GOF EXTENDS BAN ON GM RAPESEEDS

UNCLAS PARIS 007639 SIPDIS BRUSSELS PASS USEU FOR AGMINCOUNSELOR STATE FOR OES; EUR/ERA AND EB(SPIRNAK); STATE PASS USTR FOR MURPHY; USDA/OS/JOHANNS/TERPSTRA; USDA/FAS FOR OA/YOST; OCRA/CURTIS STA/MACKE/SISSON/SIMMONS/JONES FAA/YOUNG; EU POSTS PASS TO AGRICULTURE AND ECON GENEVA FOR USTR, ALSO AGRICULTURE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAGR ETRD SIPDIS EU FR SUBJECT: GOF EXTENDS BAN ON GM RAPESEEDS ¶1. On November 24, the Government of France extended its ban on two biotech-rapeseed products to April 18, 2007, despite the WTO decision that Member State bans were not supported by scientific evidence and were inconsistent with WTO rules. These decrees are available at: www.legifrance.gouv.fr. ¶2. The two rapeseed products, Topas 19/2 and MS1Bn, were originally authorized under EU Directive 90/220 and subsequently notified under the Novel Food Regulation 1829/2003. Products under this Regulation have a renewal date of April 18, 2007. ¶3. (SBU) Comment: According to Embassy sources, the manufacturer of these rapeseed products, Bayer CropScience, has not sold either product in the U.S. or Canada since 2001 and has no plans to market either of these products in France or in any EU Member State. ¶4. (SBU) Bayer had hoped to benefit from having these products authorized under the Novel Food Regulation EU-wide in the unlikely scenario of unintentional contamination. As authorized GM products, Bayer could avail itself of the 0.9 percent threshold for adventitious presence in imports by the EU. However, the continuation of the French ban means that any product found in France containing the GM rapeseed products would be an unauthorized biotech product. ¶5. (SBU) The GOF decision to extend these bans may also be politically motivated. According to sources within the Prime Minister's cabinet, the GOF is extremely reluctant to authorize biotech rapeseed for cultivation due to gene flow concerns, and is justified under the precautionary principle. The ban's expiration date of April 18, 2007, being only four days before the first round of the French Presidential election, indicates that the current government is very reluctant to take any positive decision on this issue. Several Presidential hopefuls have already adopted anti-biotech positions. End Comment. Stapleton