US embassy cable - 05SANAA127

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 SANAA 000127 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PLEASE PASS TO EB/TPP/ABT/BTT - DEBORAH MALAC AND JACK BOBO. 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAGR, ECON, ETRD, TBIO, KPAO, YM, ENVIRONMENT/S&T, ECON/COM 
SUBJECT: BIOTECHNOLOGY OUTREACH PROJECTS - FY05 YEMEN 
PROPOSAL 
 
REF: 04 SECSTATE 244670 
 
1. The government of Yemen is moving from an embryonic policy 
understanding of biotechnology to a greater desire to embrace 
international trade standards and to join the international 
trade market and open their markets to biotechnology.  In the 
last two months, the office of the US Trade Representative 
(USTR) and the Department of State have conducted TIFA talks 
and have met with top-ranking Yemeni government officials to 
support Yemen's World Trade Organization (WTO) accession. 
Middle East Partnership Initiative (MEPI) funded programs are 
educating government officials on the intricacies of 
intellectual property rights enforcement, commercial courts, 
and other key trade issues.  Agricultural and environmental 
biotechnology issues can enjoy more attention in Yemen as it 
endeavors to join the world economy.  At the same time, 
introducing to small-scale subsistence farmers in Yemen the 
benefits and productivity gains from genetically modified 
(GM) crops will help spread the word and increase community 
accepta 
nce of biotechnology in agriculture. 
 
2. To provide outreach on biotechnology issues, Embassy Sanaa 
proposes two programs to assist in (1) national policy 
formulation and (2) provide local and governorate-level 
education and outreach through a regional information 
workshop.  Both program descriptions and cost estimates are 
based on negotiation and discussions with USAID Agricultural 
Officer Dorvin Stockdale, PD Officer Tim Fingarson, AfricaBio 
Executive Director Dr. Jocelyn R. Webster.  AfricaBio, a 
highly-reputable NGO with an extended history of USG and 
USAID agricultural biotechnology programming, is a possible 
training provider for the programs detailed below. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
PROGRAM 1: LOCAL COMMUNICATORS TRAINING PROGRAM 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
3. The Local Communicators Training Program will train 25 to 
30 key local communicators and decisionmakers in a three-day 
workshop on how to communicate effectively on food, 
agricultural, environment and medical biotechnology to target 
communities and the press.  The program will invite people 
who influence the local government policy and perceptions of 
the community such as policy makers, local government 
officials, prominent farmers and business owners in the 
capital, Sanaa, and five of the most poverty-stricken 
governorates in Yemen.  (Note: For the past three years, 
Post's interagency development group has targeted five key 
governorates, which are heavily dependent on the agricultural 
sector, for intensive aid. End note.) 
 
---------------- 
Target Audience 
---------------- 
 
4. The target audience will be 25 to 30 local leaders and 
farmers and other regional participants who can act as 
"viral" communicators, spreading the news about the benefits 
of GM products.  The selected communicators would include 
scientists, healthcare workers, agricultural outreach 
workers, and key decisionmakers in agriculture, health, 
education and environment in five most poverty-stricken 
governorates out of the 22 in Yemen. 
 
------------------------------------- 
Biotechnology issues to be addressed 
------------------------------------- 
 
5. Training will include discussion on the benefits of 
biotechnology to farmers such as combating animal diseases, 
increasing yield by plant resistance to diseases and pest, 
reducing environment pollution by reducing pesticide use, 
utilizing fertilizers effectively, facilitating minimum 
tillage, employing uniform harvest time, and conducting 
product quality control. 
 
------------------------ 
Cost of Proposed Program 
------------------------ 
 
6. Program Costs: 
 
- 3,200 - training site for three days including equipment 
(Taj Sheba Hotel, Sanaa, Yemen) 
- 6,000 - lodging (Taj Sheba Hotel, $300 for two nights per 
out-of-town participant) 
- 2,600 - meals 
- 4,000 - trainer's fee 
- 4,600 - trainer's travel costs (based on 01/2005 roundtrip 
business class from Washington, D.C. to Sanaa, Yemen   visa 
fees   overweight baggage for equipment etc.) 
-   650 - trainer's lodging and per diem 
-   300 - training materials preparation 
-   500 - miscellaneous 
 
- 21,850 total 
 
------------------------------- 
Impact on USG policy objectives 
------------------------------- 
 
7. The training program will introduce the benefits of using 
GM crop plants to subsistence farmers and influential 
scientists.  With a fuller understanding of biosafety 
assessments and use of GM crops in Yemen, the US can 
encourage more rapid adoption of GM farming to small-scale 
farmers and the Yemeni market.  Opening the Yemeni market to 
GM products will also aid Yemen in coping with the needs 
associated with 3.9 percent population growth and a 
population expected to double to 40 million by 2020. 
 
---------------------------------------- 
PROGRAM 2: BIOTECHNOLOGY POLICY WORKSHOP 
---------------------------------------- 
 
8. Genetically modified organism (GMO) policy formulation in 
Yemen is in its infancy, yet with ongoing efforts toward WTO 
accession, the ROYG will have to face many of the issues that 
confront GM trade issues.  The ROYG has not enacted or 
initiated any laws, regulations, or practices regarding GMO 
trade. 
 
9. The Cabinet introduced a draft law banning LMO products 
over a year ago.  After consideration, the Cabinet sent the 
draft law to the Yemen Standardization, Metrology and Quality 
Control Organization (YSMQCO), a regulatory agency comprised 
of agricultural, meteorological and other scientists for 
their recommendations.  The YSMQCO forwarded a recommendation 
to ban LMO agricultural imports and to the Minister of 
Industry and Trade Rajeh Sheikh, who put the draft law on 
hold pending further study of the issue. 
 
10. Post anticipates Yemen will be pressured by the 
international community to adopt a biotechnology and GMO 
policy in the run-up to WTO accession and its growing 
eagerness of joining the international trade community.  In 
this climate, it is a crucial time for the US to share its 
views on GM products and trade.  Since ROYG standards 
officials have few scientific resources and less exposure to 
the international political struggles surrounding GMOs, 
biotechnology, and other standards issues, it is common for 
such officials to defer to other international organizations, 
usually European-based, for matters ranging from 
environmental protection measures to human genetic cloning to 
barriers to prevent the spread of avian influenza in native 
poultry.  Especially with the run-up and preparation for WTO 
accession, Post can anticipate that the ROYG will be asked to 
implement a GMO standard or to join other nations in a 
collective GMO position; standards officials could again turn 
to a European standard. 
 
11. A GMO policy workshop will educate key policymakers on 
the technology behind GM crops, the research behind GMOs' 
food safety record, and other information they will need in 
order make well-informed policy decisions about GMOs in the 
near future.  As discussed with YSMQCO and other government 
officials responsible for biotechnology standards, the 
workshop will also introduce the various policy directions 
and GM experiences of other countries in the Middle East 
region.  Post anticipates such a workshop will be a catalyst 
to GMO legislation that considers the US position on GMOs. 
 
---------------- 
Target Audience 
---------------- 
 
12. Participants will be key government officials and 
scientists from various agencies responsible for determining 
biotechnology.   Participants will be selected from the 
YSMQCO, the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), the 
Ministry of Agriculture, the Agricultural Extension and 
Research Authority (AREA), the Ministry of Trade and 
Industry, and the WTO Accession Committee. 
 
------------------------------------- 
Biotechnology issues to be addressed 
------------------------------------- 
 
13. The workshop would present information on the following 
issues: Food safety, trans-boundary movement of GMOs and 
LMOs, patents and intellectual property rights, myths 
surrounding GMOs, and the experiences of other governments 
and countries in the Middle East such as the relatively 
biotechnologically advanced agricultural sector in Egypt. 
After the presentations, the workshop would break up into 
smaller discussion groups so that government officials can 
discuss how these issues could impact a GMO and biotechnology 
policy and standards formulation. 
 
------------------------- 
Cost of Proposed Program 
------------------------ 
 
14. Proposed costs in USD: 
 
- 2,100 - training site for two days including equipment 
- 1,300 - meals 
- 4,000 - trainer's fee 
- 4,600 - trainer's travel costs (based on 01/2005 roundtrip 
business class from Washington, D.C. to Sanaa, Yemen   visa 
fees   overweight baggage for equipment   etc.) 
-   550 - trainer's lodging and per diem 
-   300 - training materials preparation 
-   500 - miscellaneous 
- 13,350 total 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
Purpose and Impact of Project on USG policy objectives 
--------------------------------------------- ---------- 
 
15. GMO policy formulation is in its infancy in Yemen and 
Yemen continues to tread water on LMO issues while its 
decisionmakers await further guidance from countries in the 
region and more input from interlocutors such as the U.S. 
This workshop will educate the key government decisionmakers 
on the reliability and safety of GM crop plants, as well as 
discuss the common scientific consensus that food derived 
from approved GMOs poses no greater health risks than that 
food derived from conventional methods. 
 
16. For additional information please contact POC, 
Econ/Commoff Jules Kim Johnson. 
 
Tel: 011-967-755-2252 
Email: johnsonjk@state.gov. 
KRAJESKI