VZCZCXRO0458
RR RUEHAST RUEHDH RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHPB RUEHPOD RUEHSL RUEHTM
RUEHTRO
DE RUEHBR #1120/01 2511407
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 081407Z SEP 09
FM AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 5032
INFO RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO 4515
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO 8163
RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 9902
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BRASILIA 001120 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAGR TBIO ECON KSCA KIPR EAID ETRD BR
SUBJECT: BRAZIL: POTENTIAL FOR WORKING CLOSER WITH BRAZIL ON 
BIOTECHNOLOGY 
 
REF: STATE 29340 
 
BRASILIA 00001120  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
(U) THIS CABLE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED AND NOT FOR INTERNET 
DISTRIBUTION. 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY.  Biotechnology and genetic resources are issues 
that have divided the Brazilian ministries, with the Agriculture 
Ministry vigorously supporting increased use of biotechnology and 
freer flow of genetic resources, and until recently, the Environment 
Ministry expressing skepticism and caution on the matter.  The 
growing use of agricultural biotechnology, including genetic 
engineering (GE), by Brazilian farmers and the arrival of a more 
pragmatic Environment Minister present an opportunity for the U.S. 
Government (USG) - per REFTEL - to encourage the Government of 
Brazil (GOB) to work more closely with the USG on these key issues. 
Brazil has come a long way in making use of biotechnology; post 
estimates that for the upcoming 2009/2010 season GE seeds will 
account for 65 percent of soybean plantings, 42 percent of corn 
plantings, and 20 percent of cotton plantings.  END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Brazil over time has taken a more positive view of 
biotechnology, especially with regard to agriculture production. 
This more favorable attitude to domestic production, however, has 
not yet significantly transformed Brazil's position in international 
bodies regarding biotechnology, in particular the Cartagena Protocol 
on Biosafety under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). 
Post has delivered the demarche in REFTEL to the key ministries 
dealing with biotechnology:  the Ministry of External Relations, 
which leads Brazilian delegations at international meetings; the 
Agriculture Ministry; the Ministry of Science and Technology; the 
Environment Ministry; and the Health Ministry. 
 
ENVIRONMENT MINISTRY'S CAUTIOUS APPROACH 
 
¶3.  (SBU) The GOB has two major influences shaping its policy toward 
biotechnology, genetic resources and biodiversity.  Both are 
relatively new and at times can appear to be conflicting.  The first 
influence is the GOB's interest in conserving and controlling the 
use of its vast biodiversity and genetic resources.  This interest 
goes back to before the 1992 Rio Summit, which gave birth to the CBD 
and to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). 
President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and the Brazilian political 
elite frequently highlight Brazil's enormous biodiversity resources, 
which they believe when tapped could bring a flood of riches to the 
country.  Correspondingly, Lula and other GOB officials often speak 
of needing to defend Brazil's genetic resources and traditional 
knowledge from foreigners seeking to exploit them.  Consequently, 
the GOB plays a leading role in the Mega-diverse Countries group 
within the CBD, which group aims to put the use of genetic resources 
under the firm control of the countries of origin. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) GOB officials are quick to suspect that biotechnology 
developed and patented elsewhere might have come from genetic 
resources or traditional knowledge in Brazil.  They often point to 
the historic tragedy for Brazil when England smuggled rubber plants 
from the Amazon to Asia, which broke Brazil's lucrative rubber 
monopoly.  This intense focus on having benefits flow back to the 
country of origin is reflected in the GOB's demand for a binding 
international agreement requiring disclosure of country of origin in 
patents.  More recently, GOB officials expressed concern over 
sharing H1N1 virus samples, which could produce a profitable 
vaccine, from Brazil with others.  Further, the GOB health officials 
spoke of "breaking" any patents on an H1N1 vaccine. 
 
¶5.  (SBU) In addition, historically the Environment Ministry has 
looked skeptically towards genetically engineered (GE) organisms, a 
position shared by many in the world environmental community. 
Whether out of concern for Brazil's native biodiversity or for other 
reasons, the Environment Ministry has been cautious about 
introducing GE organisms to Brazil.  Marina Silva, the influential 
head of the Environment Ministry for the first six years of Lula's 
time in office, took a dogmatic approach against GE organisms.  At 
the 2006 Meeting of the Parties of the Cartagena Protocol on 
Biosafety in Curitiba, Brazil she left the conference and met with 
President Lula to persuade him to reverse the GOB's position that 
was more accommodating toward commercial exporting of GE crops, 
i.e., switching from supporting a requirement to use the label "may 
contain" Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) - which was the USG 
preferred position - to a more onerous requirement to label "does 
contain" GMOs. 
 
¶6.   (SBU) The Environment Ministry's approach may be changing.  In 
May 2008, Marina Silva left and Carlos Minc replaced her as 
Environment Minister.  Lula selected Minc in large part for his 
pragmatism in dealing with economic issues.  Since then the Embassy 
has heard reports that the Environment Ministry will be more 
pragmatic toward possible introductions of new GE organisms to 
 
BRASILIA 00001120  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
Brazil.  This would be consistent with the approach Minc has taken 
with other environmental issues. 
 
¶7.  (SBU) In May and later in June, Science Counselor met with 
Marcio Edgar Schuler, Director of the Genetic Patrinomy Office, and 
Braulio Ferreira de Souza Dias, Director of the Biodiversity 
Conservation Office, from the Environment Ministry, who handle 
genetic resources issues for the Environment Ministry.  Both urged 
that the United States join the CBD and they both expressed interest 
in working with the USG on biodiversity and genetic resources. 
Schuler complained about the European Union's impeding progress on 
negotiation of a new international agreement on genetic resources. 
Dias stressed that biotechnology is an important focus for the 
Environment Ministry.  At the same time, he added, the GOB does not 
want to undermine patents, which create incentives for scientific 
advances.  Dias declared that the Environment Ministry sought "a 
balance between biotechnology and conservation."  He lamented the 
division within the GOB ministries, especially with the Agriculture 
Ministry, over policies concerning genetic resources.  Schuler added 
that the Environment Ministry agreed with the CBD not encompassing 
crops covered by the Food and Agriculture Organization's 
International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and 
Agriculture (ITPGRFA). 
 
¶8.  (SBU) COMMENT.  The Environment Ministry seems willing and 
interested in working with the USG bilaterally and multilaterally on 
biotechnology and genetic resources.  The USG can expect them to 
urge support for Brazil's redline positions in international 
negotiations on genetic resources, mainly 1)mandatory disclosures of 
country of origin in patents and 2)binding status of any new 
international agreement.  Still, there appears to be recognition of 
the need to avoid interfering with commercial agriculture 
transactions, such as for crops included in the ITPGRFA, and being 
open about biotechnology.  The almost instinctive opposition to the 
GE aspect of biotechnology seen during the days when Marina Silva 
ran the Environment Ministry appear to be coming to an end.  END 
COMMENT. 
 
AGRICULTURE MINISTRY'S STRONG SUPPORT FOR BIOTECHNOLOGY 
 
¶9.  (SBU) The second major influence affecting Brazil's 
biotechnology policy is that the powerful agriculture sector has 
embraced the use of biotechnology, including genetic engineering. 
More than a decade ago, Brazilian farmers began to use GE soybeans 
even though they had not been approved for use by the GOB.  Early in 
Lula's first term he had to decide what to do with the widespread 
use of unapproved GE soybeans.  Despite pressure from the 
Environment Ministry, he sided with the Agriculture Ministry and had 
the GE soybeans approved for use in Brazil.  Today, in addition to 
one variety of GE soybeans, six varieties of GE corn, and three 
varieties of GE cotton have been approved by the GOB.  The Foreign 
Agriculture Service (FAS) in its July 15, 2009, Biotechnology Annual 
Report for Brazil, estimates that for the upcoming 2009/2010 season 
GE seeds will account for 65 percent of soybean plantings, 42 
percent of corn plantings, and 20 percent of cotton plantings. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) Many Brazilian farmers support biotechnology as 
demonstrated by their widespread use of GE seeds.  However, 
Brazilian society as a whole basically remains neutral on the use of 
GE seeds, neither supportive nor opposed to products with GE 
organisms.  Only now are products containing GE corn entering the 
domestic market.  Previously, Brazilian farmers just used GE seeds 
with soybeans, which were intended primarily for the export market. 
So far, there has not been a strong, negative reaction among 
Brazilian consumers to products containing GMOs.  There are vocal 
objections from some environmentalists and environmental 
non-governmental organizations (NGOs), but they represent a minority 
in Brazilian society.  The most active opposition comes from the 
Movement for the Landless (MST), which last year invaded and 
destroyed Syngenta's research facility because it was cultivating GE 
plants. 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Leontino Rezende Taveira and Paulo Nogueira from the 
Agriculture Ministry's Department of Intellectual Property and 
Technology emphasized to Science Counselor their ministry's support 
for promoting biotechnology.  They complained about being 
constrained by the Environment Ministry, and they lamented the weak 
support they received from the Ministry of Science and Technology in 
inter-ministerial debates over biotechnology and genetic resources. 
The Agriculture Ministry tends to share the USG point of view in 
international bodies on biotechnology and genetic resources issues. 
They were pleased with the crops that have been included in the 
ITPGRFA.  Still, they worried about the other commercial crops - 
particularly soybeans - covered by the CBD but not by the ITPGRFA. 
In addition, they expressed concern about domestic rules on 
collecting genetic resources in situ because the requirements were 
burdensome and time-consuming.  For now, they said agriculture 
 
BRASILIA 00001120  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
researchers had sufficient work-arounds using existing ex situ 
collections of seeds that they could still conduct the research they 
wanted to do. 
 
OTHER VOICES WITHIN THE BRAZILIAN GOVERNMENT 
 
¶12.  (SBU) The Ministry of Science and Technology's Secretary for 
Research and Development Luiz Antonio Barreto de Castro told Science 
Counselor that his ministry is interested in working closer with the 
USG on biotechnology and genetic resources, whether domestically or 
internationally.  He thought this effort should build on the rich 
network of over 3,000 Brazilians researchers who are in the United 
States as students or scientists, as well as those previously 
trained in the United States.  Barreto saw an evolution in the 
Environment Ministry's views on biotechnology in that they are less 
hostile.  However, he pointed to a lack of a domestic biotechnology 
industry in the health sector, which undermined possible support for 
biotechnology from the powerful Health Ministry.  COMMENT.  The 
Ministry of Science and Technology recognizes that it should be 
supportive of biotechnology, however, in recent years it has been 
wary of taking sides in inter-ministerial disputes, much to 
disappointment of the Agriculture Ministry.  END COMMENT. 
 
¶13.  (SBU) Pedro Binsfeld an advisor in the Health Ministry's 
Secretariat for Science, Technology and Strategic Inputs expressed 
caution about biotechnology in the health sector.  He told Science 
Counselor that biotechnology products raised serious concerns about 
their safety, their efficiency, and their comparability with 
non-biotechnology equivalents.  Binsfeld stressed that the GOB would 
defend its interests and was not for or against any country in 
international meetings.  Nonetheless, he claimed there was a lack of 
coordination within the USG on biomedicines.  He called 
"bioterrorism" any violation of Brazil's regime on biotechnology. 
Binsfeld thought that with respect to medical biotechnology, the 
Europeans employed the best regime. 
 
CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE - THE MINISTRY OF EXTERNAL RELATIONS 
 
¶14.  (SBU) The Ministry of External Relations' (MRE) Director of the 
Environment Office Fernando Coimbra told Science Counselor that the 
MRE had the challenge of trying to bring the differing views of the 
various ministries into a GOB position at international conferences. 
 Coimbra was fully cognizant of the importance of Brazil's 
agriculture sector and the vital role biotechnology played.  He 
complained of the European hostility to agriculture biotechnology 
and also that of various environmental groups.  Still, Coimbra 
stressed that the MRE was principally the mediator in establishing 
the GOB's positions in international organization, rather than the 
leading voice. 
 
¶15.  (SBU) Nonetheless, the MRE's default position for many 
multilateral negotiations is the G-77 position.  Regarding 
biotechnology the MRE is not instinctively inclined to follow the 
Europeans, but it is cautious also about being too closely 
associated with the USG.  The Agriculture Ministry has made 
significant headway in persuading the MRE about Brazil's national 
interests in supporting agriculture biotechnology. 
 
¶16. (SBU) COMMENT.  Brazilian farmers have enthusiastically embraced 
biotechnology, as described in detail in the FAS's recent annual 
biotechnology report.  This development, combined with the 
installation of a more pragmatic leadership in the Environment 
Ministry, provides a strong basis for encouraging the GOB to be more 
supportive of biotechnology in international settings.  There is 
still deep set skepticism about biotechnology, especially in the 
medical field.  Nonetheless, a visit by the Secretary's Science and 
Technology Advisor would present an excellent opportunity to 
capitalize on these positive developments.  END COMMENT. 
 
KUBISKE