PORTUGAL ON JUNE 8 BIOTECH VOTE

C O N F I D E N T I A L LISBON 001560 SIPDIS SIPDIS PASS TO USTR, USDA/FAS E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/05/2017 TAGS: EAGR ECON ETRD EU PO SUBJECT: PORTUGAL ON JUNE 8 BIOTECH VOTE REF: A. SECSTATE 74307 ¶B. LISBON 1251 ¶C. LISBON 1057 Classified By: Inga Heemink, Pol/Econ Officer, Embassy Lisbon, Reasons 1.4(b) and 1.4(d). ¶1. (C/NF) On June 5, PolEconOff delivered reftel A talking points to Rui Noronho from the Ministry of Agriculture Office of Planning and Policies (GPPAA),urging Portugal to vote favorably at the June 8 Standing Committee of the Food Chain and Public Health. Noronho reiterated the Portuguese policy not to block the vote on biotech varieties approved by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) unless specific concerns were raised. On June 6, a close Embassy contact and Portuguese biotech expert provided further details on the Minister of Agriculture's voting instructions. He reported in confidence that Portugal was inclined to vote favorably on the Herculex Root Worm variety. However, in regards to the NK603xMON810 and 1507xNK603 stacked corn varieties, he noted that Portugal intends to follow Spain and only vote favorably if the Commission submits a report detailing the procedures to be used to detect and quantify these products in the EU. (Note: While not a member of government, we have found our contact to be the most accurate indicator of Portugal's biotech voting (reftels B and C)). Hoffman