ACTION REQUEST RE U.S. NAVAL MEDICAL RESEARCH UNIT

UNCLAS JAKARTA 000529 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP, L, OES, EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PREL MARR TBIO AMED ID SUBJECT: ACTION REQUEST RE U.S. NAVAL MEDICAL RESEARCH UNIT REF: A. EAP/MTS - JAKARTA EMAIL ¶B. 07 JAKARTA 3262 ¶1. (U) This is an Action Request -- Please see Para 6. ¶2. (U) This message is Sensitive but Unclassified -- Please handle accordingly. ¶3. (U) Ref B provided Mission recommendations on how to proceed with the next phase of negotiations on the draft MOU for the U.S. Naval Medical Research (NAMRU-2) in Jakarta. We look forward to a response to this message. We request cleared guidance on the issues raised so that we may proceed with the next round of negotiations. ¶4. (SBU) We are aware that Washington agencies are carefully reviewing the text and our recommendations. Ref A indicates that most of the issues that we highlighted in Ref B are close to resolution. One key exception is the issue of sample sharing/specimens. In Washington's consideration of this issue, it must keep in mind that NAMRU operates in Indonesia and, therefore, must abide by Indonesian law and regulation. We recommend the following straightforward language: "NAMRU-2 agrees to follow all Indonesian laws and regulations regarding the export and import of biological specimens." ¶5. (SBU) We do not believe U.S. agreement to this sentence in the NAMRU context prejudices our position in the WHO global network negotiations. Our language in no way suggests that NAMRU would be forced to sign a Material Transfer Agreement, as the GOI is pushing in the WHO context. If the GOI requires NAMRU to sign an MTA before shipping Indonesian AI samples to a WHO lab, then NAMRU would have the option not to ship the samples, thereby honoring our position. ¶6. (SBU) If we were to resist language pledging that NAMRU will honor Indonesian law, not only would the negotiations fail, but NAMRU's continued presence in Indonesia would be increasingly called into question. Some elements here are already suspicious of NAMRU and a negotiating position resisting the language in this sentence would feed those suspicions. ¶7. (U) ACTION REQUEST: We request Washington's interagency-cleared guidance in the near future on sample sharing and other areas. HUME