VZCZCXRO0834
OO RUEHAST RUEHBI RUEHCI RUEHDBU RUEHDH RUEHHM RUEHLH RUEHLN RUEHMA
RUEHNEH RUEHPB RUEHPOD RUEHPW RUEHSL RUEHTRO
DE RUEHNE #0275/01 0420143
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 110143Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9479
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHDC
INFO RUCNCLS/ALL SOUTH AND CENTRAL ASIA COLLECTIVE
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 NEW DELHI 000275 
 
STATE FOR SCA/INSB, EEB/TPP/MTAA/ABT, C-CHUANG AND MPLOWDEN 
USDOC FOR ITA/MAC DAS HVINEYARD 
USDOC FOR 4530/ITA/MAC/OSA/LDROKER/ASTERN 
USDA PASS FAS/OSTA/EPORTER AND FAS/OCRA/FERUS/BEAN/RADLER 
DEPT PASS TO USTR FOR SOUTH ASIA-MDELANEY/CLILIENFELD/AADLER 
DEPT PASS TO TREASURY FOR OFFICE OF SOUTH ASIA - MNUGENT/WFOSTER 
TREASURY PASS TO FRB SAN FRANCISCO/TERESA CURRAN 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAGR ECON TBIO EAID ECIN EINV SENV PGOV IN
SUBJECT:  MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT SAYS NOT YET TO GM EGGPLANT "IN 
THE PUBLIC AND NATIONAL INTEREST" 
 
REF: A. 09 CHENNAI 0343 
  ¶B. 10 CHENNAI 0030 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: On February 9, Minister of Environment and Forests 
Jairam Ramesh announced his final decision regarding the commercial 
approval of genetically modified (GM) eggplant, or Bt brinjal, in 
India.  With a long and emotional charged justification, the 
Minister declared that a moratorium is needed on Bt brinjal in India 
until the government regulatory system ensures safety on the human 
side, mainly through long-term scientific studies.  The decision is 
a huge set-back for the development and marketing of GM food crops 
in India, as well as in other developing countries.  Minister Ramesh 
hit two key themes in his decision: questioning the government's own 
regulatory system and invoking the fear of Monsanto's domination of 
Indian agriculture.  Immediate reaction from both scientists and 
industry to the Minister's decision indicates further commercial 
release timelines of GM crops in India -- not just eggplant -- could 
be set back by five to ten years.   Ramesh's decision shows that the 
politics of "GMOs" trump science and farmer interests.  End 
Summary. 
 
Must Balance Science and Society... 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶2. (U) India's Minister of Environment and Forests, Jairam Ramesh, 
held numerous public consultations in both pro-and-con GM states 
prior to taking a central government decision on whether or not to 
allow the commercial release of a GM eggplant, known as Bt brinjal 
to most Indians, in India.  In October 2009, his own Ministry's 
Genetic Engineering Approval Committee recommended that Bt brinjal 
was safe for environmental release and recommended commercial 
approval of the crop to the central government.  The hue and cry of 
opponents led Ramesh to take matters into his own hands and make his 
own Ministerial assessment after conducting a series of public 
consultations with the stakeholders.  In his 19-page decision note, 
Ramesh acknowledges that "strong views have been expressed on the Bt 
brinjal both for and against."  Ramesh goes on to state that over 
8,000 people from different sections of society attended his seven 
public meetings.  Further, he quotes farmers and 'serious minded' 
NGOs as well as numerous email exchanges with eminent scientists 
around the world as justification for the moratorium on the 
commercial release of Bt brinjal. 
 
...with Center and State 
---------------------- 
 
¶3. (U) In the Minister's report, he writes "All states which have 
written to me expressed apprehension on Bt-brinjal and have called 
for extreme caution."  Ramesh consulted with Indian state leaders, 
particularly the major eggplant producing states of West Bengal, 
Orissa, Bihar, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, in 
addition to holding town hall meetings in Ahmedabad, Kolkata, 
Bhubaneswar, Nagpur, Chandigarh, Bangalore and Hyderabad.  Even 
prior to the Ministry of Environment's Genetic Engineering Approval 
Committee's (GEAC) October 2009 decision to approve Bt brinjal 
(reftel A), the Communist Party of India had already announced it 
was in favor of an outright ban on genetically modified (GM) foods 
and crop development. 
 
Why Bt Brinjal? 
---------------- 
¶4. (U) The product in question is a GM eggplant developed by the 
Maharashtra Hybrid Seed Company (an Indian seed company known as 
Mahyco, which is 26 percent owned by Monsanto), Tamil Nadu 
Agriculture University (TNAU), and the University of Agriculture 
Sciences (UAS) Dharwad, using a trait from the Bacillus 
thuringiensis (Bt) bacterium (cry1Ac, a genetic event, which was 
developed by Monsanto) that makes the eggplant resistant to the 
fruit and shoot borer, a common insect pest.  USAID, through its 
Agricultural Biotechnology Support Project II (ABSP II) led by 
Cornell University, which works in partnership with the Government 
of India's Department of Biotechnology (DBT), the Indian Institute 
of Vegetable Research, TNAU, and UAS, Dharwad, has been supporting 
the work on Bt brinjal for six years. 
 
¶5. (U) Eggplant is an important common man's vegetable in India, 
grown in about 566,000 hectares with annual production of around 9.6 
 
NEW DELHI 00000275  002 OF 004 
 
 
million tons.  It accounts for 8.3 percent of the production and 7.6 
percent of the area under vegetable crops, and is grown by an 
estimated 1.4 million small and marginal farmers.  Despite being the 
poor man's crop, eggplant is popularly called the 'King of 
Vegetables' and featured in the dishes of many households in India. 
The crop is grown all across India with the major producing states 
being West Bengal, Orissa, Bihar and Gujarat. 
 
¶6. (U) Eggplant cultivation is extremely input-intensive 
(insecticides), as the crop is very prone to insect pests, 
particularly the fruit and shoot borer.  Fruit damage as high as 95 
percent and losses up to 70 percent have been reported by Indian 
farmers.  Consequently, farmers resort to frequent insecticide 
applications and biological control measures, resulting in high 
costs of cultivation, negative effects on the environment and 
serious risk to consumer health and safety.  Efforts to develop 
pest-resistant conventional plants through traditional breeding have 
met with almost no success.  Approval of Bt eggplant for commercial 
cultivation would have improved Indian farmer incomes, lowered 
pesticide use and reduced significant crop losses, thus helping to 
address in part India's food security concerns. 
 
Ramesh Questions the 
Regulatory System 
--------------------- 
 
¶7. (U) Minister Ramesh expressed concerns regarding the doubts 
raised related to the integrity of the GEAC process, specifically, 
the adequacy of the testing procedures for assessing human and 
environmental safety, along with the reliability of the tests 
carried out by the developers of the Bt brinjal themselves.  The 
Minister suggested that the existing Indian regulatory system for GM 
crops and food was not able to conduct its own tests on new 
products.  Thus, new approvals should wait until the government 
itself has the capacity to test.  Citing the science provided (i.e. 
the 'new' genetic event Cry1Ac) as being sourced from the 
multi-national Monsanto, Ramesh's decision stated: "Very serious 
fears have been raised in many quarters on the possibility of 
Monsanto controlling our food chain." The Minister then continues, 
stating "I have no bias whatsoever" and cites Monsanto's substantial 
investments in India.  In the end, the Minister highlights the 
perceived lack of local, indigenous competition to Monsanto as a 
primary concern. 
 
¶8. (U) While Ramesh drew a clear distinction between his decision to 
place a moratorium on the release of Bt eggplant and other ongoing 
GM crop research, some scientists claim this landmark decision will 
be all encompassing.  Ramesh noted that even most experts wanted 
more studies on the long-term effects of genetically modified food 
crops. 
 
U.S. Scientists Cited 
---------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Minister Ramesh extensively highlighted concerns raised 
about Bt brinjal by international scientists, especially those from 
the U.S.  Of the eight scientists quoted directly in his brief, 
Ramesh highlighted 'write-in' advice from four U.S. institutions: 
Ohio State University, the U.S. Union of Concerned Scientists, the 
University of Minnesota and the Salk Institute of Biological 
Studies.  Ramesh did not appear to use EU studies as the basis for 
his decision. 
 
India's Father of the Green 
Revolution Weighs In 
---------------------------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, winner of the World Food Prize and 
considered to be India's equivalent to Dr. Norman Borlaug, urged 
Minister Ramesh to show caution and take two critical steps: 1) 
conserve India's genetic heritage in brinjal and 2) assess the 
chronic effects of consumption of Bt brinjal.  Dr. Swaminathan's 
appeal to the Minister compared the need for long-term studies on 
the consumption of Bt brinjal to the studies carried out on the 
impact of tobacco smoking relative to the incidence of lung cancer 
in humans.  (Note: The MS Swaminathan Research Foundation has an 
ongoing biotech research program studying abiotic stress tolerance 
 
NEW DELHI 00000275  003 OF 004 
 
 
in rice.  Limited field trials of transgenic rice varieties 
containing 'salinity' tolerant mangrove genes have been undertaken. 
Some related patents have been filed; however, there have been 
limited efforts for its regulatory and commercial approval.  While 
Dr. Swaminathan has been historically in favor of agricultural 
biotechnology, he recently expressed strong reservations against 
research and development on labor displacing biotech events, such as 
herbicide tolerance in crops.  He has also voiced concerns of 
multi-national firms taking over the seed industry in India.  End 
Note.) 
 
Ag Minister Speaks Up; 
Then Goes Silent 
----------------------- 
 
¶11. (U) Minister Ramesh's initial decision to review the GEAC 
recommendation through public consultations was questioned by 
several of his ministerial colleagues.  Minister of Agriculture 
Sharad Pawar said that Bt brinjal has been found safe for human 
consumption and environmental release by the GEAC after a thorough 
scientific review and testing and hence, should be approved.  The 
State Minister of Agriculture K.V. Thomas publicly refuted 
allegations against the safety of Bt brinjal alleging it to be an 
'anti-MNC' propaganda campaign.  The Minister of Science and 
Technology Prithviraj Chavan, who oversees the Department of 
Biotechnology (DBT), also said that Bt brinjal has been adequately 
tested and found safe by the GEAC.  Lately, there have been no 
public statements from Minister Pawar or his colleagues, possibly 
due to strong media hype generated by anti-GM groups at the various 
public consultations and opposing voices from several state 
governments. 
 
¶12. (U) Since Minister Ramesh's announcement, there has been no 
official comment from the Minister of Agriculture or the Minister of 
Science and Technology.  Nevertheless, a senior official from the 
Indian Council of Agriculture Research vocally opposed Minister 
Ramesh's decision during a television debate on February 9, alleging 
that the decision was not based on sound science, but on public 
opinion. 
 
Ahluwalia: Minister Ramesh Failed 
to Make the "Elementary Arguments" 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶13. (SBU) Science and Technology Advisor Dr. Nina Fedoroff met with 
Montek Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, 
immediately prior to Minister Ramesh's announcement on February 9. 
Referring to Minister Ramesh's town hall meetings, Ahluwalia said 
that a democracy like India needed to hold consultations with the 
public on such an important issue, but he was concerned that the 
debate had been rather one-sided.  He noted that many of the 
non-government organizations (NGOs) in India protesting Bt brinjal 
were in fact closely associated with and funded by European NGOs. 
He also remarked on the absence of any scientific voices in the 
"public debate."  Ahluwalia indicated that Minister Ramesh, among 
other GOI officials, had failed to make the "elementary arguments" 
about why GM products are safe, and commented that it was not clear 
if Indian opposition resulted more from process issues and paperwork 
delays or ideological feelings.  Ahluwalia added that he considered 
the town hall meetings to be okay as a process, but in the end, he 
felt it would be a major setback if Minister Ramesh were to allow 
what was essentially a one-sided debate to cause a decision against 
commercialization of Bt brinjal. 
 
Where Next with Bt Brinjal? 
--------------------------- 
 
¶14. (SBU) Minister Ramesh set no timeline for lifting the moratorium 
on Bt brinjal release.  Instead, he stated that the 'ban' should 
remain until independent scientific studies establish, to the 
satisfaction of both the public and professionals, the safety of the 
product from the point of view of its long-term impact on human 
health and the environment, including the genetic diversity of 
existing varieties of Indian brinjal. 
 
¶15. (SBU) Senior scientists participating on February 10 in a small 
DBT-sponsored symposium on agricultural and biotechnology were 
 
NEW DELHI 00000275  004.2 OF 004 
 
 
stunned and very emotional over the announcement.  There were 
rumblings of appealing to the Prime Minister or the Planning 
Commission for a revised ruling, and threats to go public on what 
they considered to be an issue of popular politics unfairly trumping 
science. (Note: it is unclear if this is bravado caused by the 
initial shock of the announcement, or if there is real momentum to 
take action.  End Note.)  Further, public sector scientists from 
across the government spectrum of institutes are aware that they 
'failed' in the eyes of the common man to translate the benefits of 
this new technology ahead of the Bt brinjal debate. 
 
Many Steps Back 
--------------- 
 
¶16. (SBU) Comment: Overall, the pervasive feeling is that a great 
deal of time and money was lost, public opinion has soured and 
Indian scientists are discouraged.  While the Minister of 
Agriculture and Minister of Science and Technology may not oppose 
the decision publicly, some observers believe that there may be an 
intense power struggle between the four ministries most involved in 
agriculture biotechnology - Agriculture, Environment and Forests, 
Health and Science.  On a potentially positive note, Minister 
Ramesh's focus on the lack of an independent authority may 
eventually pave the way for early establishment of the long-proposed 
independent regulatory authority - a Biotech Regulatory Authority of 
India.  Nevertheless, the approval of Bt brinjal is pushed back by 
at least two to three years, and overall public sentiment is now set 
against GM foods. Industry and government scientists fear the Ramesh 
decision may also have a significant impact on approval timelines 
(perhaps a five to ten year delay) of GM crops which are currently 
in the pipeline for approval, such as Bt rice, Bt maize, GM tomato, 
etc. 
 
¶17. (SBU) The decision on the commercial release of Bt brinjal may 
potentially have a regional impact as trials are also at advanced 
stages in Bangladesh and the Philippines.  Vijay Raghavan, South 
Asia Regional In-charge of the USAID-funded ABSP-II, who is working 
to develop Bt brinjal in three different countries, said that 
Bangladesh and the Philippines have been looking to India as a 
leader as they do not have the capacity for full-line evaluation of 
B t brinjal.  Thus, India's decision may have a significant regional 
impact regarding all GM crops.  End comment. 
 
ROEMER