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RUEHTM RUEHTRO
DE RUEHBR #1414/01 3411350
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 071348Z DEC 09
FM AMEMBASSY BRASILIA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0024
INFO ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE
RUEHRG/AMCONSUL RECIFE 0017
RUEHRI/AMCONSUL RIO DE JANEIRO
RUEHSO/AMCONSUL SAO PAULO

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 BRASILIA 001414 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TSPL TBIO TPHY EAGR KSCA EAID KGHG BR
SUBJECT: BRAZIL: STAS DR. NINA FEDOROFF PROMOTES SCIENCE AND 
TECHNOLOGY COOPERATION, PARTICULARLY WITH BIOTECHNOLOGY 
 
REF: 09 BRASILIA 1120; 09 BRASILIA 1175 
 
(U)  THIS CABLE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED AND NOT FOR INTERNET 
DISTRIBUTION. 
 
 
 
¶1.  (SBU) SUMMARY.  Dr. Nina Fedoroff, Science and Technology 
Advisor for the Secretary of State and USAID (STAS) visited Brazil 
on October 25-30.  In her meetings in Sao Paulo, Brasilia, and Rio 
de Janeiro with academics, private sector representatives, and 
government officials she promoted increased science and technology 
cooperation, with a particular focus on reducing barriers to such 
cooperation, agricultural biotechnology, trilateral cooperation in 
developing countries, and the Joint Commission Meeting on Science 
and Technology (JCM) that subsequently took place in Washington, 
D.C. on November 19-20.  Dr. Fedoroff's visit was productive and 
generated interest across all sectors in increasing science and 
technology cooperation between Brazil and the United States.  She 
also generated a considerable amount of enthusiasm and interest in 
the JCM - helping to open doors and to encourage participation by 
the key principals; without whom the JCM would suffer from a lack 
of political clout.  END SUMMARY. 
 
 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Throughout her visit Dr. Fedoroff consistently had 
productive and engaging meetings with a wide variety of 
interlocutors covering the gamut of areas in which Brazilian and 
U.S. scientists and technical (S&T) agencies are cooperating.  She 
stressed to her Brazilian counterparts that the United States and 
Brazil should be cooperating as partners and that both countries 
have much to learn from each others' experiences.  She was careful 
to stress that the United States has not overcome all of the 
obstacles that stand in the way of innovation, has not created a 
perfect regulatory system that will address all of science's future 
advances, and has not yet removed all of the barriers that exist to 
cooperation between U.S. agencies or scientists and their foreign 
counterparts.  While the United States may have competitive 
advantages in some areas, there are others in which it has much to 
learn from partners like Brazil. 
 
 
 
JOINT COMMISSION MEETING ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY 
 
 
 
¶3.  (SBU) Dr. Fedoroff's visit corresponded with the run-up to the 
U.S. - Brazil Joint Commission Meeting on Science and Technology 
(JCM), which subsequently took place on November 19-20 in 
Washington, D.C.  Dr. Fedoroff's meeting with the JCM's Brazilian 
Delegation Head, Minister of Science and Technology, Dr. Sergio 
Rezende, came on the heels of a meeting between Min. Rezende and 
the Director of the National Science Foundation, Dr. Arden Bement, 
which prompted the Minister to focus on the JCM.  Dr. Fedoroff's 
meeting spurred Min. Rezende personally to recruit high-level 
government officials to participate in the JCM delegation.  During 
the meeting, Min. Rezende was visibly excited and engaged.  Min. 
Rezende made it clear that he expected the JCM to be a great 
opportunity to expand the U.S. - Brazil science and technology 
relationship. 
 
 
 
¶4.  (SBU) During their meeting Min. Rezende also pointed out that 
in his view Brazilian scientific ties are stronger with the United 
States than with any other country.  According to the Ministry's 
analysis, the scientific ties between the United States and Brazil 
are three times greater than their ties with France or the United 
Kingdom.  (NOTE: Min. Rezende did not give any indication as to how 
these figures were calculated.)  Given the already strong ties, 
Min. Rezende and Dr. Fedoroff agreed that the best way to build 
upon them was to concentrate on removing barriers to cooperative 
research and providing funding to increase the quantity and scale. 
While Brazil's scientific ties are stronger with the United States 
than any other country, however, CAPES (the Brazilian Federal 
Agency for Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education) President 
Jorge Guimaraes informed Dr. Fedoroff that Brazil is increasing its 
engagement through numerous education programs with countries such 
as France, Germany, Portugal, Great Britain, Spain, Holland and 
Sweden. 
 
BRASILIA 00001414  002 OF 004 
 
 
BARRIERS TO SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COOPERATION 
 
 
 
¶5.  (SBU) A common theme during Dr. Fedoroff's visit was the idea 
of removing barriers to science cooperation.  These barriers can 
take many forms, ranging from bureaucratic hurdles - which have 
been a consistent concern in joint biomedical research - to 
research permissions, and visa processes and fees.  Dr. Fedoroff 
consistently relayed the message that given the strong level of 
interest at a technical-level, both governments need to find ways 
to remove unnecessary barriers that prevent researchers from being 
able to work together.  She suggested assembling funds from all 
agencies into a common pool that would create a funding base for 
S&T collaboration. 
 
 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Ambassador Hadil Vianna, the Director of the Department 
of Science and Technology at the Ministry of External Relations, 
made a comment that was telling about the Government of Brazil's 
(GOB) view of government's central role in science and technology 
cooperation.  In response to a comment by Dr. Fedoroff about 
removing barriers, he asked how the government would be able to 
monitor and track all the international cooperation taking place in 
the country if the government did not insert itself more into the 
review process. 
 
 
 
AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY AND FOOD SECURITY 
 
 
 
¶7.  (SBU) The topics of biotechnology and genetically modified 
organisms (GMOs) figured prominently in Dr. Fedoroff's discussions 
with counterparts from the GOB and the private sector.  Per REFTEL 
A, the GOB is becoming more accepting of the use of GMOs and the 
importance of agricultural biotechnology.  Dr. Fedoroff was quick 
to point out that while the USG does have a functioning 
science-based approach to regulating biotechnology and genetically 
modified organisms, our system is not perfect.  She praised 
Brazil's efforts for having a single regulatory body to deal with 
these issues.  She also pointed out that in many ways the GOB's 
approach and interest in GMOs is much more aligned with that of the 
USG than with Europe.  Given Brazil's cultural and linguistic ties 
to some African nations, GMOs and agricultural biotechnology are 
areas in which our two countries can work together to influence the 
development of biotechnology policies and acceptance in Africa. 
Private sector representatives highlighted the disconnect between 
the private and public sectors.  Due to difficulty, costs, and 
timing of approvals for release, crop development is usually done 
by private companies. 
 
 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Dr. Fedoroff repeatedly made the observation that the 
world needs to urgently develop alternative crops, as well as to 
make incremental changes in heat and drought resistance, in order 
to address rapid forthcoming climate change.  She also urged 
scientists from both countries to think out of the box and develop 
completely different methods of agriculture, like desert or saline 
agriculture. 
 
 
 
CLIMATE CHANGE 
 
 
 
¶9.  (SBU) The upcoming United Nations Framework Convention on 
Climate Change (UNFCCC) negotiations that will take place in 
Copenhagen in December have focused much of the recent 
climate-related conversations on the creation of a post-Kyoto 
agreement.  However, in conversations with her Brazilian 
counterparts, Dr. Fedoroff discussed the variety of technical-level 
scientific cooperation on climate science that has taken place in 
Brazil, as well as the potential for future cooperation in this 
area. 
 
BRASILIA 00001414  003 OF 004 
 
 
TRILATERAL COOPERATION IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES 
 
 
 
¶10.  (SBU) The potential for the USG and the GOB to cooperate in 
agriculture and biotechnology also led to consideration of possible 
tri-lateral cooperation on food security in Africa and other 
developing nations.  The Brazilian Cooperation Agency (ABC) - 
Brazil's USAID equivalent - has food security projects in a variety 
of African nations, and the Brazilian Corporation for Agricultural 
Research has established a variety of research facilities in Africa 
as well.  ABC and USAID have already begun to cooperate in some of 
these areas, and the Brazilians have expressed interest in 
continuing this trend.  Dr. Fedoroff also met with the Minister of 
Agriculture Reinhold Stephanes and emphasized the importance of 
Brazil using its presence and experience in Africa to positively 
influence acceptance of agricultural biotechnology. 
 
 
 
¶11.  (SBU) The Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ), Brazil's NIH 
equivalent, is also interested in cooperating trilaterally in the 
field of public health.  FIOCRUZ expressed a desire to work with 
USG technical agencies in order to support the development of 
National Public Health Institutes in developing countries. 
 
 
 
¶12.  (SBU) Climate science, specifically with respect to remote 
sensing and earth observation, is yet another area in which the USG 
and the GOB could cooperate in providing assistance to third 
countries.  The Brazilians have developed an impressive capacity to 
analyze and interpret satellite imagery as part of their program to 
monitor Amazon deforestation.  Combining this capacity with U.S. 
expertise in imaging and analysis, our two countries could help 
other developing nations to measure the impact of their 
environmental policies on deforestation and other types of 
environmental degradation.  Per Professor Jose Goldemberg, a noted 
expert on biofuels and climate change at the University of Sao 
Paulo, the Ministry of External Relations does not fully grasp the 
gravity of the challenges that lie ahead. 
 
 
 
INNOVATION 
 
 
 
¶13.  (SBU) Much of the GOB, particularly technical agencies and the 
Ministry of Science and Technology, places innovation near the top 
of their agendas (see REFTEL B).  As a result, many of Dr. 
Fedoroff's meetings focused on how to better promote innovation in 
Brazil.  Many of her counterparts, including ones that have 
previously questioned the link between innovation and intellectual 
property rights, cited the difference between Brazilian 
contributions to peer reviewed scientific articles (2% of worldwide 
production) and Brazil's share of worldwide patents (0.2%) as a 
demonstration of the problem that exists.  Dr. Fedoroff pointed out 
that innovation is a very large topic, and that perhaps more focus 
was required on the one or two specific parts of the innovation 
continuum that presented the largest challenge to Brazil.  Members 
of the academic community identified the lack of a solid legal 
framework that incentivizes spin-offs and academic-private sector 
partnerships; a lack of venture capital and angel funding; and a 
lack of the recognition of the value of knowledge and intellectual 
property rights as key problems that Brazil faces in this realm. 
Director of Sao Paulo State's prominent scientific foundation 
(FAPESP) Carlos Brito Cruz specifically suggested to Dr. Fedoroff 
that the United States and Brazil look at ways to reduce 
bureaucratic barriers to the scientific grant-making process to 
encourage more collaboration on innovation. 
 
 
 
¶14.  (SBU) The President of the National Funder of Studies and 
Projects (FINEP), Luiz Fernandes, talked with Dr. Fedoroff about 
their recent focus on Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) 
programs as one way in which the GOB is trying to bridge this gap. 
Dr. Fedoroff suggested that beyond governmental funding agencies, 
it could be useful to engage some non-governmental groups, such as 
the Kauffman Foundation, which have been very successful in helping 
identify gaps in the innovation continuum and developing ideas for 
how to address these gaps. 
 
BRASILIA 00001414  004 OF 004 
 
 
¶15.  (U) This cable was cleared with Dr. Fedoroff and received 
input from Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. 
 
 
 
KUBISKE 
KUBISKE