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RR RUEHAG RUEHAST RUEHDF RUEHHM RUEHIK RUEHLN RUEHLZ RUEHMA RUEHPB
RUEHPOD RUEHROV RUEHSR RUEHTM RUEHTRO
DE RUEHFR #0474/01 0900819
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 310819Z MAR 09
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5924
INFO RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE
RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 000474 
 
SIPDIS 
NOT FOR INTERNET DISTRIBUTION 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR STAS; 
OES; EEB/TPP/MTAA FOR BOBO 
 
STATE PASS USTR FOR MURPHY/CLARKSON; 
USDA/FAS FOR OCRA/NENON; 
OFSO/YOUNG; 
STA/JONES/PORTER/WETZEL/CHESLEY 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SENV EAGR TBIO ETRD FR
SUBJECT: Dr. Nina Fedoroff presents the case for biotech to French 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY:  During a visit to Paris on March 24 and 25, Dr. 
Fedoroff, the Science and Technology Advisor to the Secretary 
(STAS), called on a range of senior French Government officials to 
argue for basing policy decisions on science-based criteria, 
especially decisions concerning genetically engineered crops(GMOs). 
(France's invocation of the safeguard clause to ban the cultivation 
of GM corn was found to be scientifically unjustified by the 
European Food Safety Authority.)  She spoke with her counterparts at 
the President Sarkozy's Office and the Prime Minister's office, and 
with a Deputy Minister at the Environmental Ministry (MEEDDAT), 
making the case that GMOs have been extensively researched and found 
safe.  She also made a well-received presentation on the need for 
GMO research now to cope with weather extremes as global climate 
change impacts traditional agricultural crops, and had a TV 
interview with France 24, an international network with 50 million 
viewers.   END SUMMARY 
 
¶2. (U) On March 24 Dr. Nina Fedoroff, the Science and Technology 
Advisor to the Secretary of State and the Administrator of AID, 
accompanied by the Agricultural Minister-Counselor and ESTH 
Counselor, called on Professor Bernard Belloc, Science Advisor to 
President Sarkozy, at the Elysees Palace.  After explaining that 80 
percent of the French oppose GMOs, Professor Belloc admitted that, 
while the Government of France (GOF) has allocated some 45 million 
Euros for biotech research, French biotech researchers are 
frustrated because they are not permitted to conduct field trials, 
and it is difficult to conduct basic research without application 
trials.  He welcomed the prospect of increased cooperation between 
American and French biotech researchers comparable to that between 
French and German researchers. 
 
¶3. (U) In response, Dr. Fedoroff pointed out that the breakthroughs 
in original GMO research had been conducted in Belgium, Germany and 
France.  Now there is virtually no research.  Even the French 
National Institute for agricultural Research (INRA) cannot fund GMO 
research on improving grape root stock.  She then mentioned that Dr. 
Claude Fauquet, a French researcher at the Danforth Institute in the 
US, would come to France in June to highlight how GMOs can help 
African countries boost food production and cope with increasing 
drought, Belloc suggested close collaboration with the French 
agricultural research institution, INRA, and offered to initiate the 
contact himself. 
 
¶4.  (U) In the evening, Dr. Fedoroff made a well-received 
presentation on "Adaptation of Agriculture to Climate Change: Is 
there Time?" to the French-American Foundation's two day seminar on 
climate change, co-sponsored with Stanford University.  Citing the 
great French heat wave in the summer of 2003 that killed 30,000 
people, her theme was that we need to use GMO scientific tools now 
to develop plants that will be more resistant to the increased heat 
and drought of previously temperate regions, such as France, as the 
climate changes. 
 
¶5. (SBU) The following day Dr. Federoff, accompanied by the Charge 
d'Affaires and the ESTH Counselor, called on Ms. Chantal Jouanno, 
the recently appointed Secretary of State for Ecology (in effect a 
"junior minister") in the Ministry of Ecology, Energy, Sustainable 
Development and Regional Planning, known by its French initials as 
"MEEDDAT," and Ms. Dominique Dron, MEEDDAT Counselor for the 
Grenelle process.  Jouanno explained how the complex negotiations 
called the "Grenelle of the Environment" resulted in a fundamental 
change in putting the burden of proof of proposed changes on the 
proposer to show that the changes would be environmentally 
beneficial.  France considers both societal preferences as well as 
scientific aspects.  Dron added that the Mon810 corn GMO has no 
benefits, but some environmental risks, so a cost-benefit analysis 
supports the French decision to ban cultivation of pMon810.  At this 
point, France is not against GMOs in general, only against pMon810 
(note: pMON810 is currently the only GMO approved for cultivation in 
Europe.). 
 
¶6.  (U) In response, Dr. Fedoroff pointed out that Africa is the 
real focus of GMO research because Africa needs increased 
drought-resistant varieties that use scarce water better.  But 
Africans are guided by European attitudes, and Europeans should not 
be so inward looking.  The Africans would definitely benefit from 
access to improved plants able to resist extreme weather. 
 
 
¶7. (U) Dr. Fedoroff, accompanied by the Agricultural 
Minister-Counselor and ESTH Counselor, called on Ms. Gaelle Regnard, 
Agricultural advisor to Prime Minister Fillon at the Hotel de 
 
PARIS 00000474  002 OF 002 
 
 
Matignon. The conversation focused more on research.  Regnard noted 
that French biotech industry is hindered by the prohibition on GMO 
field trials (note:  multi-year field trials were allowed to 
continue in 2008. End note.), and the French industry has been 
working in India, which is even more receptive than in the US.  This 
contrasts with medicine, where French researchers have excellent 
links with French clinics for trials of experimental medicines.  Dr. 
Fedoroff suggested considering the same approach that the US 
National Institutes of Health (NIH) adopted in the 1990s when it set 
up a Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee that consisted of both 
scientists and non-scientists to consider issues of biosafety. 
 
¶8.  (U) COMMENT: Dr. Fedoroff's discussions with senior French 
government officials have opened the door for scientific 
collaboration on the GMO issue, especially for facilitating the 
visit by Dr. Claude Fauquet, a French scientist working at the 
Danforth Institute.  This is the most sustained discussion at a 
senior level than we have had in some time.  The Embassy will follow 
up at the working level, and welcomes the June visit of Dr. Fauquet 
to Paris under the Biotech Outreach Program for lectures and other 
Public Affairs Section-facilitated events. 
Pekala