UGANDA: AFRICA WORKSHOP ON BIOSAFETY AND SECURITY

UNCLAS KAMPALA 001108 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: AORC KPAO PREL PTER UNSC XA KE UG SUBJECT: UGANDA: AFRICA WORKSHOP ON BIOSAFETY AND SECURITY DEMARCHE RESPONSE REF: STATE 96413 (SBU) Poloff delivered non paper and informed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of our commitment to support African participants to the February 2010 workshop on biosafety and biosecurity per reftel on September 23. MFA Multilateral Affairs Officer Isaac Sebulime said UNSCR 1540 implementation was a bit "scattered" within the Government of Uganda (GOU), and that the MFA played the largest coordinating role, despite a lack of expert knowledge. He said the workshop would be valuable for the GOU and that the MFA would consult with partner ministries to identify participants upon receiving a draft agenda. Sebulime said that while the Ministry of Energy has a Radiation Control Committee, the Ministry of Gender and Labor is more involved in monitoring the most-likely potential threats through its occupational safety and material accountability inspections of substances used in manufacturing, agriculture and medicine. He said elements of the police and military, such as the Joint Anti-Terrorism Task Force, have a security role, and that the Ministry of Health's Virus Research Institute has a biosafety role. Embassy point of contact for the workshop is Poloff Trevor Olson, OlsonTR@state.gov, telephone 256 (0) 414-259-791. LANIER