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Viewing cable 07PARIS1294, JAMES MURPHY'S MEETING WITH KEY FRENCH AGRICULTURAL

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
07PARIS1294 2007-04-02 11:59 2011-08-24 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Paris
VZCZCXRO1659
RR RUEHAG RUEHDF RUEHIK RUEHLZ RUEHROV
DE RUEHFR #1294/01 0921159
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 021159Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY PARIS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6148
RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES
RUEHMRE/AMCONSUL MARSEILLE 1637
RUEHSR/AMCONSUL STRASBOURG 0381
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 2638
RHEHAAA/WHITE HOUSE WASHDC
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PARIS 001294 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
SIPDIS 
 
BRUSSELS PASS USEU FOR AGMINCOUNSELOR 
STATE FOR OES; EUR/ERA; 
STATE PASS USTR FOR MURPHY; 
USDA/OS/JOHANNS/TERPSTRA; 
USDA/FAS FOR OA/YOST; LA/CHURCH; 
OCRA/CURTIS 
ONA/RIEMENSCHNEIDER 
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: JAMES MURPHY'S MEETING WITH KEY FRENCH AGRICULTURAL 
OFFICIALS 
 
 
PARIS 00001294  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
1.  (SBU) Summary:  James Murphy, Assistant US Trade Representative 
for Agricultural Affairs, met with high-level French agricultural 
officials to discuss a number of U.S./EU ag trade issues.  Mr. 
Murphy was accompanied by Embassy staff from FAS and ECON.  The 
French participants were: Francois Riegert, Deputy Chief of Cabinet 
of Ag Minister Bussereau, Philippe Duclaud, Diplomatic Adviser to Ag 
Minister and Jean-Marc Bournigal, General Director for Food at the 
Ministry of Agriculture. The conversation indicated the desire on 
both sides to resolve these issues on the basis of a rational, 
science-based approach.  The French acknowledged their difficulties 
taking such an approach against the backdrop of anti-GMO activists, 
animal welfare activists and a generally mistrustful public. End 
summary. 
 
2. (SBU) Poultry AMTs:  Mr. Murphy outlined the slow progress this 
dossier had made since having obtained EFSA's positive assessment, 
emphasizing the difficulty the US plants would have complying with 
EU requirements (only one AMT followed by a rinse in potable water). 
Notwithstanding the fact that few US firms could meet such a 
standard at this point, he said that the US poultry industry would 
like to see the new regulation approved.  We have been told that the 
regulation will be approved by September.  French officials stressed 
the need to avoid the perception that sanitary procedures would 
become more lax as operators were relying on the AMT, rather than 
employing strict control at every juncture. They also mentioned that 
environmentalists were concerned about the impact of releasing used 
AMTs into the environment. 
 
3. (SBU) Beef Market Access: Mr. Murphy acknowledged that progress 
had been made in negotiations with DG Agri for a new, larger TRQ for 
U.S. hormone-free beef, but that SPS barriers, particularly on AMTs, 
needed to be removed to achieve a positive outcome.  He said that 
the US industry was about to submit a data package on AMTs to DG 
SANCO. In return for an improvement in market access for US hormone 
free beef, the USG would withdraw retaliatory tariffs.  French 
officials underscored their misgivings about estradiol, and also 
said that the EU would wait to hear from a WTO panel reviewing the 
US-EC hormone dispute before moving forward.  The panel's 
conclusions are reportedly due April 16. 
 
4. (SBU) EU Enlargement: Romania had been a $50 million pork import 
market, with an applied duty of zero. Under Article 28, no 
compensation was due, since under EC accession; its bound duty would 
go down. Mr. Murphy stated that the U.S. is requesting changes in 
TRQ administration to remove barriers to trade.  Since the EC has 
refused to negotiate seriously, the USG has just sent a retaliation 
list to the Federal Register for the purpose of getting the EC to 
the table.  Mr. Murphy also cited the trichina testing issue, 
stating that DG SANCO is reviewing USDA procedures.  It was 
acknowledged that some MSs (e.g. France, Germany, Denmark) support 
the U.S. position of lowering the trichina testing requirement for 
low-risk farm operations (like indoor pork production). 
 
5. (SBU) Cloning:  Mr. Murphy cited the recent FDA finding on the 
safety of products derived from cloning and said it wasn't too soon 
to start a dialog with the EU on this.  French officials stated that 
in Europe, this was more an issue of animal welfare and ethics than 
product safety.  The French stated that they are "jumping on the 
brake" against the animal welfare lobby, but nonetheless had to be 
attentive to such issues. 
 
6. (SBU) Biotech:  The French officials stated that biotech is not 
popular among the French public and that there was a risk of 
backlash.  Notwithstanding, they proudly reported that they had 
successfully transposed the EC's coexistence directive despite 
political obstacles.  Mr. Murphy stated that the EU and US should 
undertake discussions about normalizing trade in biotech.  He 
stressed the need to develop approaches for handling our 
governments' asynchronous approvals process and legacy events i.e. 
those events no longer offered for commercial sale.  The French 
response was that on biotech, they need to be totally transparent 
with the public. 
 
PARIS 00001294  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
 
7. (SBU) Meat Inspections: The French officials noted the upcoming 
FSIS inspection of French foie gras plants, noting how cumbersome it 
is for such plants to have to meet two governments' often different 
sets of requirements.  Mr. Murphy encouraged further work on this 
general issue. 
 
8. Comment:  It was clear that the French regulatory officials are 
often frustrated by the political minefield that limits their room 
to maneuver on some of these issues, but generally favor 
science-based resolutions.  End Comment. 
 
Stapleton