US embassy cable - 05BRASILIA573

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BRASILIA 000573 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT OF AGRICULTURE FOR FAS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, EAGR, ECON, PREL, TSPL, SOCI, BR, Domestic Politics 
SUBJECT: BRAZILIAN CONGRESS PASSES BIOSAFETY LAW -- VICTORY 
FOR BIOTECH CROPS AND STEM CELL RESEARCH 
 
REF: A. 04 BRASILIA 1971 
 
     B. BRASILIA 387 
     C. SAO PAULO 100 
 
1. SUMMARY.  On March 2, the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies 
overwhelmingly passed the Biosafety Law that regulates 
biotechnology crops and stem cell research.  After a year and 
a half and competing versions in Congress, this was the final 
vote, and President Lula is expected to sign it into law 
quickly.  The final text represents a victory for 
biotechnology supporters (notably soybean growers) and a 
setback for environmentalists and the left-wing of President 
Lula's Workers' Party (PT).  Industry analysts predict the 
bill will have a large impact on Brazilian agricultural 
production and exports.  Post will follow with septels 
providing detailed analysis of the law's agricultural and 
scientific implications. 
 
2.  This is the first major piece of legislation passed in 
the 2005 session of Congress, which is significant because 
the new Speaker of the Chamber is Severino Cavalcanti, a 
conservative opponent of stem cell research.  Cavalcanti only 
allowed the bill to come to a floor vote when confronted by 
party leaders from both sides of the aisle supported by the 
powerful farmers' caucus.  Cavalcanti suffered another 
setback earlier in the day when growing opposition forced him 
to pull from consideration his personal priority --a big pay 
raise for Congress.  While overcoming the Speaker's positions 
on these two measures is good news for the Lula 
administration, the bills were singular cases, and do not 
mean that the administration will win every battle.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
BIOSAFETY LAW - A YEAR AND A HALF IN CONGRESS 
--------------------------------------------- 
3. On March 2, by a 352-60 vote, the Brazilian Chamber of 
Deputies (lower house) gave final approval to the Biosafety 
Law (PL 2401/03).  The Lula administration in November 2003 
sent the bill to Congress, and --with the support of leftists 
and environmentalists-- the Chamber of Deputies quickly 
amended it to make it more difficult to approve the use of 
genetically-modified (GM) crops.  That version went to the 
Senate in 2004, where it was rewritten to make it more 
favorable to the biotech industry (ref A).  The Senate 
version then went back to the Chamber for last night's final 
vote and was approved without changes.  The bottom line is 
that under the new law, a GoB scientific panel (CTNBio) will 
have final authority to approve biotechnology products. 
Agencies more skeptical of biotechnology (notably the 
Environment Ministry) will have input into the deliberative 
process but not final authority.  Thus, biotech supporters 
believe that crop approvals will be based on scientific merit 
rather than political pressures.  Because the bill wallowed 
so long in Congress, in the past two years President Lula has 
issued special waivers to legalize the GM soy crop via 
presidential decree.  The new law makes future decrees 
unnecessary.  Via septels, post will provide translation and 
detailed technical analysis of the Biosafety Law. 
 
STEM CELL RESEARCH ISSUE GATHERED STEAM 
--------------------------------------- 
4.  Throughout 2003 and much of 2004, debate over the bill 
focused exclusively on the issue of biotech crops and their 
safety for humans and the environment, as well as the role of 
large seed companies (read: Monsanto, ref C).  Until 
recently, the topic of stem cell research was a 
little-noticed side note.  But this morning's headlines in 
all the national newspapers are variations on a theme: 
"Congress Approves Stem Cell Research" --accompanied by 
illustrated articles on potential medical benefits.  The stem 
cell issue gathered steam because of intense lobbying from 
the medical and patients' rights communities, and more 
recently because the new Speaker of the Chamber, Severino 
Cavalcanti, is a bedrock conservative opposed to stem cell 
research on religious grounds.  Cavalcanti had loudly pledged 
to keep the bill off the floor, but he was forced to back 
down by an overwhelming alliance of the powerful farmers' 
caucus (with 110-odd floor votes) and the many Deputies 
across the spectrum who were convinced of the need for stem 
cell research.  The bill had significant support both in the 
governing coalition and the opposition, and most of the 'nay' 
votes came from leftists in the environmental wings. 
 
LULA'S SUPPORT 
-------------- 
5.  President Lula is expected to sign the measure into law 
quickly.  He deployed cabinet members, including Science and 
Technology Minister Eduardo Campos and Agriculture Minister 
Roberto Rodrigues, to spend the day in Congress engaged in 
last-minute arm-twisting.  The big loser is Environment 
Minister Marina Silva who pronounced herself "hurt" by the 
vote and observed that last year Lula promised he would not 
support the bill.  But the vote comes as no surprise.  It has 
been widely-known for months that the bill would pass 
overwhelmingly and early in the congressional session that 
opened on February 15. 
 
CAVALCANTI AND THE 2005 CONGRESS 
-------------------------------- 
6.  On February 14, Severino Cavalcanti of the conservative 
Progressive Party (PP) was elected Speaker of the Chamber of 
Deputies in a surprising vote (ref B).  His election over a 
candidate from Lula's PT party is a potentially serious 
setback for the administration's legislative agenda. 
Cavalcanti is an outspoken supporter of conservative causes 
that seem likely to clash with the priorities of Lula's 
government.  Cavalcanti confidently announced that his first 
priority as Speaker would be to pass a huge increase in 
Congressional salaries and office budgets.  But on March 2, 
faced with a rising tide of resistance from within the 
Chamber as well as opposition from the Senate President, 
Cavalcanti backed down.  "The raise is dead", he announced 
grimly, "There won't be any raise". 
 
COMMENT - CAVALCANTI'S SETBACKS NOT GOOD PREDICTORS 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
7.  March 2 was a productive day in the Brazilian Congress. 
Not only did the Deputies spike Cavalcanti's proposed pay 
raise, but they also elected all the committee chairs for the 
2005 session and approved the Biosafety Law.  Passing with 
85% of the floor votes, the Biosafety Law was the first major 
piece of legislation approved this session.  While the Lula 
administration may be buoyed by the twin victories over 
Cavalcanti, the two measures are unique and thus are not 
reliable yardsticks to indicate that the Speaker will be easy 
to move on future bills.  The huge pay raise for Congress 
never seemed likely to pass, and observers were more struck 
by Cavalcanti's cheerful sans souci in pushing it than by its 
quick death.  The Biosafety Law was primed for easy passage, 
as evidenced by its strong support on both sides of the aisle 
and from the administration.  As early as last August, 
observers were predicting an easy floor vote.  As such, 
neither measure is a good predictor of how Cavalcanti and 
Congress will react on closely-fought bills that cut down the 
middle of Lula's coalition. 
DANILOVICH