HHS SECRETARY LEAVITT TOUTS NEW ERA OF HHS/FDA COOPERATION

UNCLAS SAN JOSE 000025

STATE FOR WHA/CEN and WHA/EPSC
ALSO FOR OES/PCI - SPERLING AND FOR OES/IHB
HHS/OGHA FOR BILL STEIGER AND LINDA HOFFMAN

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: TBIO ECON PREL PGOV SOCI OSCI OTRA OVIP CS
SUBJECT: HHS SECRETARY LEAVITT TOUTS NEW ERA OF HHS/FDA COOPERATION
WITH LATIN AMERICA

REF: San Jose 0018


1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS)
Michael Leavitt's January 7, 2009, return visit to Costa Rica to
open the new regional office of the HHS Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) received a warm welcome from President Oscar Arias, relevant
Government Ministries, the press, and the private sector. Many saw
the event as an early "deliverable" following the entry-into-force
for Costa Rica of the United States-Central America-Dominican
Republic free-trade agreement (CAFTA-DR). Secretary Leavitt and
Costa Rican officials touted the occasion as the beginning of a "new
era" of U.S. cooperation with the region on the safety of food
medical products. The broad support for HHS/FDA's planned regional
presence underscores the high hopes - and expectations - many of our
partners have for the HHS/FDA to help strengthen both commercial
opportunities and public health in the region. The issues beyond
HHS/FDA discussed by Secretary Leavitt and President Arias are
reported in Reftel.
END SUMMARY.


BILAT WITH PRESIDENT ARIAS: THANKS ALL AROUND
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2. (U) Secretary Leavitt, together with Ambassador Cianchette,
HHS/FDA Commissioner Andrew von Eschenbach, M.D., and HHS Office of
Global Health Affairs Director Bill Steiger, met with GOCR President
Oscar Arias and Vice Minister of Health Ana Cecilia Morice on
January 7, 2009. The Secretary congratulated Arias on the
entry-into-force of CAFTA-DR, and thanked the President for his
support on food safety and the training of health workers at the
Regional Health-Care Training Center in Panama City. Arias
acknowledged Leavitt's gratitude while the Vice Minister thanked the
Secretary for the HHS/FDA's opening of a regional office in Costa
Rica, and for ongoing training opportunities offered to Costa Rican
health workers. Commissioner von Eschenbach added his thanks to
Arias for Costa Rica's support in areas such as training in Good
Clinical Practices, and emphasized that improving health leads to
economic growth.

NETWORKING FOR A COMMON GOAL
--------------


3. (U) The Secretary stressed "mutual interest" in coordinating the
"relevant responsibilities of Ministries" with HHS/FDA on
food-safety issues. He stressed the goal of the agency's presence
in the Region is to collaborate on the safety of food, drugs and
medical devices, both those exported to the United States and those
consumed in Central America, not to impose U.S. Government policy on
the GOCR. Secretary Leavitt added the networking of interests is
not just a bilateral exercise. He said the soon-to-be-signed
regional HHS Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on product safety, in
conjunction with the opening of HHS/FDA's international offices, as
recently realized in China and India, is a launching point for
international networking on the harmonization of safety standards.
(NOTE: The Costa Rican Ministries of Health and Agriculture have
agreed on the most recent version of the MOU. Minister of Health
Maria Luisa Avila told Emboffs on January 6, 2009, that the GOCR is
prepared to sign whenever the other regional partners and the USG
are ready to do so. END NOTE.)

FOOD SAFETY LINKED TO OPENING TRADE
--------------


4. (U) The Secretary linked food safety to CAFTA-DR by outlining
the trade debate in the United States. He cited how those opposed
to free trade use food safety as "an argument for protectionism" in
seeking to restrict access to the U.S. market. However, he added,
the lifeblood of trade agreements like CAFTA-DR depends on a mature,
international product-safety regimen. The Ambassador also noted the
keen interest in the topic of food safety in the Costa Rican private
sector, as evidenced by the overwhelming response to invitations to
a private-public sector roundtable on the topic scheduled for the
Secretary later that day.

GOCR AND PRIVATE SECTOR HAIL NEW HHS/FDA REGIONAL OFFICE
-------------- --------------


5. (U) Flanked by Ambassador Cianchette, HHS/FDA Commissioner von
Eschenbach, and Costa Rica's Vice Minister of Health Ana Cecilia
Morice at the Embassy's front entrance, Secretary Leavitt performed
the ceremonial ribbon-cutting for the HHS/FDA's new regional office.
The opening ceremonies and subsequent press conference drew wide
media coverage that cast a favorable light on U.S. cooperation with
the region on the safety of food and medical products. Although she

could not attend the ribbon-cutting, Health Minister Maria Luisa
Avila made very positive comments to the media, and hailed the
HHS/FDA office as an immediate and tangible result of CAFTA-DR, and
that she was looking forward to working closely with the new office
on issues of food and pharmaceutical safety. Every major daily and
television network sent a representative, which resulted in coverage
that underscored the importance of the new regional office and the
resulting health and trade benefits to Costa Rica. The economic and
financial daily La Republica prominently featured the Secretary's
remarks, while an interview with HHS/FDA Regional Office Director
Paul Seligman in the most influential daily La Nacion emphasized
prevention as the goal of public health.


6. (U) The Secretary capped his visit by presiding over a
"product-safety roundtable" with approximately 45 private-sector and
working-level Government representatives, several of whom traveled
from elsewhere in the region (e.g., Honduras and El Salvador)
specifically to attend the event. The Secretary noted that the
opening of new HHS/FDA offices in China, India, Costa Rica, and
elsewhere reflects the changing realities and needs of a global
marketplace. He stressed HHS/FDA's regional office in Costa Rica
represents an important new focal point for closer U.S. cooperation
with partners across Central America and the Caribbean, and that it
should be seen as a "portal" for regional cooperation with the full
range of HHS entities. Citing the "amazing number of U.S. agencies"
engaged in complex inter-agency coordination on product safety, the
Secretary urged both public and private partners in the region to
work closely together with the U.S. toward harmonizing standards and
practices, and on building quality into products throughout the
supply chain.


7. (U) Costa Rican Vice Minister of Health Morice praised the "new
era of cooperation" brought by HHS/FDA's move to Costa Rica, and
linked it to the GOCR's own initiatives to strengthen its
public-health and product-safety institutions. She also pointed to
an HHS/FDA-Health Ministry training program set for late January on
Best Clinical Practices, and the GOCR's readiness to sign a
multilateral MOU with the United States on product-safety
cooperation as evidence of increasingly vibrant collaboration. A
broad cross-section of private-sector representatives applauded the
new office, and some called it the "first deliverable" of CAFTA-DR's
entry-into-force on January 1, 2009. Several expressed their high
expectations for the commercial opportunities offered by a greater
HHS/FDA presence and cooperation with regional partners.

COMMENT: HHS/FDA NOW FACES HIGH HOPES AND EXPECTATIONS
-------------- --------------


8. (SBU) Coming on the heels of a long Christmas/New Year holiday
hiatus, the outpouring of positive media and private sector interest
in the new HHS/FDA office was a bit surprising. In the days
following the Secretary's visit, Post has received numerous
inquiries to seek information about HHS/FDA programs and
requirements. The universal appeal of HHS/FDA's planned regional
presence suggests this is a welcome and timely initiative by HHS.
It also underscores the high hopes - and expectations - many of our
partners have for HHS/FDA to help strengthen both commercial
opportunities and public health in the region. Post stands ready to
help make this promise a reality, and continues to work with HHS/FDA
to handle the nuts and bolts of standing up the new office. End
comment.


9. (U) The HHS delegation cleared this message.

CIANCHETTE