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 -------------- ¶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