US embassy cable - 05TELAVIV426

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 TEL AVIV 000426 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR NEA/IPA, OES/ETC FOR ANA VILLEGAS 
EPA FOR INTERNATIONAL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAGR, EAID, SENV, TBIO, IS, ENVIRONMENT, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 
SUBJECT:  ISRAELI ACTIONS ON GENETIC RESOURCES AND BENEFIT 
SHARING 
 
REF:  SECSTATE 269625 
 
1. Summary:  Israel has a legal and institutional framework 
to protect biodiversity.  Although Israel does not have a 
specific law that prohibits the introduction of alien 
species, it does restrict the import of plant species 
included in the Convention on International Trade in 
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which 
requires approval by the Israel Nature and National Parks 
Protection Authority.  The Introduction Commission within 
the Ministry of Agriculture coordinates agricultural and 
horticultural introductions all over the country.   Israel 
is also active in the International Plant Genetic Research 
Institute (IPGRI) network.  The GOI has assessed that there 
is a need for effective regulations at the national level 
with respect to genetic technologies to ensure the safety of 
human health, the environment, food security, and the 
conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity. 
Israel has not given high priority to the implementation of 
the Biodiversity Convention largely due to financial 
constraints, as well as political, social, and regional 
circumstances.  End summary 
 
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Legal Framework 
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2.  Four Israeli laws deal with the limitations for access 
to or actions involving biological resources.  They are: 
 
-- The National Parks, Nature Reserves, Memorial Sites, and 
National Sites Law of 1998 (henceforth Nature Reserves Law): 
 
This law, first enacted in 1963 and revised in 1992 and 
1998, provides the legal structure for the protection of 
natural habitats, natural assets, wildlife and sites of 
scientific, historic, architectural, and educational 
interest in Israel.  It establishes systems for declaring 
nature reserves, marine protected areas and national parks, 
and for listing protected natural assets which include many 
families and species of flora and fauna.  This legal 
protection extends to many taxa, whether originating within 
or outside of Israel.  This law establishes a new and united 
Nature and National Parks Protection Authority, which 
replaced the previous Nature Reserves Authority and National 
Parks Authority that had been separate entities.  A National 
Parks, Nature Reserves, and National Sites Council, composed 
of all relevant stakeholders and appointed by the Minister 
of Environment, advises the relevant ministries on 
implementation of the law. 
 
-- The Wildlife Protection Law of 1955: 
 
This law, which was amended in 1990, authorizes the Ministry 
of Environment to restrict the hunting of wildlife, to issue 
hunting permits, and to appoint inspectors to enforce the 
law.  The law defines protected wildlife as any animal that 
has not been designated as "pest" or "game."  In effect, it 
declares all vertebrates (with the exception of fish) as 
protected wildlife species with the exception of three avian 
and eight mammalian species -- which are legally considered 
pests and may be exterminated.  Regulations enacted in 1994 
incorporate the provisions of the Washington Convention 
(CITES) into the Wildlife Protection Law. 
 
-- The Fisheries Ordinance of 1937: 
 
This ordinance is enforced by the Fisheries Board, which 
falls under the jurisdiction of the Minister of Agriculture. 
The ordinance requires a license to fish.  It sets 
conditions and restrictions on a wide range of subjects 
including prohibitions on the use of explosives or poisons 
to catch or kill fish, prohibitions on fishing methods, 
which may damage or threaten the survival of fish species, 
prohibitions or limitations on fishing in certain areas or 
during certain seasons, size limits for species of fish that 
may be caught, and the size and caliber of mesh of fishing 
nets.  Other regulations prohibit fishing of marine turtles 
and restrict fishing of sponges. 
 
-- Plant Protection Law of 1956: 
 
This law authorizes the Minister of Agriculture, following 
consultation with an advisory interdisciplinary committee, 
to regulate the movement of "pests" and to regulate the 
import, sale, distribution, and packaging of pesticides, 
fertilizers, and other related materials. 
 
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Mutually Agreed Terms (MAT) and Prior Informed Consent (PIC) 
in Israel 
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3.  The following information describes how mutually agreed 
terms (MAT) and prior informed consent (PIC) requirements 
are legislated and implemented in Israel (Reftel paragraph 
18, questions A-D). 
 
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Research and Collection of Biological Resources 
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A.  Legislation and regulation of research and collection of 
biological resources 
 
Questions: What are the relevant laws and procedures that 
researchers must fulfill in order to conduct research on 
biological or genetic resources, including research permits 
and visas?  What are the procedures for obtaining a permit 
to collect biological specimens? 
 
Which government agencies are responsible for issuing 
research and/or collection permits?  Is this done at the 
national, state, or local level?  At multiple levels?  Are 
terms and conditions addressing the concept of mutually 
agreed terms included in the research permit? 
 
Answer:  A researcher wishing to conduct research within 
Israel, or collect any species defined as protected by the 
National Parks, Nature Reserves, Memorial Sites and National 
Sites Law of 1998, and the Wildlife Protection Law, 1955, 
must submit a written request to the Israel Nature Park 
Authority (INPA) Permit Division in Jerusalem.  There is no 
application form.  Requests regarding fish species covered 
by the Fishing Ordinance and other species covered by the 
Plant Protection Law must be submitted to the Department of 
Agriculture. 
 
Requests to the INPA must include a summary of the research 
objectives and details for the requested quantity and 
location of the biological resources needed.  The request is 
evaluated by biologists at INPA headquarters and at the 
local level, and if granted, the researcher receives the 
actual permit directly from the Permit Division.  Sometimes, 
the researcher is contacted to clarify or amend the request 
at this stage. 
 
The permit is officially a permit to "cause harm to a 
protected species."  The term `causing harm' is defined 
specifically in the laws mentioned above, to include a wide 
variety of acts, such as capture, killing, disturbing, etc. 
The actual permit lists the name and identification number 
of the permit holder, the common and scientific name of the 
species or higher taxa covered, the number of specimens, the 
permitted acts of "harm," the permitted location, and the 
relevant dates, as well as any other limitations that may be 
necessary.  There is no charge for research or collection 
permits. 
 
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Movement of Biological specimens 
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B. Movement of biological specimens 
 
Questions: What are the procedures, terms, and conditions 
for obtaining a permit to EXPORT no-CITES biological 
specimens (if any)?  Who issues these permits? 
 
What are the procedures, terms, and conditions for obtaining 
a permit to IMPORT non-CITES biological specimens (if any)? 
Who issues these permits? 
 
Are there additional phyto-or zoo-sanitary requirements and 
permits needed for movement of specimens? 
 
Answer: Exports and imports of biological samples, whether 
CITES listed or not, are permitted by a similar procedure as 
described in Para A above.  All request for exports of 
species under INPA's protection authority are handled by the 
INPA Permits Division in Jerusalem.  The INPA's trade policy 
also requires previous issuance of an import permit for all 
wildlife and natural assets, whether they are CITES-listed 
or not.  Israel's stricter domestic measures regarding trade 
in wildlife were communicated by the CITES Secretariat to 
all Parties to the Convention in Notification No. 2004/025 
issued on 30 April, 2004. 
 
For exports and imports of biological specimens of species 
under the sole authority of  the Ministry of Agriculture's 
laws, and permits are issued by the Ministry after 
fulfillment of their zoo-and phyto-sanitary requirements. 
 
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Procedures for Negotiating Mutually Agreed Terms 
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-- 
C.  What are the relevant laws and procedures for 
negotiating mutually agreed terms for access to and/or use 
of genetic resources?  Which government agencies are 
responsible? 
 
Questions: Do these agencies differentiate among uses for 
basic science, commercial development, and agricultural 
research? 
 
Answer: To date, Israel has not given high priority to the 
implementation of the Biodiversity Convention, largely due 
to political, social, and regional circumstances.  In 
addition, large-scale immigration to the country in the 
1990's coupled by accelerated development has led to habitat 
fragmentation and ecosystem degradation. These circumstances 
have led to financial constraints and to the allocation of 
inadequate financial resources for the conservation and 
sustainable use of biodiversity. 
 
Israel intends to sign the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety 
having already drafted the necessary national legislation to 
enable compliance.  The rights and benefits of Contracting 
Parties who contribute genetic resources are generally 
expressed within the contractual agreements signed by the 
various parties. 
 
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Status of MAT and PIC in Israel 
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D. Status of MAT and PIC in host country 
 
Questions: Are there coordinating processes (interagency 
groups, civil society forums, etc) for the development of 
MAT and PIC regulations, issues and processes? 
 
Has the host country identified national authorities 
responsible for: 
 
Negotiating specific contracts for providing access to 
genetic resources for either research or commercialization 
of genetic resources? 
 
Receiving financial benefits from ABS contracts (such as 
national, regional, or conservation trust funds? 
 
Answer: The Israeli Gene Bank (IGB) was established in 1979 
by the Ministry of Science and the Ministry of Agriculture, 
as a coordinating body for Israel's plant genetic resource 
efforts.   The IGB under the Ministry of Science and the 
Ministry of Agriculture is responsible for the 
implementation of a strategy for national genetic resources, 
conservation, taking into consideration the specific 
conditions and characteristics of Israel. 
 
Israel's Ministry of Agriculture actively pursues 
cooperative research and technical projects with other 
Contracting Parties, including the exchange of information 
and experts, with emphasis on the participation of 
developing countries. 
 
In addition, the Ministry of Agriculture supports the 
preservation (in situ and ex situ) of wild relatives of 
cultivated plants and establishment of gene banks for crops 
of importance.  In these areas of involvement, the Ministry 
is quite active in pursuing and implementing joint research 
projects with Contracting Parties, technology transfer, and 
exchange of information and experts, with emphasis on the 
participation of developing countries within the framework 
of the Coastal Area Management Programme (CAMP) for Israel, 
which was signed between Israel and the Mediterranean Action 
Plan (UNEP).  The Ministry has formulated a sustainable 
development strategy for agriculture. 
 
Relevant technology is transferred to Israel on concessional 
or preferential terms within the framework of international 
cooperative research funds such as the US-Israel Bi-National 
Agricultural Research and Development Fund (BARD) and those 
of the European Union. 
 
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Availability of Information 
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Questions: Did the CBD focal point have this information 
readily available? 
 
Does the host government have general information that it 
gives to foreign researchers seeking to obtain 
research/collecting/import/export permits?  If so please 
forward copies of website addresses if possible. 
 
Answer: Yes, the CBD focal point, Dr. Eliezer Frankenberg , 
Director of the Division of Science and Conservation at the 
Israel Nature and National Parks Protection Authority 
provided the requested information in a timely manner 
through one of his associates. 
 
Foreign researches can obtain general information through 
the Nature and National Parks website at 
http//:www.parks.org.  However,  foreign researchers are 
advised to write a letter to the Nature and National Parks 
Protection Authority for specific information about 
obtaining research/collecting/import/export permits. 
 
KURTZER