CZECH REPUBLIC: VISIT OF MADELYN SPIRNAK, SENIOR

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PRAGUE 001164

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: TBIO ETRD ECON EAGR PINR EZ
SUBJECT: CZECH REPUBLIC: VISIT OF MADELYN SPIRNAK, SENIOR
ADVISER FOR AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY



1. (U) SUMMARY: Over the course of an intense two-day visit
to the Czech republic (July 27-28),Senior Advisor for
Agricultural Biotechnology, Madelyn Spirnak met with senior
government officials and US business leaders to advance the
US position on transgenic crops and to enlist Czech aid in
working with the European Union to ensure that agricultural
biotechnology is an accepted and viable option for growers
and consumers. The highlights of her visit included a
television interview with the Chairman of the Czech Food and
Beverage Federation, and critical advocacy at the Ministries
of Agriculture and the Environment. END SUMMARY

GMOs in the Czech Republic
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2. (U) The Czech Republic has a considerably more positive
view of transgenic crops than their regional neighbors, and
this trend seems to be continuing. Recent draft legislation
on the minimum distances for coexistence of GMO crops and
conventional crops appears to be an improvement over current
regulations, facilitating transgenic crop production in the
Czech Republic. Czech consumers are generally neutral
concerning GMOs in their food products, although certain
grocery store chains require products to be "GMO-free".
Czech researchers are actively working in the agricultural
biotechnology field, and political parties across the
spectrum accept a pragmatic, science-based approach to the
use of GMOs.


3. (U) There has been limited political debate about the
future of GMOs in the Czech Republic, primarily because the
Czech agricultural sector is responsible for only 3% of GDP,
although GMO and organic farming are small, albeit growing,
sectors in the agricultural market. A recent law passed by
the Senate and the Parliament to exclude civic associations
from the approval process for GMOs will likely result in
limiting public debate on the issue for the near future.

Meetings with the Ministries
--------------


4. (U) Spirnak met with an eight-member team from the
Ministry of Agriculture, led by Frantisek Sladek, Director
General of the Section of Food Production at the Ministry of
Agriculture and Director of the recently established Food
Authority. They discussed how current regulations on co-
existence would significantly narrow the required distances
between GMOs and conventional crops under legislation
proposed by the Ministry. The draft calls for the minimum
distance for conventional crops to shrink from 100 meters to
50 meters and for organic crops to fall to 200 meters from
the current 600 meter minimum. The ministry is comfortable
with the current pragmatic "science-based" approach, and
does not foresee a change in the approval process that is
currently in place. Conversely, they are not actively
lobbying for support of biotech crops among neighboring
countries, which have a more skeptical view of GMOs.


5. (SBU) At the Ministry of the Environment, Spirnak met
with Mr. Karel Blaha, Director of the Environmental Risks
department at the Ministry. Blaha, like his colleagues at
the Ministry of Agriculture, is supportive of a science-
based approval process for GMOs. However, Minister Libor
Ambrozek is not enthusiastic about GMOs since he needs the
political support of the Green Party. While representing
the Czech government at EU meetings, ministry officials have
abstained from voting in 7 of the 9 cases, in part to avoid
upsetting other member states. Their other votes were
split: they voted to keep the ban on Bt176 because the
European Commission hasn't approved it and because the Czech
Commission had not yet tested it sufficiently. In the case
of MON810,however, the Czech government voted to revoke the
ban since the EC approved MON810 and it was also previously
approved for use in the CR.

Press Coverage
--------------


6. (U) On the heels of a successful presentation to the
Federation of Food and Drink Industries of the Czech
Republic, Spirnak was interviewed by two print journalists
and recorded an interview with a major Czech television
channel that was later broadcast as part of their evening
economic news. These press contacts were critically
important for shaping the nascent opinion of Czech
consumers, who are still unfamiliar with GMOs.


7. (SBU) COMMENT: The Czech Republic is at an important
crossroads. As pragmatists, they have an open mind to GMOs
and understand the benefits that they offer, hence the
domestic research and use of GMOs. However, they are a
minority in the region, and are unwilling to rattle the
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cages of other EU members to change this situation. This
presents a problem if creeping EU legislation (i.e., an EU-
wide regulation on coexistence that is rumored to be in the
development phase) makes it more difficult for the Czech
Republic to follow its own course on GMOs. We should
continue to engage actively with Czech government officials
to reinforce the positive biotech policies they have been
following and seek continued support within the EU.


8. This cable was cleared by Madelyn Spirnak, Senior Advisor
for Agricultural Biotechnology.