US embassy cable - 04ROME4809

UNCLAS  ROME 004809 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
USDA FOR OSEC -- PENN 
USDA/FAS FOR SIMMONS, RIEMENSCHEIDER, AND 
D.YOUNG 
STATE PASS USTR 
GENEVA FOR USTR 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: ETRD, EAGR, TBIO, KSCA, IT, WTO 
SUBJECT: ITALY/BIOTECH: BAN ON FOUR GM CORN 
VARIETIES OVERTURNED BY ITALIAN COURT 
 
Ref: Rome 4563 
 
Sensitive But Unclassified -- Not For Internet Distribution 
 
1. (U) Summary. Italy's August 2000 ban on the 
commercialization of four biotech corn varieties was 
annulled on November 29, 2004, by a Lazio regional court. 
The ruling on the so-called Amato Decree resulted from a 
lawsuit filed in November 2000 by three multinational seed 
companies and an Italian biotech association.  The ruling 
concurred with a 2003 European Court of Justice opinion that 
such a ban was justifiable only if a Member State could 
demonstrate scientific evidence of risk to humans. Four years 
under the Amato Decree has affected U.S. exports to Italy; in 
particular, it obstructed Italian imports of corn products, such 
as corn gluten feed and corn oil. It remains to be seen how 
successful U.S. corn exporters will be in reestablishing their 
presence in the Italian market.  In the meantime, last month's 
decree-law on coexistence, which bans all GM cultivation in 
Italy through 2005 while Italy's regions draw up their own 
coexistence plans, likely will continue to discourage public 
acceptance of GM crops and products in Italy. End summary. 
 
2. (U) On November 29, 2004, the Regional Administrative 
Tribunal (TAR) of Lazio (which includes Rome) annulled the 
Amato Decree, which since August 2000 had banned 
commercialization in Italy of four biotech corn varieties:  BT 
11 (Novartis), MON810 (Monsanto), MON 809 (Monsanto) 
and T25 (Aventis). All four varieties had already been 
authorized by the EU and marketed for both food and feed 
uses. In its decision, the court noted that "in the years of 
commercialization experience in the whole EU territory, as 
well as in the United States, there are no reports that these 
products have caused serious and irreversible threats" to 
human health. The ruling quotes a series of scientific 
recommendations, coming from different sources, speaking in 
favor of the safety of these products. 
 
3. (SBU) The Amato decree had been enacted by the 
previous center-left government primarily to defuse a 
political crisis (placating the Green Party, which had 
threatened to withdraw from the government led by then 
Prime Minister Giuliano Amato if such a ban were not 
implemented), rather than in response to actual concerns 
about human health risks. In November 2000, Assobiotec 
(the Italian organization of biotech companies) and three 
leading seed companies (Monsanto, Pioneer, and Syngenta) 
filed a lawsuit against the Amato decree in the Lazio TAR, 
and claimed the decree violated several existing laws; the 
following year the TAR suspended proceedings while 
seeking advice from the European Court of Justice (ECJ). 
The most recent TAR ruling concurred with the 2003 ECJ 
ruling that a national government could temporarily restrict 
or suspend trade in genetically modified foods only if it had 
detailed, proven grounds to suspect a risk to human health. 
 
4. (SBU) Following the coming to power in May 2001 of the 
current center-right government led by Prime Minister Silvio 
Berlusconi, the new Agriculture Minister Giovanni 
Alemanno adopted a strong anti-biotech stance that included 
maintaining the Amato decree's ban.  Since fall 2003 
Alemanno had promised to lift the Amato decree in 
conjunction with implementation of regulations on the 
coexistence of GM and non-GM cultivation. Even with the 
advent of such regulations by a decree law passed in 
November 2004 (reftel), however, Alemanno did not take any 
steps to keep his earlier promise. We are unaware of any 
public comments by Alemanno or other ministry officials on 
the Lazio court decision. 
 
5. (U) During the last four years, the Amato decree has had a 
significantly negative effect on shipments of all corn-based 
products from the United States to Italy. (Note: the United 
States cited the Amato Decree in its August 2003 filing with 
the WTO of a case against the EU for its moratorium on the 
approval of biotech products.)  Corn gluten feed exports 
dropped from almost 200,000 tons per year in 1998/99 
(valued at some $20 million) to virtually zero in 2003 and 
2004. U.S. exports of corn oil to Italy, which totaled about 
50,000 tons per year (valued at over $50 million) before the 
 
 
implementation of the Amato decree, also dropped to zero in 
2003 and 2004. Even during the 2003/04 marketing year, 
when domestic Italian corn production was severely affected 
by drought and Italy actively sought feed imports on the 
world market, Italy refused to allow imports of U.S. corn. 
Sorghum imports were used for animal feed as a substitute 
for corn, the first time in a dozen years that sorghum was 
imported (here the U.S. did benefit, with about 450,000 tons 
of U.S. sorghum exported to Italy). 
 
6. (SBU) Comment.  While either side may appeal the Lazio 
TAR's decision, our contacts uniformly tell us that this is 
unlikely to happen. Clearly the demise of the Amato decree is 
a positive and welcome development.  Nevertheless, the 
decree's nullification through a court decision rather than 
through positive GOI action reflects the continuing inability 
of the government to move towards science-based decisions 
involving the agricultural biotech sector.  It remains to be 
seen whether U.S. corn and corn products can reestablish 
their presence in the Italian market. In the meantime, last 
month's decree-law on coexistence, which bans all GM 
cultivation in Italy through 2005 while Italy's regions draw 
up their own coexistence plans, likely will continue to 
discourage public acceptance of GM crops and products in 
Italy. Since the Italian Parliament must ratify the decree-law 
by late January (or act to extend the deadline) in order for it 
to remain in effect, Embassy has initiated a series of contacts 
with key Italian lawmakers to encourage them to accept only 
permanent coexistence regulations that are science-based. 
End comment. 
 
 
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	2004ROME04809 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED