US embassy cable - 04ROME4872

UNCLAS  ROME 004872 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED 
 
STATE FOR OES/ETC H.LEE AND EB/TPP/ABT R.SINGH 
STATE PASS USDA FOR FAS/BIG JPPASSINO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV, EAGR, ETRD, TBIO, EAID, IT 
SUBJECT:  CARTAGENA PROTOCOL ON BIOSAFETY - ITALY 
 
REFS: (A) STATE 259661, (B) ROME 4563, (C) ROME 4809 
 
1.  (U)  SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED - NOT FOR INTERNET 
DISTRIBUTION. 
 
2.  (U) SUMMARY:  Per ref A, on December 10, SCI Specialist 
discussed Italy's views on biosafety with Marco Vetrano, 
Director of the Biosafety Division of the Italian Ministry 
of Environment.  Vetrano stated that Italy ratified the 
Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety on February 4, 2004 with Law 
27/2004, and added that one of his consultants presented the 
Italian Biosafety Clearing House to the EU Commission at 
that time.  According to Vetrano, the only new Italian 
regulation that could relate to biosafety is the draft 
decree law on the coexistence of biotech and non-biotech 
crops.  See paragraph 3 and ref B for details on this 
important piece of legislation, which is still under 
discussion in the Italian Parliament. The recent annulment 
of a four-year old Italian law that banned commercialization 
of four biotech corn varieties is discussed in paragraphs 4- 
7 and in ref C.  END SUMMARY. 
 
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DRAFT COEXISTENCE DECREE LAW:  COULD HAVE BEEN WORSE 
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3.  (SBU)  On November 11, the Italian Cabinet passed a 
decree law on the coexistence of biotech and non-biotech 
crops.  The decree law came into effect November 29 upon its 
publication in the GOI's official gazette, but must be voted 
into law by the Italian Parliament within sixty days, or the 
decree law will lapse.  Overall, the decree is inimical to 
the planting of biotech seeds in Italy because it imposes a 
moratorium on the sowing of GM seed in Italy through the end 
of 2005, by which time each of Italy's 20 regions must issue 
its own coexistence plan.  During this moratorium phase, 
Italian farmers are still subject to current regulations, 
which impose the penalty of imprisonment for farmers who sow 
GM seed.  Starting in 2006, according to the decree, Italian 
farmers would be able to cultivate GM seeds, as long as the 
farmers adhere to the regional coexistence plans.  The new 
decree also calls for the formation of a committee of 
federal and regional experts, representing a wide range of 
views, to define technical guidelines on coexistence.  We 
understand, however, that the committee will be headed by a 
known anti-GMO official from the Environment Ministry. 
Although the information above points to negative aspects of 
the decree law, Post's agricultural section reports that 
some major Italian biotech seed producers believe the 
current decree law is an improvement over previous drafts 
that had been considered.  One improvement is that, in 
contrast to previous versions, the decree law stipulates a 
date by which the Italian regions must have a coexistence 
plan in place.  We emphasize that following parliamentary 
debate, the final law could be slightly different from the 
current one, so the Department should view this information 
as preliminary and not draw firm conclusions.  We will keep 
the Department and other addressees informed of the outcome 
of the legislative debate. 
 
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RESTRICTIVE "AMATO" DECREE ANNULLED 
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4.  (SBU) Ref C reports the annulment of a four-year old 
Italian law called the "Amato Decree", affecting GMOs rather 
than living modified organisms.  We believe that this recent 
court action represents a positive step toward a more 
science-based Italian biotechnology policy.  Under Italian 
law, both sides in the dispute may still appeal the 
annulment, but Post has no reason to believe that either 
side will take this step. 
 
5. (U) By way of background, on August 4, 2000, Giuliano 
Amato, the Italian Prime Minister at the time, issued a 
decree (later called the "Amato Decree") in response to a 
campaign launched in the fall of 1999 by some environmental 
groups against seven GM products (four corn and three 
rapeseed varieties).  The Amato decree was published in the 
Italian Official Gazette on August 8, 2000, and became 
effective on August 23. It "suspended" the commercialization 
and use of four GM corn varieties already authorized by the 
EU and marketed for both food and feed uses:  BT 11 
(Novartis), MON 810 (Monsanto), MON 809 (Monsanto) and T 25 
 
(Aventis), while the three rapeseed varieties were dropped 
from the decree. 
 
6. (U)  On November 29, 2004, the Regional Administrative 
Tribunal (TAR) of Latium annulled the Amato Decree. The 
ruling resulted from a lawsuit submitted in November 2000 by 
three leading seed companies and a biotech association.  The 
ruling concurred with the European Court of Justice's 
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, the decree law obstructed 
Italian imports of U.S. corn products, such as corn gluten 
feed and corn oil, as well as corn, even during a year of 
drought here in Italy. 
 
7.  (SBU) COMMENT:  It remains to be seen whether U.S. corn 
and corn products can reestablish their presence in the 
Italian market.  END COMMENT. 
SEMBLER 
 
 
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 2004ROME04872 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED