US embassy cable - 05PRAGUE1164

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PRAGUE 001164 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
///// C O R R E C T E D COPY ///////(ADDED CAPTION) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TBIO, ETRD, ECON, EAGR, PINR, EZ 
SUBJECT:  CZECH REPUBLIC: VISIT OF MADELYN SPIRNAK, SENIOR 
ADVISER FOR AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY 
 
 
1.  (U) SUMMARY: Over the course of an intense two-day visit 
to the Czech republic (July 27-28), Senior Advisor for 
Agricultural Biotechnology, Madelyn Spirnak met with senior 
government officials and US business leaders to advance the 
US position on transgenic crops and to enlist Czech aid in 
working with the European Union to ensure that agricultural 
biotechnology is an accepted and viable option for growers 
and consumers.  The highlights of her visit included a 
television interview with the Chairman of the Czech Food and 
Beverage Federation, and critical advocacy at the Ministries 
of Agriculture and the Environment.  END SUMMARY 
 
GMOs in the Czech Republic 
-------------------------- 
 
2.  (U) The Czech Republic has a considerably more positive 
view of transgenic crops than their regional neighbors, and 
this trend seems to be continuing.  Recent draft legislation 
on the minimum distances for coexistence of GMO crops and 
conventional crops appears to be an improvement over current 
regulations, facilitating transgenic crop production in the 
Czech Republic.  Czech consumers are generally neutral 
concerning GMOs in their food products, although certain 
grocery store chains require products to be "GMO-free". 
Czech researchers are actively working in the agricultural 
biotechnology field, and political parties across the 
spectrum accept a pragmatic, science-based approach to the 
use of GMOs. 
 
3.  (U) There has been limited political debate about  the 
future of GMOs in the Czech Republic, primarily because the 
Czech agricultural sector is responsible for only 3% of GDP, 
although GMO and organic farming are small, albeit growing, 
sectors in the agricultural market.  A recent law passed by 
the Senate and the Parliament to exclude civic associations 
from the approval process for GMOs will likely result in 
limiting  public debate on the issue for the near future. 
 
Meetings with the Ministries 
---------------------------- 
 
4.  (U) Spirnak met with an eight-member team from the 
Ministry of Agriculture, led by Frantisek Sladek, Director 
General of the Section of Food Production at the Ministry of 
Agriculture and Director of the recently established Food 
Authority.  They discussed how current regulations on co- 
existence would significantly narrow the required distances 
between GMOs and conventional crops under legislation 
proposed by the Ministry. The draft calls for the minimum 
distance for conventional crops to shrink from 100 meters to 
50 meters and for organic crops to fall to 200 meters from 
the current 600 meter minimum. The ministry is comfortable 
with the current pragmatic "science-based" approach, and 
does not foresee a change in the approval process that is 
currently in place.  Conversely, they are not actively 
lobbying for support of biotech crops among neighboring 
countries, which have a more skeptical view of GMOs. 
 
5. (SBU) At the Ministry of the Environment, Spirnak met 
with Mr. Karel Blaha, Director of the Environmental Risks 
department at the Ministry.  Blaha, like his colleagues at 
the Ministry of Agriculture, is supportive of a science- 
based approval process for GMOs.  However, Minister Libor 
Ambrozek is not enthusiastic about GMOs since he needs the 
political support of the Green Party.  While representing 
the Czech government at EU meetings, ministry officials have 
abstained from voting in 7 of the 9 cases, in part to avoid 
upsetting other member states.  Their other votes were 
split: they voted to keep the ban on Bt176 because the 
European Commission hasn't approved it and because the Czech 
Commission had not yet tested it sufficiently. In the case 
of MON810,however, the Czech government voted to revoke the 
ban since the EC approved MON810 and it was also previously 
approved for use in the CR. 
 
Press Coverage 
-------------- 
 
6. (U) On the heels of a successful presentation to the 
Federation of Food and Drink Industries of the Czech 
Republic, Spirnak was interviewed by two print journalists 
and recorded an interview with a major Czech television 
channel that was later broadcast as part of their evening 
economic news.  These press contacts were critically 
important for shaping the nascent opinion of Czech 
consumers, who are still unfamiliar with GMOs. 
 
7. (SBU) COMMENT: The Czech Republic is at an important 
crossroads.  As pragmatists, they have an open mind to GMOs 
and understand the benefits that they offer, hence the 
domestic research and use of GMOs.  However, they are a 
minority in the region, and are unwilling to rattle the 
/////////C O R R E C T E D COPY/////// (ADDED CAPTION) 
cages of other EU members to change this situation. This 
presents a problem if creeping EU legislation (i.e., an EU- 
wide regulation on coexistence that is rumored to be in the 
development phase) makes it more difficult for the Czech 
Republic to follow its own course on GMOs.  We should 
continue to engage actively with Czech government officials 
to reinforce the positive biotech policies they have been 
following and seek continued support within the EU. 
 
8. This cable was cleared by Madelyn Spirnak, Senior Advisor 
for Agricultural Biotechnology.