AMBASSADOR'S MEETING WITH MALAYSIAN MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KUALA LUMPUR 000700 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MTS FOR DBISCHOF STATE FOR REO/BKK FOR HHOWARD STATE FOR AIWG USDA FOR APHIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAGR PREL ECON MY SUBJECT: AMBASSADOR'S MEETING WITH MALAYSIAN MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE ¶1. (SBU) Summary: In a meeting on August 11 with Malaysian Minister of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry Noh bin Haji Omar, the Ambassador expressed concern about the costs Malaysia's new halal fees and regulations placed on US meat exporters. Noh expressed a desire to continue working towards finding solutions to these issues. The Ambassador answered Noh's query about the status of the bilateral Free Trade Agreement (FTA) negotiations and the two discussed Malaysia's desire to export fruits to the U.S. as well as Malaysia's plans for implementing standards in shrimp farming that Noh hoped could open the door to the U.S. market. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) The Ambassador accompanied by AgAttache called on Minister Noh August 11 to discuss outstanding bilateral agricultural issues. (Note: In contrast to the previous minister's style, Noh brought in several directors general representing various departments within the Ministry of Agriculture (MOA) to discuss bilateral issues. End Note). ¶3. (SBU) Minister Noh began by seeking the Ambassador's view on the status of the US-Malaysian FTA. The Ambassador explained that the new U.S. administration was still working on its review of global, regional, and bilateral trade policy. The Ambassador also noted that the new administrations in the U.S. and Malaysia could create opportunities to move forward on trade issues even without an FTA. ¶4. (SBU) With regard to halal issues, Noh said that MOA was close to notifying the World Trade Organization (WTO) of new inspection fees for certification of foreign beef and poultry plants that wish to export to Malaysia. He confirmed that upcoming new halal regulations will require processing plants to be dedicated to halal production. The new fees will recover the cost of the inspectors' trip expenses, plus a processing fee of RM 5,000 (about USD 1,500) for each plant inspected, which he stated was what domestic facilities in Malaysia were charged. Noh said MOA would like to implement the fees by January 2010. Noh also mentioned that MOA had allowed one U.S. company to export turkey to Malaysia without an inspection because importers were desperately trying to get more supply. He added that such an exception was unlikely to be made again because those shipments missed the holiday window, leaving ample supplies in storage. ¶5. (SBU) The Ambassador explained to Minister Noh that halal production was more expensive than non-halal production. Most U.S. companies, he added, could not dedicate their plants to halal fulltime because halal meat only made up a small part of their production. Noh suggested that if U.S. companies were to undertake time-based halal production, MOA might accept it if MOA could have a Malaysian inspector on the premise during the production. The Ambassador expressed appreciation for Noh's willingness to seek a solution but pointed out that this would also be an expensive proposition for U.S. companies since they would have to bear those extra costs. Ultimately this had to be a question of economics, the Ambassador emphasized. The Ambassador and Minister Noh expressed interest in maintaining dialogue to search for a workable solution to our outstanding concerns on halal issues. ¶6. (SBU) Noh said that MOA understood that USDA had vaccinated the swine population in the United States and expressed interest in talking to APHIS about the reasons for implementing this measure. He mentioned past collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and the Consortium for Conservation Medicine and Wildlife Trust and expressed interest in further collaboration with the U.S. concerning zoonotic diseases. The Ambassador agreed that expanded collaboration would be useful and suggested extending it to issues such as avian influenza as well. ¶7. (SBU) Noh emphasized Malaysia's desire to export papaya, star fruit, pineapple and jackfruit to the United States, hopefully by Christmas 2009, and noted his ministry's recent responses to questions posed by USDA's Animal and Plant Health Protection Inspection Service (APHIS). AgAtt explained that a work plan for a pre-clearance program would have to be drafted and agreed upon and this process could take some time. MOA accepted an offer from the APHIS regional representative in Manila to come to Malaysia to help facilitate the process. ¶8. (SBU) Turning to seafood products, Minister Noh told the Ambassador that Malaysia was working with the Global Aquaculture Alliance (GAA) as it considered GAA's Best Aquaculture Practices (BAP) certification as a national program for the country's shrimp farming industry. Noh expressed hope that this certification might also be useful for an upcoming U.S. Food and Drug Administration KUALA LUMP 00000700 002 OF 002 review of Malaysia's aquaculture seafood system and products that would be exported to the U.S. KEITH