Cablegate: U.S. Organics Program Presented to French Audiences

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Lucia A Keegan 11/14/2006 11:30:21 AM From DB/Inbox: Lucia A Keegan

Cable
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UNCLAS PARIS 07325

SIPDIS
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ACTION: AGR
INFO: POL ECNO DCM AMB ECON TRDO UNESCO SCI

DISSEMINATION: AGRX
CHARGE: PROG

APPROVED: AGR: EBERRY
DRAFTED: AGR: MCHENARD
CLEARED: AGR: MMEADOR PAO: LMARGIOU/SVACHERET ECON: SDWYER

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RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES
RUEHMRE/AMCONSUL MARSEILLE 1432
RUEHSR/AMCONSUL STRASBOURG 0244
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 2521
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 007325

SIPDIS

BRUSSELS PASS USEU FOR AGMINCOUNSELOR
STATE FOR OES; EUR/ERA AND EB (SPIRNAK);
STATE PASS USTR FOR MURPHY;
USDA/OS/JOHANNS/TERPSTRA;
USDA/FAS FOR OA/YOST/SIMMONS/JONES;
USDA/AMS;
ITP/SHEIKH/MACKE/MIKE WOOLSEY/GREGG YOUNG/ROBERT CURTIS;
GFD/RIEMENSCHNEIDER/RADLER/BURDETT;
FAA/YOUNG;
EU POSTS PASS TO AGRICULTURE AND ECON
GENEVA FOR USTR, ALSO AGRICULTURE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAGR ETRD EU FR
SUBJECT: U.S. Organics Program Presented to French Audiences

1. Summary: On October 26, Katherine DiMatteo, representing the
U.S. Organic Trade Association (OTA), met with two French
agricultural journalists and participated in a round table with 20
people from the French organic industry and regulatory services. In
these events, organized by FAS and PAO, the main issues discussed
were organic and biotech coexistence, issues hindering a U.S./EU
organics equivalency agreement, trends in organic supply and demand,
and perspectives on U.S.-French organics trade. End Summary.

Organic and Biotech Coexistence
-------------------------------

2. In France, coexistence is a highly sensitive topic that has yet
to be legally defined. The organic industry is vehemently opposed
to biotech production, believing that large-scale production of
biotech crops would make it impossible to grow organic crops, and GM
contamination would not allow organic production to be free of
biotech. As both organic and biotech production (the EU's 0.9
percent tolerance level not withstanding) are thriving in the United
States, the French were eager to know how coexistence issues are
handled in the U.S. French journalists questioned (given the large
scale of biotech production) whether organic corn could still be
available in the U.S.

3. Katherine DiMatteo explained that organic and biotech are simply
two different production systems, and that U.S. organic production
does not include biotech. If an organic crop is exposed to
adventitious biotech presence but the producer has followed the
National Organics Program's (NOP) protocols in good faith, his crop
is no less organic. DiMatteo explained that growing organic corn is
possible in the United States, coexisting with GM or conventional
corn, due to barrier zones around both organic and biotech fields,
coordination of different pollination periods, and separate storage
and transportation facilities.

Supply and Demand Inadequacy
----------------------------

4. Neither the journalists nor the round table participants seemed
convinced that the measures taken in the U.S. to guarantee such
coexistence adequately protected the organic crop from an
adventitious biotech presence.

5. DiMatteo described the scope of the U.S. organics sector and
explained there is currently a shortage of organic products in the
United States, with demand significantly higher than supply in feed
grains and dairy. Representatives of the French Federation of
Organic Growers (FNAB), a French company producing organic fruits
and vegetables (Pro Natura), and the Chambers of Agriculture (APCA)
said that such a gap between organic supply and demand also exists
in France. They expressed lack of trust in the quality of Chinese
organic products that France and the United States need to import to
meet domestic demand. On the other hand, a representative of the
French certification company ECOCERT stated that certifying
organizations present in China are regularly audited and observed.

Differences in U.S. and EU Organic Standards
--------------------------------------------

6. An organic specialist from the French Ministry of Agriculture
(MinAg) said that U.S. exports of organic products to France do not
compete directly with organic products grown in France. According
to the MinAg, during the past three years, the United States has
exported organic products to France such as dates, dried fruits,
rice, orange juice, popcorn, and almonds.

7. The French MinAg listed the points about which equivalency could
not be established, to date, between the United States and the
European Union, on organic standards. According to the MinAg
official, these include: the different approaches towards biotech;
the chemicals permitted in crop protection; the fact that small U.S.
producers are not audited; the fact that U.S. organic meat comes
from animals fed with 100 percent organic feed stuffs, while in the
EU, the feed doesn't have to be 100 percent organic; different
approaches towards antibiotics, which are not allowed under U.S.
organic standards unless there is no other means possible to treat
an ill animal but are allowed in more circumstances under EU
standards.

8. Comment: Discussions on respective market structures as well as
concerns about increasing imports from emerging countries as demand
outpaces domestic organic production capacity highlighted the common
ground between the U.S. and the EU on organics. End Comment.

Stapleton

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