BIOTECH: MINISTRY OF ECONOMY ENGAGING

UNCLAS WARSAW 000940 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/CE STATE FOR EEB/TPP/ABT/BTT FINN USDA FOR FAS/OSTA MHENNY, LJONES; FAS/OFSO DYOUNG USDA FOR FAS/OCRA/RCURTIS, DSEIDBAND BRUSSELS PASS AG MINISTER COUNSELOR EUROPEAN POSTS FOR AGR/ECON E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAGR ECON ETRD TBIO PGOV PL SUBJECT: BIOTECH: MINISTRY OF ECONOMY ENGAGING REF: WARSAW 823 ¶1. (SBU) Polish Economy Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Waldemar Pawlak (PSL) August 6 signaled to Charge that he regarded Poland's hard-line stance on agricultural biotechnology as a relic of the previous government's tactic of deploying conflict and fear - in this case against GMOs. Quoting a Russian proverb - "if you keep a low profile, you will get further" - Pawlak said he is looking for a "soft exit" from that stance. He acknowledged the damage Poland's policy has done to its farmers and producers, who face record high input prices, and suggested that his ministry is prepared to take small steps toward more openness to GMOs. ¶2. (SBU) The current Ministry of Economy has not engaged itself to date in Poland's biotechnology policy. The PSL-controlled Agriculture Ministry was important in moving legislation through the Sejm to avert a Polish ban on GM crops in animal feed in July (reftel),legislation that finally overruled the Environment Minister's activist approach against transgender crops. That victory and Pawlak's August 6 signal have generated guarded hope in Embassy Warsaw that Pawlak's approach of seeking quiet progress may yield more fruit, and not only in Warsaw. While we defer to the vote counting expertise of USEU, we understand that a Polish abstention alone on, for example, new soybean varieties in the Commission's Standing Committee for Animal Health and the Food Chain can help open EU markets to U.S. production. ¶3. (SBU) Pawlak invited Charge to continue the conversation with him in the next two weeks - an offer we accepted. Though August is a difficult time to do business here, Embassy Warsaw's Biotechnology Working Group (ECON, PAS, FAS, FCS) will reach out in the meantime to other stakeholders in Warsaw and in the USG to develop what may be a new opening in Warsaw. QUANRUD