French Conclusions to WTO Panel Decision

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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAGR ETRD PGOV FR WTRO EUN
SUBJECT: French Conclusions to WTO Panel Decision
on Ag Biotechnology

REF: PARIS 000506


1. SUMMARY: While there was no official reaction
by the GOF to the recently announced WTO interim
panel decision on the biotech case, the national
press covered the issue widely. The French
biotech bill was presented to the Council of
Ministers the day after the WTO ruling was
released, fueling criticism by anti-biotech
lobbyists. The ruling of the WTO is considered in
France to present additional pressure for French
policy makers to pass the biotech bill. Other
pressures include significant fines levied by the
EC due to France's delay in transposing EU
Directives and impending national elections in

2007. END SUMMARY.


2. The French popular and agricultural press
widely covered agricultural biotechnology in
response to the preliminary conclusion of the WTO
and the introduction of the French biotech bill
(REFTEL). While the WTO decision was released on
February 7, the French biotech bill was presented
to the French Council of Ministers on February 8.


3. While there was no official French government
reaction to the WTO panel decision,
environmentalists have been very vocal. Most of
their approach consisted of dismissing the
importance of the WTO panel decision. Friends of
the Earth commented that the European Union should
not respect the WTO decision since the WTO is not
an international court of justice and its
decisions are not based on international law. The
farmers' union Confdration Paysanne (with whom
Jos Bov was affiliated) said France doesn't have
to comply with the WTO decision and they would
rather have France pay financial sanctions than
produce biotech crops. For Greenpeace, the recent
WTO decision is a "desperate way for agrochemical
companies and the USG to supply new markets with
potentially dangerous GM products that nobody
wants."


4. Another tactic of anti-biotech groups was to
allege that biotech products are harmful. A full-
page article was published in the daily newspaper
Le Monde alleging a negative impact of biotech
products on the health of animals raised on them.
Several newspapers also published the results of a
poll conducted by the French poll institute BVA
for the environmentalist organization Agir pour
l'Environnement (Action for the Environment),
t),
according to which 78 percent of the French polled
support a temporary ban of GMOs to evaluate their
impact on health and on the environment.


5. The French farm community (other than anti-
biotech activists) did not officially react to the
WTO interim decision. However, the largest French
farmers union FNSEA, the young farmers' union
(Jeunes Agriculteurs),the Chambers of Agriculture
and the Planting Seed Industry Organization (GNIS)
generally welcomed the presentation of the French
biotech bill, hoping that when implemented it will
finally provide a clear framework for
experimentation and production of biotech crops in
France. On the other hand, the Socialist party
was in line with the anti-biotech activists and
critical of the bill.


6. All stakeholders expect 2006 will be a
difficult but important year for agricultural
biotechnology in France. Discussions at the French
Parliament on the biotech bill are likely to be
tough and long, as Parliamentarians will be under
pressure as a result of the WTO ruling, the
enormous fees France will have to pay to the EU
Commission if the European Directives are not
transposed into national law, active
environmentalists, industry and farm lobbies in
favor of biotech production, and major national
political deadlines (with both French Presidential
and legislative elections to take place in spring
2007).


Stapleton