VZCZCXRO5635
PP RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ RUEHROV
DE RUEHWR #0940 2201406
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 071406Z AUG 08
FM AMEMBASSY WARSAW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6871
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS PRIORITY
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES
RUEHKW/AMCONSUL KRAKOW 2148

UNCLAS WARSAW 000940 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EUR/CE 
STATE FOR EEB/TPP/ABT/BTT FINN 
USDA FOR FAS/OSTA MHENNY, LJONES; FAS/OFSO DYOUNG 
USDA FOR FAS/OCRA/RCURTIS, DSEIDBAND 
BRUSSELS PASS AG MINISTER COUNSELOR 
EUROPEAN POSTS FOR AGR/ECON 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAGR ECON ETRD TBIO PGOV PL
SUBJECT: BIOTECH: MINISTRY OF ECONOMY ENGAGING 
 
REF: WARSAW 823 
 
¶1. (SBU) Polish Economy Minister and Deputy Prime Minister 
Waldemar Pawlak (PSL) August 6 signaled to Charge that he 
regarded Poland's hard-line stance on agricultural 
biotechnology as a relic of the previous government's tactic 
of deploying conflict and fear - in this case against GMOs. 
Quoting a Russian proverb - "if you keep a low profile, you 
will get further" - Pawlak said he is looking for a "soft 
exit" from that stance. He acknowledged the damage Poland's 
policy has done to its farmers and producers, who face record 
high input prices, and suggested that his ministry is 
prepared to take small steps toward more openness to GMOs. 
 
¶2. (SBU) The current Ministry of Economy has not engaged 
itself to date in Poland's biotechnology policy.  The 
PSL-controlled Agriculture Ministry was important in moving 
legislation through the Sejm to avert a Polish ban on GM 
crops in animal feed in July (reftel), legislation that 
finally overruled the Environment Minister's activist 
approach against transgender crops.  That victory and 
Pawlak's August 6 signal have generated guarded hope in 
Embassy Warsaw that Pawlak's approach of seeking quiet 
progress may yield more fruit, and not only in Warsaw. While 
we defer to the vote counting expertise of USEU, we 
understand that a Polish abstention alone on, for example, 
new soybean varieties in the Commission's Standing Committee 
for Animal Health and the Food Chain can help open EU markets 
to U.S. production. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Pawlak invited Charge to continue the conversation 
with him in the next two weeks - an offer we accepted. Though 
August is a difficult time to do business here, Embassy 
Warsaw's Biotechnology Working Group (ECON, PAS, FAS, FCS) 
will reach out in the meantime to other stakeholders in 
Warsaw and in the USG to develop what may be a new opening in 
Warsaw. 
QUANRUD