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Viewing cable 09BUENOSAIRES548, Glyphosate Herbicide, a Catalyst for Argentine Politics

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
09BUENOSAIRES548 2009-05-07 20:27 2011-08-25 00:00 UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Embassy Buenos Aires
VZCZCXRO9101
RR RUEHAO RUEHCD RUEHGA RUEHGD RUEHGR RUEHHA RUEHHO RUEHMC RUEHMT
RUEHNG RUEHNL RUEHQU RUEHRD RUEHRG RUEHRS RUEHTM RUEHVC
DE RUEHBU #0548/01 1272027
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 072027Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY BUENOS AIRES
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3686
INFO RUEHRC/DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHINGTON DC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC
RUEAEPA/HQ EPA WASHINGTON DC
RHMFIUU/HQ USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL
RUEHWH/WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BUENOS AIRES 000548 
 
USDA FOR FAS/OA/OCRA/ONA/OGA/OFSO 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: EAGR SNAR ECON EINV PGOV ELAB PHUM TBIO AR
SUBJECT:  Glyphosate Herbicide, a Catalyst for Argentine Politics 
 
1. (SBU) Summary:  Argentina's pro-government press has been waging 
a campaign against the use of glyphosate, the active ingredient in 
Monsanto's widely used Roundup herbicide, which appears to be driven 
more by local politics than health concerns.  The press campaign 
started with reports in the local newspaper Pagina 12 on a local 
researcher's unverified findings that the herbicide can have toxic 
effects.  The herbicide is used in production of almost all soybeans 
in Argentina, and local farm groups interpret these criticisms as 
yet another attack on their sector by the GOA in Argentina's ongoing 
dispute over export taxes on soybeans.  Local contacts speculate 
that the press campaign, and a subsequent Ministry of Defense ban on 
glyphosate use on some of its lands used for agricultural 
production, is fueled by election politics in the lead-up to the 
June 28 mid-term congressional elections, with the Administration 
seeking to divert votes away from the opposition -- whose most vocal 
supporters are in the agricultural sector.  The GOA is not, however, 
united in its attack on the use of glyphosate, with the Minister of 
Science and Technology and parts of the Agriculture Secretariat 
defending the use of the substance and questioning the scientific 
credibility of the unpublished research.  End Summary. 
 
-------------------------------- 
Monsanto's Moneymaker Under Fire 
-------------------------------- 
 
2.  (SBU)  On April 13, the leftist Argentine newspaper Pagina 12 
published an article on a local researcher's unverified findings on 
the toxic effects of glyphosate, blaming the herbicide of producing 
birth defects in vertebrates.  Since publication of this article, 
Monsanto and the agricultural sector have faced strong criticism in 
the pro-government press.  Almost all soybeans in Argentina are 
Roundup Ready (biotech resistant to glyphosate) and are produced 
using that chemical.  Glyphosate is the active ingredient in 
Monsanto's widely used herbicide Roundup.  Monsanto has the largest 
share of the glyphosate market in Argentina - estimated at 40 
percent - making it the most prominent and vulnerable victim of 
circumstance by such attacks. 
 
3. (SBU)   The researcher whose preliminary findings were reported 
in the article, Dr. Andres Carrasco, is currently head of the 
research department at the Ministry of Defense and is one of the 
more left-leaning members of that Ministry.  He is also the head of 
the embryology lab at the prestigious University of Buenos Aires 
(UBA) and a high-ranking researcher at the National Council of 
Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET), a well-respected 
Argentine research institute.  Despite CONICET and the University of 
Buenos Aires being mentioned in the Pagina 12 article, the research 
cited was not carried out under the auspices of these organizations, 
nor has the research been made available to other researchers for 
peer review. 
 
-------------------- 
Science or Politics? 
-------------------- 
 
4. (SBU)   Local farm groups interpret these criticisms as yet 
another attack on their sector by the GOA in Argentina's ongoing 
dispute over export taxes on soybeans.  Local contacts report that 
the recent articles, and a Ministry of Defense ban on glyphosate use 
on some of its lands used for agricultural production, were fueled 
by the Administration's desire to divert votes away from their 
opposition -- whose most vocal supporters are in the agricultural 
sector.  With mid-term elections coming on June 28, these contacts 
speculate that there are strong incentives for the pro-Kirchner 
campaign to vilify the agricultural sector for short-term political 
gains, despite long-term problems that this could create for 
Argentina's most important export crop.  Growing concern among 
Argentina's predominantly urban population about shifting 
agricultural production -- away from cattle and domestically 
consumed crops like corn and wheat -- to increasing production of 
soybeans makes glyphosate an easy target for criticism. 
 
5. (SBU) Within most scientific circles, and the regulatory agencies 
responsible for approving glyhposate use in Argentina, it is 
commonly accepted that the alleged study does not have scientific 
credibility.  The findings have yet to be presented for analysis of 
methodologies, procedures, and/or conclusions.  Mainstream Argentine 
newspapers have only briefly mentioned the issue and often highlight 
the criticisms/weaknesses of the study.  In response to the 
controversy, the Argentine Secretariat of Agriculture (SENASA) has 
been collecting information to support its approval of glyphosate 
use in Argentina.  The Embassy's Agriculture Section has provided to 
SENASA information on studies conducted on glyphosate, which is 
 
BUENOS AIR 00000548  002 OF 003 
 
 
widely used in the U.S. and is also used in the coca eradication 
program under Plan Colombia. 
 
---------------------------------------- 
Some GOA Entities Support The Attacks... 
---------------------------------------- 
 
6. (SBU) Post contacts indicate that certain elements of both the 
Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Health are supporting the 
campaign against the use of glyphosate.  A few days following the 
Pagina 12 publication, a small Argentine NGO (comprised mainly of 
environmentalist lawyers) requested that the Argentine Supreme Court 
issue an injunction to immediately halt the use of the herbicide. 
The Defense Ministry issued, on April 21, a press release stating 
that it was prohibiting the use of glyphosate on lands in urban 
areas belonging to the Ministry that and are routinely used for 
agricultural production.  Despite this being portrayed as a 
widespread ban in the pro-government press, Post contacts indicate 
that those lands in question only represent a small fraction of the 
Ministry's lands used for agricultural production. 
 
------------------------------------------ 
...But Moderate GOA Voices Are Being Heard 
------------------------------------------ 
 
7. (SBU)   Several branches of the Argentine government, 
particularly the Ministry of Science and Technology and the 
Agriculture Secretariat, are defending the use of glyphosate.  Those 
entities and Argentine academia, as well as scientists outside of 
Argentina, have requested that Dr. Carrasco provide information on 
the alleged research.  So far, he has not fulfilled those requests. 
In a recent interview, Dr. Carrasco accused those individuals and 
entities questioning his research of carrying out a slander campaign 
against him while he defended his methodology, findings, and the 
release of preliminary results without peer review.  Post contacts 
report that his superiors at CONICET and other government agencies 
were disappointed and felt it irresponsible of Dr. Carrasco to 
publicly present his private findings on such a contentious issue 
without any outside review. 
 
8. (SBU) In a recent interview, the Minister of Science and 
Technology, Lino Baranao, who is a very well-respected scientist in 
the area of biotechnology and animal cloning, made the point that 
this was not a CONICET study (CONICET is part of his Ministry) and 
that the findings have not been subject to peer review. 
Furthermore, he added that any substance, when put in direct contact 
with animal tissue, can produce adverse effects.  Minister Baranao 
noted that Argentina's usage norms for glyphosate were established 
by the Secretariat of Agriculture based on scientific research 
conducted at a global level, and that Dr. Carrasco's findings are 
not results that would be found in the countryside under normal 
usage conditions for the herbicide. 
 
----------------------------- 
Argentina Without Glyphosate? 
----------------------------- 
 
9. (SBU) The Ministry of Defense's reaction has led some in the 
agriculture sector to question whether the government will ban 
glyphosate for all agricultural use in Argentina.  Post contacts do 
not expect that the GOA will actually ban its use, since it would 
directly affect production of Argentina's main export item -- 
significantly decreasing yields, and therefore GOA revenues -- and 
it would be very hard to enforce.  Low production costs are one of 
Argentina's biggest advantages for soybean production, which is in 
large part due to the use of glyphosate along with no-till planting. 
 Estimated impacts of a ban vary, but a very rough estimate is that 
soybean production could drop by 20 percent due to lower yields and 
a reduction in planted area.  Evasion of the ban would likely be 
widespread but reduced efficiency and production would no doubt 
occur.  Furthermore, glyphosate is routinely used for many 
agricultural crops across Argentina and substitutes are often more 
costly and less effective. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
10. (SBU) Argentina has long been an ally of the United States with 
respect to biotechnology promotion in various international 
negotiations, and Roundup Ready biotech soybeans are Argentina's 
most important export crop.  Post contacts within the Secretariat of 
Agriculture assure us that Argentina will continue to support 
 
BUENOS AIR 00000548  003 OF 003 
 
 
biotechnology in Qternational negotiations and none of our contacts 
believe that the GOA will go so far as to ban the use of glyphosate, 
or Roundup Ready soybeans.  It is, however, striking that elements 
of the GOA have launched a frontal attack on Argentina's critical 
agricultural sector -- and its most important crop at that -- for 
short-term political gains in this electoral season.  End Comment. 
 
KELLY