TFFLU01: CROATIA TO LIFT TRADE BAN ON PORK

UNCLAS ZAGREB 000251 SIPDIS DEPT PLEASE PASS TO USTR JANE DOHERTY, USDA FOR OSTA CLAY HAMILTON AND CASEY BEAN E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAGR ETRD HR KFLU SUBJECT: TFFLU01: CROATIA TO LIFT TRADE BAN ON PORK REF: STATE 44254 ¶1. In response to reftel, Econ officer discussed points with the MFA Department for Bilateral Economic Affairs, the MFA Department Head for North America, as well as the Ministry of Agriculture's Department of Veterinary Inspection. All were sympathetic to our position and the MFA informed us on 7 May that the decision had been made to remove the ban, pending administrative procedures and publishing in the official gazette. The Ministry of Agriculture told us the decision should be official on May 8, or at the latest early next week. Given the imminent removal of the ban, Embassy Zagreb requests that USDA not publicly announce Croatia as one of the countries banning U.S. pork imports. ¶2. COMMENT: The Canadian Embassy in Zagreb also made a strong push on this issue, even though Canada exports no pork products to Croatia whatsoever. Interestingly, the import ban will temporarily stay in place for Mexico, although Croatia does not import pork from Mexico either. It's unclear whether this is because Croatia is still taking undue precautions, or because there is no Mexican representation in Croatia that expressed concern. The Ministry of Agriculture told us the decision to ban pork imports from North America was taken in the early days of the outbreak when details on the illness and its means of transmission were hazy. Especially in the pre-election environment here, the government did not want to be accused of not taking every precaution. But the reaction to the U.S. and Canadian expressions of concern was swift and positive. BRADTKE