US embassy cable - 04ZAGREB2196

UNCLAS ZAGREB 002196 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
FOR PES/ETC-H. LEE, EB/TPP/ABT-R. SINGH, USDA/FAS/BIG-J. PASSINO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV, ETRD, EAGR, EAID, TBIO, HR, Trade 
SUBJECT: 2004 GMO AND BIOSAFETY DEVELOPMENTS IN CROATIA 
 
REF: STATE 259661 
 
1.  Reftel requested an update on biosafety issues in 
preparation for the next meeting of the parties to the Cartagena 
Protocol. As an EU candidate country, Croatia will almost 
certainly follow the EC lead on any biosafety or GMO issue. 
Following is an overview of recent developments on these issues. 
 
2. Three laws passed in 2003 (the Law on Food, the Law on Nature 
Protection, and the Law on Consumer Protection) establish a 
regulatory framework for the introduction of GMO crops and foods 
to Croatia; in fact, given the absence of a working registration 
system, they constitute a de-facto ban on GMO products. 
Responsibility for biotech policy is divided among three 
ministries. 
 
3.  The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Water Management 
shares responsibility with the Ministry of Culture for licensing 
and testing GMO seeds. The Ministry of Agriculture is also 
responsible for "cleaning-up" unauthorized GMO release into 
nature. Minister of Agriculture Petar Cobankovic has taken it 
upon himself (above and beyond the law) to compensate farmers 
whose land was contaminated by the unauthorized release of 
Pioneer GMO seeds this summer; currently the Ministry is suing 
Pioneer to recoup its expense.  The case is likely to be tied up 
in Croatian courts for years. 
 
4.  The Ministry of Culture is responsible for "nature 
protection":  regulating the release into nature of GMOs. When 
the GoC passed the Law on Nature Protection in 2003, the nature 
protection portfolio originally fell to the Ministry of 
Environment; in January 2004, a newly-elected GoC shifted 
responsibility for registering and licensing GMO seeds to the 
Ministry of Culture. The Ministry of Culture is also responsible 
for insuring GMO seeds are not planted on any of Croatia's 
numerous protected areas. 
 
5.   A GoC bill on novel foods has passed its first reading in 
the Parliament, and will be taken up again in early 2005.  The 
law is designed to establish a clear regulatory and licensing 
procedure for GMO crops and food.  It has been painted as a 
necessary part of EU legislative harmonization, and though it 
would allow GMOs on the Croatian market, press reports focus on 
the great difficulties the law would impose of potential GMO 
importers and harsh financial penalties for unauthorized GMO 
release.  The Institute for Public Health houses the only in- 
country facility capable of testing foods for GMOs. 
 
 
FRANK 
 
 
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