VIETNAM'S AGRICULTURE MINISTER DISCUSSES BEEF ACCESS, NEW

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 HANOI 000483 SENSITIVE SIPDIS USTR FOR USTR RON KIRK USTR FOR WEISEL, BISBEE, O'CONNOR USDA FOR SECRETARY VILSACK USDA FOR US MILLER, DUS PHILBROOK USDA PASS TO FAS (OA, OSTA, ONA, OCRA) USDA PASS TO APHIS (PPQ, IS, VS) USDA PASS TO FSIS HHS/OSSI/DSI PASS TO OGHA (JKULIKOWSKI/ACUMMINGS) AND FDA (MLVALDEZ/RCAMPBELL/MECKEL) TREASURY FOR OASIA USAID FOR ASIA (MELLIS, DSHARMA, CJENNINGS) AND GH (GSTEELE, DCARROLL) STATE FOR EEB/TPP/ABT/ATP RYAN, AND EAP/MLS BROWN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ETRD WTRO TBIO EAGR PINR SOCI USTR EAID VM SUBJECT: VIETNAM'S AGRICULTURE MINISTER DISCUSSES BEEF ACCESS, NEW U.S. CATFISH REGULATION AND TECHNICAL COOPERATION IN MEETING WITH AMBASSADOR MICHALAK REF: DEC 29. 2008 LETTER FROM AMBASSADOR MICHALAK TO USDA SECRETARY SCHAFER HANOI 00000483 001.2 OF 003 This cable is Sensitive but Unclassified. For official use only, not for dissemination outside USG channels or posting on the Internet. ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY. On May 19, Ambassador Michalak met with Vietnamese Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development Cao Duc Phat to discuss the Minister's recent visit to the United States. The Minister said he was pleased with the visit. It gave him a great opportunity to interact with his U.S. counterparts on issues of trade as well as science and technology. The Minister gave the Ambassador a copy of the Vietnamese risk assessment that addressed USDA's request for increased beef access and indicated that he looked forward to a U.S. response. He also made a point of noting commitments received from USDA Secretary Vilsack and USTR Kirk that the new catfish food safety regulation would not disrupt trade. The Minister reiterated his gratitude for U.S. pledges to support next year's proposed influenza ministerial in Vietnam. He also said he greatly appreciated visits during his U.S. trip to biotech research facilities at U.C.-Davis and Monsanto. He hopes to expand both private and public biotechnology cooperation with the United States. END SUMMARY. MINISTER PROVIDES BEEF ACCESS RISK ASSESMENT ¶2. (SBU) Although the Minister had indicated during his trip to the United States that in principle Vietnam was open to imports of boneless U.S. beef from over-30-month old cattle, his meeting with Ambassador Michalak was the first time the GVN has presented the United States with the risk assessment supporting this. [NOTE. The assessment recommends that Vietnam comply with World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) guidelines for U.S. beef imports. However it notes that U.S. Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) definitions for BSE specified risk materials (SRM) from cattle over 30 months old are not consistent with OIE definitions. The assessment therefore recommends only allowing boneless beef from U.S. cattle over 30 months until the two countries can agree on SRM definitions. The risk assessment does not specifically talk of meat from cattle under 30 months old, but it would seem to recommend that Vietnam accept the OIE SRM for cattle under 30 months rather than the more restrictive SRM list that Vietnam is currently using for under-30-month cattle. The assessment also recommends without explanation that Vietnamese officials pre-inspect any U.S. plant that ships beef from animals of all ages. Currently no pre-inspection is required for any meat shipped from the United States to Vietnam. END NOTE.] ¶3. (SBU) The Minister did not indicate that the Vietnamese government has finally decided to accept the risk assessment's recommendations. However, as he noted during his trip, it is tending toward allowing boneless beef imports. He hoped this decision would be made in June. Vietnam would like U.S. comments on the risk assessment recommendation as soon as possible to facilitate quick agreement between the United States and Vietnam on a new protocol for beef imports. COUNTING ON U.S. ASSURANCES ON CATFISH ¶4. (SBU) On another issue, the Minister noted that during his U.S. trip he had frequently raised the issue of the new catfish regulation and whether FSIS would define Vietnamese pangasius (commonly known as basa an tra) as catfish. The Minister said that he understood that USDA needed to fulfill the congressional mandate; HANOI 00000483 002.2 OF 003 however he also took very seriously Secretary Vilsack and USTR Kirk's assurances during his trip that the new regulation would be transparent and would not disrupt trade. When Ambassador Michalak noted that he would travel to the United States in June and hoped to meet with Secretary Vilsack, the need for fair treatment of pangasius was the only issue the Minister suggested he discuss. ¶5. (SBU) COMMENT. Post notes that Minister Phat has consistently expressed his hope that FSIS not define Vietnamese pangasius as "catfish" in its new regulation. His emphasis during this meeting with Ambassador Michalak on Secretary Vilsack and USTR Kirk's pledges that the new catfish regulation will be transparent and not disrupt Vietnamese trade to the United States serves to reiterate the Vietnamese government's worries. As already stated in the December 29, 2008 letter Ambassador Michalak sent to Secretary Schafer, Post is very concerned that this new regulation could harm long term U.S. trade relations. The perception in Vietnam is that the mandate for FSIS to cover catfish has not been done with adequate scientific justification or consultation with trading partners. If the essentially lexical decision were made to define the pangasius family of fish as catfish when earlier U.S. legislation specifically excluded them from this definition, it would add to this sense of unfairness. The regulation could very well do great harm to the United States' image as a fair trading partner and give Vietnamese officials much wider latitude to adopt questionable sanitary and phytosanitary measures that significantly hinder U.S. exports to Vietnam. Particularly vulnerable would be very promising markets that are developing here for U.S. meat, poultry and dairy products. END COMMENT PENDING A DECISION ON THE INFLUENZA MINISTERIAL ¶6. (U) As he did during his trip, the Minister expressed his appreciation for USAID's commitment to provide up to USD 500,000 for next year's proposed worldwide ministerial on influenza to be held in Vietnam. The Minister relayed that he had officially requested the Prime Minister's approval for Vietnam to host the conference. He noted, however, that the Prime Minister had not yet signed off on the meeting, nor could he give a date when he expected the Prime Minister's approval. Related to this, the Ambassador told the Minister that the USG had invested USD 4.8 million in U.S. influenza vaccine development in Vietnam and urged that the Minister encourage wide Vietnamese government participation in a June 8 meeting that the Ministry of Health will stage to review progress on vaccine development. BIOTECHNOLOGY COOPERATION ¶7. (U) The Minister also noted how much he appreciated his visits to biotechnology research facilities at the University of California-Davis and at Monsanto Corporation operations in California. He realizes that Vietnam is far from achieving the level of biotechnology he saw during his trip, but he hoped that the two countries could increase private and public cooperation on biotechnology. He believed there was a need for less theoretical and more practical exchanges than what his Ministry had previously envisaged. He also felt that there was no need for Vietnam to quickly develop the very high-end research he saw in the United States, but instead when practical, Vietnam could rely on advanced biotech research in other countries to meet its needs. The Minister also noted that USTR had during the TIFA talks in Washington recommended a biotech working group, but he felt it would be better to have an agricultural working group with biotechnology as one among a number of important issues that could be discussed. HANOI 00000483 003.2 OF 003 Michalak