VZCZCXYZ0052
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSN #1043/01 3091615
ZNR UUUAA ZZH
R 051615Z NOV 09
FM AMEMBASSY SAN SALVADOR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1831
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE
RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHDC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 0175

UNCLAS SAN SALVADOR 001043 
 
DEPT FOR OES ROBERT WING 
 
STATE PASS USAID/LAC and USTR 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON SENV EAGR ETRD ES
SUBJECT: SALVADORAN MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE'S NOVEMBER 8-14 VISIT TO 
THE U.S. 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: With national polices promoting the use of 
genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and biofuels stalled in the 
GOES, the Novemeber 8-14 visit of El Salvador's Minister of 
Agriculture and Livestock (MAG), Manuel Sevilla, to Iowa and 
Washington, will provide an excellent opportunity to advance U.S.-El 
Salvador bilateral goals in these areas.  The Minister is also 
interested in expanding agricultural trade under CAFTA, although the 
private sector indicates the most significant barrier to increased 
trade is the lack of production capacity, and not sanitary or other 
regulatory hurdles.  The visit will shape the domestic policy in El 
Salvador, where the forward-leaning Ministry of Agriculture is 
working to achieve consensus on GMO and biofuels policies.  End 
Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Minister Sevilla will begin his USDA-sponsored trip with a 
visit to Pioneer Hi-Bred in Iowa, where he will tour installations 
and discuss the use and regulation of GMO seeds.  Pioneer is also 
offering separate presentations and site visits to the Minister 
concerning biofuels and livestock nutrition.  In Washington, the 
Minister is scheduled to meet with USDA Secretary Vilsack, Assistant 
USTRs Everett Eissenstat and Jim Murphy, and AA/LAC Janet 
Ballentyne.  He also hopes to meet with senior economic officials 
from the Department of State. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
APPROVAL OF GENETICALLY MODIFIED ORGANISMS 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶3. (SBU) During the previous government, El Salvador agreed to work 
with Pioneer and the GOES's National Center for Agricultural 
Technology (CENTA) to scientifically assess the performance in pilot 
plots of three types of GMO corn: Yieldgard, Roundup Ready, and 
Herculex 1.  In May, 2009, the findings of the report were presented 
to the Ministry of the Environment for its ratification of report's 
favorable findings.  To date, the Ministry of the Environment has 
not concurred with the report, effectively stalling the 
implementation of a comprehensive national policy.  The tour of 
Pioneer Hi-Bred's facilities in Iowa offers an opportunity to 
jump-start El Salvador's domestic debate, and interactions with U.S. 
officials in Washington in support of a modern biotech policy would 
be timely and useful to the Minister. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Recent conversations with Ministry of Environment and MAG 
officials indicate there is some support in the GOES for using the 
CENTA as a clearinghouse for the restricted distribution of GMO 
seeds to the marketplace.  Concerns over the market dominance of 
large foreign firms, and to a lesser extent, the genetic 
contamination of domestic seed lines appear to be driving this 
option.  Other officials are pushing for more robust research into 
the potential benefits of indigenous seed lines and how they may be 
developed as an alternative to GMO products. 
 
----------------------------- 
PROMOTING THE USE OF BIOFUELS 
----------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) While El Salvador exports ethanol to the U.S. under CAFTA 
through the substantial transformation (dehydration) of Brazilian 
ethanol, there is very little domestic production.  In 2007, El 
Salvador was selected as one of four countries to receive assistance 
from the U.S.-Brazil Biofuels Partnership, in an effort to spur 
domestic production and consumption of biofuels.  Despite its 
membership in the biofuels partnership, the establishment of a 
domestic policy promoting the use and production of biofuels has 
been elusive.  Domestic sugar producers assert they cannot make the 
investment needed to expand ethanol production without legislation 
requiring 10 percent ethanol content in gasoline sold in the 
country.  Recent developments, including the establishment of an 
interagency domestic council on energy, which includes a biofuels 
directorate, are positive.  Debate over the biofuels policy center 
on the Ministry of Environment's concern that the mandate for 
ethanol will result in an increase in sugar production, a commitment 
in land and resources the Environmental Ministry would like to study 
further.  The El Salvador Sugar Association claims it can meet the 
projected demand for ethanol at current production levels and no 
increase in hectares planted. 
 
 
--------------------- 
Increased CAFTA Trade 
--------------------- 
 
¶6. (SBU) Minister Sevilla is very interested in increasing CAFTA 
 
trade in agricultural goods.  While potential bottlenecks associated 
with the regulatory and equivalent inspection regime in El Salvador 
are problematic, other issues are more pressing.  During a private 
sector breakfast hosted by the Charge, representatives of El 
Salvador's leading agricultural trade associations indicated that 
production limitations were the biggest barrier to increasing 
agricultural trade under CAFTA.  In late October, Minister Sevilla 
told AgAttache and EconCouns that improving access to credit for 
farmers is a priority for his government.  The Minister added that 
he is seeking technical assistance, an agreement, or a grant to 
create and promote an "intermediary window" to take large loans and 
provide smaller lines of credit to individual farmers.  The Minister 
expressed appreciation for the myriad of USG programs tied to trade 
capacity building, increasing agricultural production, and improving 
the lives of farmers and their families. 
 
¶7. (SBU) COMMENT: Minister Sevilla is one of Funes's pragmatic, 
non-FMLN ministers, but he has little experience with agriculture. 
He has demonstrated the willingness to advancing bilateral policy 
goals related to GMOs and biofuels, and he appropriately seeks to 
maximize the benefits of CAFTA for Salvadoran farmers.  The new GOES 
is only now beginning to take action on these issues, and the 
domestic political debate includes concerns from hard-line elements 
opposed to GMOs, increased sugar production, and development, in 
general.  The Minister's trip to the U.S., including his high-level 
meetings with the USG, will pay rich dividends by helping Sevilla 
clearly advocate policy positions in our mutual bilateral interests. 
 END COMMENT. 
 
BLAU