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Lucia A Keegan  10/11/2006 09:50:27 AM  From  DB/Inbox:  Lucia A Keegan

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UNCLAS    SENSITIVE     PARIS 06576

SIPDIS
cxparis:
    ACTION: AGR
    INFO:   UNESCO DCM AMB ECON TRDO SCI POL ECNO

DISSEMINATION: AGRX
CHARGE: PROG

APPROVED: AGR: MMEADOR
DRAFTED: AGR: MCHENARD
CLEARED: ECON: JHENNESSEY-NILAND SCI:RDRY

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DE RUEHFR #6576/01 2761452
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R 031452Z OCT 06
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1892
RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES
RUEHMRE/AMCONSUL MARSEILLE 1349
RUEHSR/AMCONSUL STRASBOURG 0193
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 2496
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 006576 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
BRUSSELS PASS USEU FOR AGMINCOUNSELOR 
STATE FOR OES; EUR/ERA AND EB (SPIRNAK); 
STATE PASS USTR FOR MURPHY; 
USDA/OS/JOHANNS/TERPSTRA; 
USDA/FAS FOR OA/YOST/SIMMONS/JONES; 
ITP/SHEIKH/MACKE/TOM POMEROY/MIKE WOOLSEY/GREG YOUNG; BOB 
RIEMENSCHNEIDER 
FAA/SEBRANEK/DEVER; 
EU POSTS PASS TO AGRICULTURE AND ECON 
GENEVA FOR USTR, ALSO AGRICULTURE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAGR ETRD EU FR
SUBJECT: FRENCH FARMERS AND RESEARCHERS DEMONSTRATE IN FAVOR OF 
BIOTECH; OTHER BIOTECH MATTERS 
 
REF: (A) Paris 6159; (B) Paris 5262; (C) Paris 2439 
 
Not for Internet Distribution - Contains Proprietary Information 
 
1.(U)  Summary:  The streets of Pau, a large city close to the 
Spanish border and the heart of French corn production, were filled 
on September 20 with nearly 2,000 French farmers and researchers 
demonstrating in support of agricultural biotechnology.  There were 
no counter demonstrations.  Disappointingly, French media provided 
scant coverage of the event.  End Summary. 
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DEMONSTRATION 
------------- 
 
¶2. (U) Demonstrators from FNSEA (the largest French farmers union) 
JeuneS AgriculteurS (Young Farmers' Union), ORAMA (Union of French 
field crop growers), and Collectif Prservons la Recherche 
(employees from planting seed companies), among others joined 
together in Pau September 20th sporting T-shirts with "Ras-le-Bol!" 
("Enough!") to express their shared frustration with the political, 
judicial and cultural anti-biotech climate in France. (refs a and 
B). 
 
¶3. (U) Protesters, assembled in front of the local government 
office, denounced the political weakness of the French government's 
failure to adopt biotech coexistence measures (ref C) and systematic 
use of the precautionary principle.  Protesters further condemned 
the feeble penalties imposed by French judicial authorities on those 
found guilty of destroying biotech property.  Protesters also fought 
back against other recent problems including environmentalists 
complaints that intensive irrigation necessary for corn production 
is environmentally wasteful, and against the French government's 
recent suspension of authorized pest treatments for corn seeds. 
 
 
¶4. (U)  Protesters emphasized that modern agriculture and farm 
economy development is based on innovation.  They made it clear that 
their mission is to produce and live from their production, while 
their opponents destructive acts are based on ideology and not 
reality. 
 
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WORKING COEXISTENCE MODEL 
--------------------------- 
 
¶5. (U) At the end of the march, participants headed to an exhibition 
called "Mais au Futur" (in French, "Corn in the Future"), which is a 
working field demonstration of GM and non-GM crop coexistence.  For 
example, Arvalis, the French public technical institute for crops, 
offered an actual small-scale cornfield, incorporating their 
recommended coexistence production plantings of buffer zones and 
refuge zones around GM fields. 
The two largest U.S. planting seed companies in France, Pioneer and 
Monsanto, had stands at the exhibition, offering technical 
information to ensure the coexistence of conventional with GM 
varieties authorized in France for production. 
 
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PIONEER 
-------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Pioneer works closely with its French corn seed customers, 
providing input on production practices (including coexistence 
production measures), harvest and trade of its French customers. 
Pioneer does not make public the identity or location of the farmers 
purchasing and growing Pioneer GM corn seeds.  To date, Pioneer 
believes this strategy has helped them avoid any crop destructions 
of their customer's fields.  However, French authorities informed 
Pioneer that traders who purchase the harvested GM corn will find 
their facilities under threat (silos, fields) by anti-biotech 
activists, namely Greenpeace. 
 
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MONSANTO 
--------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) All GM corn grown in France contains the MON-810 gene event 
created by Monsanto, and several EU approved corn varieties contain 
this event.  Various seed companies can commercialize these 
varieties, and according to Monsanto, the number of planting seed 
companies selling GM corn varieties will expand significantly in 
¶2007.  Monsanto hopes to at least double GM corn acreage in France 
in 2007 to 10,000 hectares (ha) from this year's 4,000 to 5,000 ha. 
Monsanto's strategy is to increase the GM corn acreage in France 
before there is any legal coexistence legislation, and they believe 
there will be none before 2008 due to the inertia created by the 
elections of 2007. 
 
¶8. (SBU) French corn exports to Spain (including GM and non-GM) 
cover 50,000 ha.  All GM corn grown in France is exported to Spain. 
Consequently, Monsanto believes growing GM corn in France up to 
50,000 ha will be achievable. 
 
¶9. (SBU) More difficult, by far, will be opening the French 
processing market to GM corn.  As an interim step, Monsanto has 
approached French animal-feed compounders on incorporating GM corn 
into their products.  According to Monsanto, feed makers familiar 
with using imported GM soybean products are more open to 
incorporating GM corn products grown in France. 
 
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BIOGEMMA STOPS OPEN-FIELD TEST PLOTS 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶10. (U) French research company, Biogemma, subsidiary of the French 
planting seed cooperative Limagrain, confirmed its recent decision 
that, following several years of test crop destruction, it will stop 
conducting open-field biotech research in France.  Note: The 
withdrawal of Biogemma, the only French commercial group conducting 
open-field test plots in France, leaves only public French research 
institutes and non-French private companies still conducting biotech 
research here.  End note. 
 
¶11. (U) Comment: Despite the actions of anti-biotech activists, 
including crop destructions and negative media campaigns, French 
farmers, with the help of their syndicate organizations, technical 
research institutes, and planting seed companies, are showing their 
determination to further use biotechnology as a modern tool to 
increase productivity.  In a country where the use of biotechnology 
in human food sources remains very controversial, it was noteworthy 
to witness a large number of people gathering peacefully to defend 
this technology, and exchange technical information without 
ideological discussion or negative repercussions. 
 
¶12. (U) The French national popular press did not report on the 
event (despite Reuters and the French Press Agency AFP reports), 
even though the national media consistently reports on GM field 
destructions and lawsuits involving activists and seed companies. 
The negative image of farm biotechnology has been fed by the media 
coverage, and consumers' perceptions will be difficult to change so 
long as the lack of balance in the media fails to provide exposure 
to the benefits of biotechnology.  We will continue to promote the 
benefits of biotechnology through all channels in the Embassy.  End 
comment. 
 
 
Stapleton