Greece: Geographical Indications and CBD Patent Disclosure

UNCLAS ATHENS 001569 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE PASS TO USTR FOR TANUJA GARDE AND DAWN SHACKLEFORD E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON ETRD EUN KIPR GR SUBJECT: Greece: Geographical Indications and CBD Patent Disclosure REF: STATE 104985 ¶1. (SBU) EconOff delivered reftel demarche on October 23 to Panayiotis Dermentzoglou, First Secretary for Economic and Commercial Affairs, and Nikolaos Doukas, AttachC) for Economic and Commercial Affairs, in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA). ¶2. (SBU) Doukas and Dermentzoglou took the points on board and assured EconOff that they would pass the details of the U.S. position on to the appropriate technical experts at the Ministry of Finance. [Note: The Ministry of Finance (MOF) officials are unable to meet with EconOff on this subject until their portfolios are finalized following the October 4 election. End Note.] Dermentzoglou will seek internal clarification from the MOF on the Government of Greece's latest official position on Geographical Indications and the Convention on Biological Diversity, and will get back to EconOff as soon as possible. Doukas did not dispute that expansion of market access for certain products was important, and agreed that finding a concrete way to move forward in the Doha Round would be to the benefit of all Member States. However, he did note that Greece has a strong interest in the debate on Geographical Indications which may not be in line with the U.S. position. [Note: In separate discussions with others in the MFA in preparation for an upcoming bilateral economic dialogue (the US-Greek Economic and Commercial Cooperation Commission, or ECCC), MFA representatives have asked for U.S. assistance in gaining protection for Greek products such as Kalamata olives and Feta cheese in the U.S. market. They have not linked this to ongoing discussions within the Doha context, but have attempted to approach it as a bilateral issue. End Note.] Speckhard