Honduras: Biosafety Update

UNCLAS TEGUCIGALPA 002870

SIPDIS

STATE FOR OES/ETC:HLee and EB/TPP/ABT:RSingh
AGRICULTURE FOR USDA/FAS/BIG:JPPassino
GUATEMALA FOR AGATT SHUETE
SAN SALVADOR FOR DTHOMPSON

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ETRD ECON EFIN HO
SUBJECT: Honduras: Biosafety Update

REF: SECSTATE 259661


1. Summary: The GOH has introduced no new restrictive laws or
regulations that pertain to Living Modified Organisms (LMOs) or
biotechnology since the First Meeting of the Parties to the
Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety in February 2004. Honduras
remains generally open to the import of LMOs and biotech crops.
However, the application of sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS)
requirements is sometimes lacking in transparency, resulting in
uncertainty among U.S. suppliers and Honduran importers. Several
examples are provided below of instances in which the application
of SPS regulations has adversely impacted U.S. companies in 2004.
End summary.


2. Since 2002, Honduras has imposed a ban on poultry products
from a number of states in the U.S. because of concerns over low-
pathogenic avian influenza (LPAI). The ban was revised and
renewed in March 2004, in spite of World Organization for Animal
Health (OIE) guidelines that the presence of LPAI does not
justify trade restrictions and despite information provided to
GOH officials by USDA indicating the dates on which depopulation
and surveillance testing were completed in the affected states.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture estimates that if Honduran
restrictions on U.S. raw poultry and poultry parts were lifted,
U.S. producers could export an additional $10 million of poultry
products to Honduras annually.


3. In January 2004, U.S. rice exporters complained that they
were being forced to fumigate with methyl bromide shipments of
U.S. rice that had false smut present before the shipment would
be allowed into Honduras. This restriction added costs and
delays to the shipping and is not justifiable on food safety
grounds. (The presence of false smut is a quality issue, but the
GOH imposed restrictions as if it were a health issue.) In
September 2004, the GOH authorities stopped requiring fumigation
in response to information provided by APHIS on the practice.


4. The Honduran government requires that sanitary permits be
obtained from the Ministry of Health for all imported foodstuffs
and that all processed food products be labeled in Spanish and
registered with the Division of Food Control (DFC) of the
Ministry of Health. During 2003, a U.S. supermarket chain
complained that these regulations were not being strictly
enforced for many of its Honduran competitors. This lack of
enforcement on the part of the Honduran government places any
U.S. company that does comply with the regulations at a
disadvantage.


5. The Embassy has also received complaints from a regional
supermarket chain that imported more than $40 million worth of
U.S. goods into the region in 2003 and believes the amount of its
imports into Honduras could grow significantly if a more
transparent and efficient process of granting sanitary permits
existed. Specifically, the company has complained that the
length of time required for a sanitary permit to be granted
(usually 2 to 3 months) is too long, that the cost of a permit
($500 - $600) is excessive, and that the application requires
information that is difficult to obtain and has little to do with
the safety of the product in question.

Palmer