Grulac's indecision to hold up preparations for the
meeting. Once the invitation letter is ready, FAO will
send it out to the experts designated by each region,
and, if there are no designees, to the permanent
representation heading the relevant regional group.


11. Selection of a Chairman: Esquinas said the
Secretariat is concerned that deciding on a Chairman for

SIPDIS
the Group could end up using up a lot of substantive
negotiation time. According to the FAO Legal Office, the
Chairman should be one of the experts, but the problem is
that most of the experts are likely to want to
participate actively in the debate. It would be
difficult to find someone who would be both knowledgeable
about the issues and sufficiently detached from them to
serve as an impartial moderator. An "ideal" solution
would be for the Chair of the IC, Fernando Gerbasi, to
serve also as Chair of the Expert Group, but the latter's
availability is not certain. Esquinas expressed cautious
optimism that, once the full list of experts is
available, a suitable candidate for chair will appear
among them, and that this could be agreed informally in
advance of the October meeting.


12. Flexibility: Esquinas noted that, although the
Secretariat has to take a strict-constructionist view on

SIPDIS
matters of procedure, the Expert Group itself is
sovereign. If the Group decides on a course of action
(on, say, the selection of a Chair) by consensus and no
member of the Group questions it, then the matter rests.
We take this to mean that the FAO Legal Office would not
of its own accord quibble with procedural decisions made
by the Expert Group if it is not asked for its opinion.


13. First Steps: According to Esquinas, not all of the
experts nominated thus far by other regions are
knowledgeable about MTA issues. There will therefore be
something of a learning curve to bring the newcomers up
to speed. Esquinas' expectations for the first MTA
Expert Group meeting are modest. He sees confidence-
building between North and South as an essential first

E


step.


14. U.S. Mission Comment: The negotiation and entry
into force of the IT was a significant achievement, but
this was made possible in large part because the treaty
provides only a framework, leaving key contentious issues
such as the content of the standard MTA to other groups.
Now for the diabolical details. Knowledgeable officials
at the FAO Secretariat clearly believe that the upcoming
meeting of the MTA Expert Group will need to do
considerable groundwork in education and confidence-
building before they can even begin to tackle those
essential details.

Hall


NNNN
2004ROME03105 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED