FY 2009 BIOTECHNOLOGY OUTREACH: PROPOSAL FOR

UNCLAS TOKYO 000149 SENSITIVE SIPDIS EEB/TPP/MTAA/ABT FOR MSZYMANSKI AND JBOBO E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAGR ECON ETRD TBIO KPAO JA SUBJECT: FY 2009 BIOTECHNOLOGY OUTREACH: PROPOSAL FOR OUTREACH FUNDS REF: STATE 129940 ¶1. (SBU) Per reftel, Post seeks approximately $13,600 in program funding for a U.S. speaker to participate in the "BioJapan2009" Trade Show October 15-17, 2009. This annual business-to-business event is expected to draw about 24,000 participants and includes "food security and biotechnology" as one of its four themes. Trade Show organizers have invited the Embassy to sponsor seminars, provide speakers, and staff an exhibition booth. This project directly supports Mission and USG policy objectives to gain wider Japanese acceptance of biotech foods, extremely important not only to our significant bilateral trade in agricultural products, but also to our ability to ensure the latest production technologies are readily available to U.S. farmers. Why Agricultural Biotechnology in Japan Matters -------------- -- ¶2. (SBU) Japan is the world's largest per capita importer of biotech crops and the single largest market for U.S. biotech crops such as corn. Japan is highly dependent on the U.S. for feed, importing about 15 million metric tons of U.S. corn and 3.3 million tons of U.S. soybeans in 2007, for a combined value of $3.7 billion. Yet, Japanese consumers and retailers remain deeply apprehensive about agricultural biotechnology and reluctant to accept goods derived from biotech crops. Japanese regulators and other authorities, as a result, have taken extensive regulatory measures, including the use of stringent and sometimes cumbersome labeling requirements and exhaustive food and feed review procedures. No consumer-ready foods with recognizable bio-engineered ingredients are sold domestically. Moreover, the ongoing discussions in Japan over the safety of imported food have threatened, at times, to exacerbate further the already negative Japanese public attitudes towards agricultural biotech. ¶3. (SBU) Given Japan's position as a major global consumer of biotech crops, GOJ regulators have the ability to delay or limit application of the production technologies available to U.S. farmers who meet the bulk of this demand. Japan's importance in the international biotech sector combined with its complex regulatory system means that the low level presence (LLP) of an unapproved biotech event can result in costly testing requirements and trade disruptions. To address this issue, the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO),a leading international advocacy group, has agreed that new biotech crops should be approved in Japan before they are introduced in the U.S. Similarly, major U.S. organizations such as the National Corn Growers Association have pledged to plant only crops previously approved in Japan. ¶4. (SBU) In light of the continued, and potentially increased constraints in Japan's acceptance and use of agricultural biotech, Post requests $13,600 in funding for a speaker to participate in the BioJapan2009 Trade Show. Our proposal is based on the following cost estimates: -- $7,600 for one coach class airfare, per diem, and honorarium; -- $2,000 for interpretation services; and -- $4,000 for rental of a conference hall and booth at the trade show. ¶5. (SBU) We similarly used EEB biotech outreach funds in FY 2008 to support a visit by Science and Technology Special Adviser Dr. Nina Federoff. Dr. Federoff engaged in a highly successful program to build public acceptance for biotech foods that included meetings with government officials, interviews with major media outlets, as well as public lectures at the Tokyo American Center and a Japanese government-funded research institute. Post's POCs for this funding request are Paul Spencer, Senior Agricultural Attache (Paul.Spencer@fas.usda.gov),and Paul Horowitz, Trade Policy Chief (HorowitzPD@state.gov). ZUMWALT