FRANCE AND THE THIRD MEETING OF THE

UNCLAS PARIS 001526 SIPDIS BRUSSELS PASS USEU FOR AGMINCOUNSELOR STATE FOR OES; EUR/ERA AND EB (SPIRNAK); STATE PASS USTR FOR MURPHY; USDA/OS/JOHANNS AND PENN; USDA/FAS FOR OA/TERPSTRA/ROBERTS/SIMMONS/RICHEY/JONES; ITP/SHEIKH/HENKE/MACKE/TOM POMEROY/MIKE WOOLSEY/GREG YOUNG; BOB RIEMENSCHNEIDER FAA/SEBRANEK/BLEGGI; EU POSTS PASS TO AGRICULTURE AND ECON GENEVA FOR USTR, ALSO AGRICULTURE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAGR ETRD FR EUN SUBJECT: FRANCE AND THE THIRD MEETING OF THE CARTAGENA PROTOCOL ON BIOSAFETY REF: STATE 34706 ¶1. In response to reftel, Paris AGR, ECON and ESTH officials transmitted the talking points to the French Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Ecology, the Fraud Control Office of the Ministry of Economy, Finance and Industry, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. ¶2. Jean-Louis Maurer, French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Directorate for Environment, Biosafety and Biotechnology will lead the French delegation. The French Ministry of Agriculture will be represented by Laure Souliac, Head of the Office on Food Regulation and Biotechnology, General Directorate for Food. ¶3. We understand that France thinks it is imperative that concrete implementation of the Cartagena Protocol be adopted at the third meeting of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (MOP-3), particularly given the lack of results at MOP2. The French have already contributed to the common EU position, which will be presented at MOP3 in their role in the "International Environment" group of the Council. ¶4. More specifically on Article 18.2 (a),which covers the documentation of Living Modified Organisms (LMOs) intended for food, feed or processing, the French position is in line with the adopted EU position. The French delegation will endeavor to find a consensus on Article 18.2 (a) without questioning the EU regulation. Note: MOP-2 failed to adopt a decision which detailed how to identify LMOs for direct use in food or feed. Stapleton