VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDG #0227 0511957
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 201957Z FEB 09
FM AMEMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2288
INFO RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC PRIORITY 1651
RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO 1149

UNCLAS SANTO DOMINGO 000227 
 
SIPDIS 
 
USDA/FAS FOR STEVE FOGGETT 
OES FOR DANIELLE WOOD 
EEB/TPP/MTAA/ABT FOR MARCELLA SZYMANSKI 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAGR ECON ETRD TBIO KPAO DR
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC WILL NOT ATTEND MEETING ON 
CARTAGENA PROTOCOL 
 
REF: STATE 11910 
 
¶1. Summary: The Dominican Republic will not attend the 
February 23-27 meetings in Mexico City of the Group of the 
Friends of the Co-Chairs Concerning Liability and Redress in 
the Context of the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety (Reftel). 
The primary reason for non-participation is a lack of time 
and funding and the belief that this meeting will make little 
headway toward settling the differences between parties.  The 
Dominican Republic will review the results of this meeting 
and shares some of the USG positions. End Summary. 
 
¶2. On February 20, EconOff met with Marina Hernandez, the 
Director of Genetic Resources in the Under-secretariat of 
Protected Areas and Biodiversity, part of the Ministry of the 
Environment and Natural Resources (SEMARENA).  Hernandez is 
the primary point of contact for the Cartagena Protocol in 
the Dominican government; she attended the COP-MOP 4 Meeting 
of the Parties in Bonn. 
 
¶3. Hernandez told EconOff that the Dominican Republic is 
taking a wait-and-see approach to the outcome of the Mexico 
City meeting and subsequent meetings that she expects to 
precede the COP-MOP 5 Meeting in Nagoya, Japan, scheduled for 
October, 2010.  She expressed concern that differences among 
the parties regarding the scope and function of the Cartagena 
Protocol could prevent it from becoming an effective 
document.  She said she was particularly worried about the 
attempts by some parties to create a framework that might 
impinge on the sovereignty of party countries, and said she 
supported the USG position that the rules established by the 
protocol should be flexible enough to be implemented within 
the existing legal systems of the parties. 
 
¶4. Hernandez also said that while the GoDR's official 
position is still being developed, she personally shared the 
USG's support for a narrow definition of damage.  She took 
note of the USG positions on the definition of operator, 
standard of liability and financial security, and said she 
would include this information in the report she will present 
to Undersecretary of Protected Areas and Biodiversity 
Eleuterio Martinez following the Mexico City meeting. 
 
¶5. Hernandez said that the Dominican Republic is "still in 
diapers" when it comes to the issue of living modified 
organisms (LMOs).  She said that although the GoDR has signed 
the Cartagena Protocol and the Congress has ratified it, the 
country does not yet have domestic procedures for developing, 
commercializing, importing, exporting and transporting LMOs. 
Her office, with the support of other GoDR agencies and civil 
society sectors, has written a bill to address biosafety, and 
the Executive Branch has submitted this bill to the Congress 
for consideration.  Hernandez provided a copy of this bill to 
EconOff.  Hernandez said that the bill complies with the 
Cartagena Protocol but noted that there are some differences 
with the Protocol, but covers a broader area than the 
protocol, encompassing adverse effects to human health and 
general environment harm.  Despite making this connection in 
its domestic law, however, Hernandez noted that the GoDR does 
not support expanding the scope of the Cartagena Protocol. 
BULLEN