BIOTECHNOLOGY OUTREACH PROJECTS - FY05 YEMEN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SANAA 000127

SIPDIS

PLEASE PASS TO EB/TPP/ABT/BTT - DEBORAH MALAC AND JACK BOBO.

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAGR ECON ETRD TBIO KPAO YM ENVIRONMENT ECON COM
SUBJECT: BIOTECHNOLOGY OUTREACH PROJECTS - FY05 YEMEN
PROPOSAL

REF: 04 SECSTATE 244670


1. The government of Yemen is moving from an embryonic policy
understanding of biotechnology to a greater desire to embrace
international trade standards and to join the international
trade market and open their markets to biotechnology. In the
last two months, the office of the US Trade Representative
(USTR) and the Department of State have conducted TIFA talks
and have met with top-ranking Yemeni government officials to
support Yemen's World Trade Organization (WTO) accession.
Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) funded programs are
educating government officials on the intricacies of
intellectual property rights enforcement, commercial courts,
and other key trade issues. Agricultural and environmental
biotechnology issues can enjoy more attention in Yemen as it
endeavors to join the world economy. At the same time,
introducing to small-scale subsistence farmers in Yemen the
benefits and productivity gains from genetically modified
(GM) crops will help spread the word and increase community
accepta
nce of biotechnology in agriculture.


2. To provide outreach on biotechnology issues, Embassy Sanaa
proposes two programs to assist in (1) national policy
formulation and (2) provide local and governorate-level
education and outreach through a regional information
workshop. Both program descriptions and cost estimates are
based on negotiation and discussions with USAID Agricultural
Officer Dorvin Stockdale, PD Officer Tim Fingarson, AfricaBio
Executive Director Dr. Jocelyn R. Webster. AfricaBio, a
highly-reputable NGO with an extended history of USG and
USAID agricultural biotechnology programming, is a possible
training provider for the programs detailed below.

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PROGRAM 1: LOCAL COMMUNICATORS TRAINING PROGRAM
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3. The Local Communicators Training Program will train 25 to
30 key local communicators and decisionmakers in a three-day
workshop on how to communicate effectively on food,
agricultural, environment and medical biotechnology to target
communities and the press. The program will invite people
who influence the local government policy and perceptions of
the community such as policy makers, local government
officials, prominent farmers and business owners in the
capital, Sanaa, and five of the most poverty-stricken
governorates in Yemen. (Note: For the past three years,
Post's interagency development group has targeted five key
governorates, which are heavily dependent on the agricultural
sector, for intensive aid. End note.)

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Target Audience
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4. The target audience will be 25 to 30 local leaders and
farmers and other regional participants who can act as
"viral" communicators, spreading the news about the benefits
of GM products. The selected communicators would include
scientists, healthcare workers, agricultural outreach
workers, and key decisionmakers in agriculture, health,
education and environment in five most poverty-stricken
governorates out of the 22 in Yemen.

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Biotechnology issues to be addressed
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5. Training will include discussion on the benefits of
biotechnology to farmers such as combating animal diseases,
increasing yield by plant resistance to diseases and pest,
reducing environment pollution by reducing pesticide use,
utilizing fertilizers effectively, facilitating minimum
tillage, employing uniform harvest time, and conducting
product quality control.

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Cost of Proposed Program
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6. Program Costs:

- 3,200 - training site for three days including equipment
(Taj Sheba Hotel, Sanaa, Yemen)
- 6,000 - lodging (Taj Sheba Hotel, $300 for two nights per
out-of-town participant)
- 2,600 - meals
- 4,000 - trainer's fee
- 4,600 - trainer's travel costs (based on 01/2005 roundtrip
business class from Washington, D.C. to Sanaa, Yemen visa
fees overweight baggage for equipment etc.)
- 650 - trainer's lodging and per diem
- 300 - training materials preparation
- 500 - miscellaneous

- 21,850 total

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Impact on USG policy objectives
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7. The training program will introduce the benefits of using
GM crop plants to subsistence farmers and influential
scientists. With a fuller understanding of biosafety
assessments and use of GM crops in Yemen, the US can
encourage more rapid adoption of GM farming to small-scale
farmers and the Yemeni market. Opening the Yemeni market to
GM products will also aid Yemen in coping with the needs
associated with 3.9 percent population growth and a
population expected to double to 40 million by 2020.

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PROGRAM 2: BIOTECHNOLOGY POLICY WORKSHOP
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8. Genetically modified organism (GMO) policy formulation in
Yemen is in its infancy, yet with ongoing efforts toward WTO
accession, the ROYG will have to face many of the issues that
confront GM trade issues. The ROYG has not enacted or
initiated any laws, regulations, or practices regarding GMO
trade.


9. The Cabinet introduced a draft law banning LMO products
over a year ago. After consideration, the Cabinet sent the
draft law to the Yemen Standardization, Metrology and Quality
Control Organization (YSMQCO),a regulatory agency comprised
of agricultural, meteorological and other scientists for
their recommendations. The YSMQCO forwarded a recommendation
to ban LMO agricultural imports and to the Minister of
Industry and Trade Rajeh Sheikh, who put the draft law on
hold pending further study of the issue.


10. Post anticipates Yemen will be pressured by the
international community to adopt a biotechnology and GMO
policy in the run-up to WTO accession and its growing
eagerness of joining the international trade community. In
this climate, it is a crucial time for the US to share its
views on GM products and trade. Since ROYG standards
officials have few scientific resources and less exposure to
the international political struggles surrounding GMOs,
biotechnology, and other standards issues, it is common for
such officials to defer to other international organizations,
usually European-based, for matters ranging from
environmental protection measures to human genetic cloning to
barriers to prevent the spread of avian influenza in native
poultry. Especially with the run-up and preparation for WTO
accession, Post can anticipate that the ROYG will be asked to
implement a GMO standard or to join other nations in a
collective GMO position; standards officials could again turn
to a European standard.


11. A GMO policy workshop will educate key policymakers on
the technology behind GM crops, the research behind GMOs'
food safety record, and other information they will need in
order make well-informed policy decisions about GMOs in the
near future. As discussed with YSMQCO and other government
officials responsible for biotechnology standards, the
workshop will also introduce the various policy directions
and GM experiences of other countries in the Middle East
region. Post anticipates such a workshop will be a catalyst
to GMO legislation that considers the US position on GMOs.

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Target Audience
--------------


12. Participants will be key government officials and
scientists from various agencies responsible for determining
biotechnology. Participants will be selected from the
YSMQCO, the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA),the
Ministry of Agriculture, the Agricultural Extension and
Research Authority (AREA),the Ministry of Trade and
Industry, and the WTO Accession Committee.

--------------
Biotechnology issues to be addressed
--------------


13. The workshop would present information on the following
issues: Food safety, trans-boundary movement of GMOs and
LMOs, patents and intellectual property rights, myths
surrounding GMOs, and the experiences of other governments
and countries in the Middle East such as the relatively
biotechnologically advanced agricultural sector in Egypt.
After the presentations, the workshop would break up into
smaller discussion groups so that government officials can
discuss how these issues could impact a GMO and biotechnology
policy and standards formulation.

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Cost of Proposed Program
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14. Proposed costs in USD:

- 2,100 - training site for two days including equipment
- 1,300 - meals
- 4,000 - trainer's fee
- 4,600 - trainer's travel costs (based on 01/2005 roundtrip
business class from Washington, D.C. to Sanaa, Yemen visa
fees overweight baggage for equipment etc.)
- 550 - trainer's lodging and per diem
- 300 - training materials preparation
- 500 - miscellaneous
- 13,350 total

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Purpose and Impact of Project on USG policy objectives
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15. GMO policy formulation is in its infancy in Yemen and
Yemen continues to tread water on LMO issues while its
decisionmakers await further guidance from countries in the
region and more input from interlocutors such as the U.S.
This workshop will educate the key government decisionmakers
on the reliability and safety of GM crop plants, as well as
discuss the common scientific consensus that food derived
from approved GMOs poses no greater health risks than that
food derived from conventional methods.


16. For additional information please contact POC,
Econ/Commoff Jules Kim Johnson.

Tel: 011-967-755-2252
Email: johnsonjk@state.gov.
KRAJESKI