US embassy cable - 05LJUBLJANA106

UNCLAS  LJUBLJANA 000106 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPT FOR EUR/NCE, EUR/ERA, EB, OES 
DEPT PLEASE PASS TO USTR/ERRION 
USDOC FOR 4232/ITA/MAC/EUR/OEERIS/SAVICH 
USDA FOR ESIMMONS, DHENKE, TPOMERY, PSHEIKH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON, ETRD, PINR, SI 
SUBJECT: SLOVENIA APPROVES TRADE WITH GMOs; COM MEETS NEW 
SLOVENIAN AGRICULTURAL MINISTER MARIJA LUKACIC 
 
1.  Summary: In a February 10 courtesy call by COM, new 
Minister of Agriculture, Forestry, and Food, Marija 
Lukacic, highlighted Slovenia's goals of promoting rural 
development and adopting legislation to improve the 
competitiveness of Slovene farmers.  This would be 
accomplished by increasing the size of individual farms 
through a land purchase program based on the French 
model.  The Minister described Slovenia's goals for 
developing organic farming and increasing the area 
dedicated to this from 5% to 15% of farmland over the 
next 10 years.  Lukacic noted that Slovenia's position on 
biotech complies with the EU position, and Slovenia would 
not pose any additional restrictions on the trade of GMO 
products.  Production of GMO crops is permitted, however 
none are currently under cultivation. They will not be 
permitted in specific areas, especially the alpine region 
of the northwestern Slovenia, which she hopes will become 
the organic farming center of the country.  At the end of 
the meeting, which was in general very positive and open, 
Lukacic expressed a strong interest in learning more 
about USG organic farming methods, especially in 
marketing of organic produce.  She was open to an 
exchange of information on biotech issues.  End Summary. 
 
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Ministry's Main Priorities 
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2.  The Ambassador was accompanied by Agriculture 
Counselor Quintin Gray(based in Vienna), Pol/Econ Chief 
Econ/Comm Specialist, and the FSN Agriculture Specialist 
based at Embassy Zagreb.  Lukacic, was joined by State 
Secretary France But (a former Minister of Agriculture), 
 
SIPDIS 
and Head of the Department of International Affairs, 
Marko Verbic. 
 
3.  The Minister described her primary goal as rural 
development through increasing the competitiveness of 
Slovene farmers and stemming the exodus from the 
countryside.  To achieve this, Lukacic seeks significant 
legislative changes to encourage a consolidation of 
individual farms.  Currently, there are approximately 
77,000 farms with an average size of less than 5 
hectares. Though many very small farms will be bought 
out, the intention is to keep the small farm alive, but 
at a more viable size, and to maintain the current total 
area of Slovenia under cultivation.  According to 
Ministry statistics, approximately 7-8 farms go bankrupt 
each day.  These farmlands, if not sold, tend to revert 
to forest.  With 60 percent of Slovenia already covered 
by forests (the largest percentage in Europe), 
maintaining the land for cultivation is seen as a high 
priority. 
 
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Rural Development 
----------------- 
 
4.  In its endeavor to keep the countryside alive, the 
Ministry is following the French model of using a central 
farmland fund to purchase any farmland available and than 
sell or lease it to more prosperous farmers under 
favorable terms.  This fund now owns about one quarter of 
Slovenia's farmland.  The fund requires substantial 
changes in its legal framework, however, in order to 
streamline and facilitate the process of trading 
farmland.  Lukacic ultimately wants to privatize the 
fund. 
 
5.  Lukacic has a complementary goal to use agriculture 
as the basis for other activities in the countryside, 
including tourism and organic farming. According to State 
Secretary But, Slovenia will follow the initiatives of 
 
SIPDIS 
neighboring Austria and Italy, with the ultimate goal of 
creating a trans-border region free of conventional and 
biotech farming methods.  The area targeted is the alpine 
region of northwestern Slovenia, which borders Italy and 
Austria.  The acreage devoted to organic farming in this 
region currently represents 5% of all cultivated land in 
Slovenia. The Ministry's goal is to raise this to 15% 
over the next 10 years. 
 
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BIOTECH 
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6.  In the alpine regions where organic farming is 
 
 
encouraged, the government prohibits the use of 
GMO/biotech seeds.  However, in the lowland farming areas 
of eastern Slovenia, where primarily wheat and grains are 
cultivated, But acknowledged the need to integrate GMO 
technology.  He stressed the Ministry's appreciation of 
the importance of GMO technology to large, commercial 
farmers.  His view was that GMO technology is inevitable, 
especially in light of harsh weather conditions.  He said 
Slovenia would follow EU directives on GMO.  Lukacic also 
clarified that Slovenia is GMO friendly "as much as we 
have to be," and would not place extra restrictions on 
the import of GMO products. 
 
7.  In concluding the meeting, COM and AgCounselor Gray 
offered to exchange U.S. know-how in organic farming as 
well as in biotech.  Lukacic and But expressed great 
interest in these fields.  But was especially interested 
in learning more about the marketing of organic produce. 
 
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COMMENT 
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8.  The overall atmosphere of the meeting was positive 
and open as were the dynamics between the Minister and 
her advisers.  Slovenia's accession to the EU brought 
many changes to Slovene farmers.  They now face fierce 
competition, and markets for fresh produce and other 
types of food have become more fluid.  Farmers' subsidies 
still represent a heavy burden to the GOS budget, and 
numerous farm bankruptcies reflect a serious social 
problem in rural areas of the country. The Minister's 
plan is targeted primarily at those critical areas and, 
since it is based on an already existing model (France), 
the hope is that it has a greater chance for success. 
 
ROBERTSON 
 
 
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 2005LJUBLJ00106 - Classification: UNCLASSIFIED 


 
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