TRADE OFFICIAL ON SPECIAL 301, ZYPREXA, RICE

UNCLAS ANKARA 003047 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EB/TPP/MTA/IPE - JURBAN AND EUR/SE DEPT PASS USTR FOR LERRION/JCHOE-GROVES DEPT PASS USPTO FOR JURBAN AND EWU USDOC FOR ITA/MAC/DDEFALCO USDA FAS WASHDC SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ETRD KIPR EAGR TU SUBJECT: TRADE OFFICIAL ON SPECIAL 301, ZYPREXA, RICE QUOTA AND TIFA ¶1. (SBU) Summary: The Foreign Trade Undersecretariat's (FTU) Director General for Agreements maintained that the GOT would not take any action on applications to market copies of Zyprexa while the issue is still in the courts; promised that State Minister Tuzmen would soon reply to the joint USDA-USTR letter on rice quotas; and suggested dates in July for a TIFA meeting. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) Econ Counselor, Econoff and Agriculture Attache discussed the Special 301 announcement for Turkey, Zyprexa, Turkey's rice quota system, and scheduling a Trade and Investment Framework Agreement (TIFA) meeting with FTU DG for Agreements Tevfik Mengu May 27. Mengu said the decision to maintain Turkey on the Special 301 Priority Watch List was "not fair", maintaining that Turkey had a strong and improving IPR regime. Mengu said the GOT would not grant marketing permission for the generic manufacturer in the Zyprexa case before the courts had reached a final decision, and emphasized that no Turkish bureaucrat would take the personal risk of making a decision one way or the other while the court case is ongoing. He also confirmed that Turkey's data exclusivity regulation would be strengthened soon by expanding protection to nonpatented molecules. ¶3. (SBU) On the rice quota system, Mengu said that State Minister Tuzmen would reply shortly to the April 29 joint USDA-USTR letter. He maintained that rice imports had increased by nearly 700 percent in 2004 and that Turkey was not hindering U.S. exports. Ag Attache responded that, notwithstanding the absence of formal rules blocking imports from the United States, the Agriculture Ministry has not issued permits for rice to be imported outside the quota system. He also noted that the USG delegation planned to raise the problem at the June meeting of the WTO Import Licensing Committee. Mengu offered to investigate specific cases in which the Agriculture Ministry denied import certificates, and suggested that Emboffs inform him of such cases in the future. ¶4. (U) TIFA: Mengu informed us that FTU proposes to convene a TIFA meeting in Ankara sometime between July 11 and 13. Following the meeting, Econoff confirmed that a written proposal to this effect will be conveyed through both the MFA in Ankara and the Turkish Embassy in Washington. ¶5. (U) Action Request: Please advise whether proposed TIFA dates are acceptable to the interagency community. EDELMAN