DUTCH ON EU'S PROGRESS ON BIOTECH

UNCLAS THE HAGUE 002017 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/ERA (SGRAY),EUR/WE (TSMITH) STATE ALSO FOR EEB/TPP/ABT/BTT (JBOBO) USDA FOR FAS-ELIZABETH JONES STATE PLEASE PASS USTR FOR M.CLARKSON E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAGR ECON ETRD EUN TBIO NL SUBJECT: DUTCH ON EU'S PROGRESS ON BIOTECH REF: A. STATE 158225 ¶B. STATE 153542 ¶C. ENSTROM-DASTIN/GRAY EMAIL 11-21-07 THIS MESSAGE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. PLEASE HANDLE ACCORDINGLY. ¶1. (SBU) Post shared points in reftels on the November 21 WTO Reasonable Period of Time (RPT) deadline and on EU policy regarding low levels of unapproved biotech products in imports with contacts at the Dutch ministries of Agriculture (MinAg),Economic Affairs (MEA),and Foreign Affairs (MFA). MEA and MFA contacts deferred to their MinAg colleagues on the issue. Bart van den Assum, Policy Officer for Nature and Food Quality at the MinAg, told FAS officers on November 21 that the GONL would maintain its policy of voting for approval of biotech varieties that were assessed as safe by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). He said the GONL was also concerned by the slow EU approval process for biotech varieties and its policy of zero tolerance for unapproved varieties in imports as well as the negative effect of the current situation on the competitiveness of the Dutch agricultural and food processing sector. ¶2. (SBU) Van den Assum noted that nine organizations representing the Dutch agriculture and food sector had sent a letter to the Dutch MinAg and Parliament on November 9. The letter expressed their concern about EU biotech policies, which restrict the sector's options in sourcing raw materials and ingredients. Van den Assum said Dutch Minister of Agriculture Gerda Verburg planned to seek an open discussion on the EU approval process for new biotech varieties at the November 26 Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting. However, he said the Dutch were not optimistic that this meeting would generate any results given current views among other EU member states. He added that the Dutch had been working closely at the working level with their UK and Swedish counterparts, even though there did not appear to be any cooperation at the ministerial level to reach a shared strategy. ¶3. (SBU) Post also reported these findings via email (ref C). Arnall