R 081107Z DEC 08
FM AMEMBASSY WARSAW
TO AMEMBASSY PARIS
AMEMBASSY VIENNA
AMEMBASSY KYIV
SECSTATE WASHDC 7450
DEPT OF AGRICULTURE WASHDC
USEU BRUSSELS
UNCLAS WARSAW 001386
USDA FAS FOR OTP/FOSTER, BORISS, COVEY OCRA/DSALMON; OSTA/MACKE,
APHIS FOR IS/JMITCHELL, FSIS FOR OIA/SWHITE
BRUSSELS PASS AG MINISTER COUNSELOR, AGATT STANGE, APHIS/FERNANDEZ;
VIENNA PASS APHIS/TANAKA
PARIS PASS AG COUNSELOR; KIEV PASS AG COUNSELOR
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: EAGR ECON ETRD PL
SUBJECT: USDA TRAINS VETS IN PULAWY WITH EMERGING MARKETS FUNDS
REF: Warsaw 1580
1. SUMMARY: USDA's Animal Plant Health Inspection Service provided
training to 22 veterinarians and scientists of the Ukrainian
Veterinary Service at Poland's Pulawy National Institute for
Veterinary Science December 1-5, 2008. Poland's vets invited USDA
to take part in an EU-sponsored event already planned, showing their
openness to cooperate. Poland is an excellent channel for access to
Ukraine and Belarus and will have EU funds to spend on veterinary
cooperation on EU expansion. Poland's openness and support for
sound science in animal disease control reduces risks to the economy
and human health in the region.
2. The newly dedicated Pulawy Institute, see reftel, is Europe's
most advanced veterinary laboratory and is rapidly becoming a
regional resource as a reference laboratory and training center for
other EU member states and in Central and Eastern Europe. Its
training efforts help to reduce potential threats on the EU's
eastern borders by improving the level of readiness of Ukraine's and
other countries' veterinary services. The U.S. Department of
Agriculture is a partner with Poland on these issues and this visit
was supported by a USDA Emerging Markets Program grant of $18,000.
That small grant protects roughly $150 million in U.S. agricultural
exports. End Summary.
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TRAINING FOR EASTERN
EUROPE VETERINARIANS
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3. Jay K. Mitchell, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Sanitary
and Phytosanitary (SPS) Director for Europe at the Animal and Plant
Health Inspection Service (APHIS) was hosted at the Pulawy Institute
by Dr. Tadeusz Wijaska, Director General of the Pulawy Veterinarian
Institute (PIVET) and Dr. Jan Zmudzinski, Deputy Director for
Research at PIVET. At the training organized by PIVET, Director
Mitchell gave two presentations: an overview of APHIS and APHIS's
role in animal health and food safety. Mitchell emphasized the role
of Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) issues in light of Ukraine's
recent WTO membership. He gave a history of SPS agreements within
the WTO and stressed the importance of Ukrainian adherence to these
WTO SPS agreements. The Ukrainian participants of the training
consisted of scientists from the National Scientific Center,
Institute of Experimental and Clinical Veterinary Medicine in
Kharkov, Ukraine and the Veterinary Control Institute in Lviv,
Ukraine. Embassy Warsaw encourages USDA's Cochran Program or other
suitable program as excellent tool to train and expose these
Ukrainian veterinarians and scientists to the structure of the U.S.
veterinary service and procedures used to eradicate or combat animal
diseases. The Pulawy Veterinary Institute is an ideal venue to
develop quick diagnostic action and response in the case of
animal-borne pathogens and diseases that are a global economic
threat to agriculture and human health.
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FRENCH DELEGATION VISITS PULAWY VETERINARY INSTITUTE
--------------------------------------------
4. At the same time Director Mitchell was in Pulawy, the Institute
also hosted a French delegation consisting of Mr. Patrick Bonjour,
current General Veterinary Inspector and former Deputy Chief
Veterinary Officer in France in the mid-1990s, and Mr. Xavier
Pacholek, Veterinary Attach at the French Embassy in Warsaw. The
delegation visited PIVET to discuss future cooperation between the
French Veterinary Service and the Polish Veterinary Authorities to
prepare a program of joint training for the Ukrainian Veterinary
Service. They will present a bid to the European Commission to fund
this project in 2009. The estimated cost of the joint training is
over one million euro. If accepted, and the program is successful,
it could be extended and the budget enlarged to as much as eight
million euro. According to the Polish Veterinary Service, other
bids for the same program could be proposed by the Netherlands
jointly with Estonia, and Italy with Lithuania. Lithuania's
Veterinary Service was supposed to meet French and Polish veterinary
authorities in Pulawy, but the delegation did not come.
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NEW CHIEF VETERINARY OFFICER
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5. While visiting Poland, Mitchell called on its Chief Veterinary
Officer, Dr. Janusz Zwiazek and Deputy Chief Veterinary Officer, Dr.
Krzysztof Jazdzewski, inviting them to the United States for more
talks and training. At both meetings the Polish Veterinary Service
officials emphasized the importance of cooperation with the U.S.
Veterinary Service in the areas of food safety and animal health.
The two sides discussed how important it is for USDA to be
presenting its side of the animal health issue, and for them to not
just hear EU views. Polish Veterinary officials hope to continue
cooperation with the U.S. Veterinary Service in promoting
international veterinary standards in Ukraine and other countries in
Central and Eastern Europe.
6. Poland is factoring in Europe's high cost food safety system and
is seeing the EC's heavy regulation diminish its competitiveness for
no scientific reasons. This has made the Poles more willing to
argue for sound science in EU fora. U.S. involvement in Central and
Eastern European veterinary projects will ensure that U.S. standards
and approaches of animal disease control will be presented to
contrast pressure from EU Member States to adopt the EU's procedures
in countries like the Ukraine and Belarus. This approach can pay
dividends later. Poland, for example, defied EU regulations on its
accession in 2004 and left in place regulations that allowed U.S.
market access for its meat and animal products exports to Poland a
full twelve months after required to stop. As well, since then,
when faced with technical requests and no political pressure,
Poland's Veterinary Service still supports U.S. market access for
dairy, livestock genetics, and transshipments of beef and poultry
across the EU, worth millions in trade to the United States.
7. Comment. Poland, as the largest country in the region with the
most developed veterinary service is a natural leader in creating a
platform for the exchange of information regarding animal health.
Poland has one of the finest vet services in the EU, if not the
globe. End Comment.
ASHE