DUTCH WILL VOTE TO LIFT HUNGARY'S BAN ON MON810

UNCLAS THE HAGUE 000308 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS USDA FOR FAS-ELIZABETH JONES STATE PLEASE PASS USTR FOR D.VETTER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAGR ECON ETRD EU NL SUBJECT: DUTCH WILL VOTE TO LIFT HUNGARY'S BAN ON MON810 REF: A. STATE 19266 ¶B. STATE 19223 THIS MESSAGE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. PLEASE HANDLE ACCORDINGLY. ¶1. (SBU) Pauline Diepenbroek Senior Policy Officer responsible for trade issues, European Cooperation Department, Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told EconCouns on February 16 that the Dutch will support the European Commission's proposal to demand the lifting of Hungary's moratorium on the use and sale of biotechnology corn varieties containing biotech event MON810 at the February 20 European Council meeting. AgCouns and EconCouns also shared reftel points with relevant officials at the Dutch ministries of Economic Affairs, Agriculture Affairs, and Environmental Affairs. ¶2. (SBU) Diepenbroek said a Dutch interagency decision supporting this position had been approved on February 13. The decision still awaited final approval at a February 16 Cabinet meeting, but she did not foresee any changes. BLAKEMAN