Cablegate: Indonesia - Sample Sharing Position Hardens

VZCZCXRO6547
RR RUEHCHI RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHJA #2871/01 2840751
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 110751Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY JAKARTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6647
RUEHPH/CDC ATLANTA GA
INFO RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC
RUEHRC/USDA FAS WASHDC
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RHHMUNA/CDR USPACOM HONOLULU HI//J07/CATMED/CAT//
RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK 8179
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 1361
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1052
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 7660

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 JAKARTA 002871

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPT FOR EAP/MTS, G/AIAG AND OES
USAID FOR ANE/CLEMENTS AND GH/CARROLL
DEPT ALSO PASS TO HHS/WSTEIGER/ABDOO/MSTLOUIS AND HHS/NIH
GENEVA FOR WHO/HOHMAN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: TBIO AMED CASC EAGR AMGT PGOV ID
SUBJECT: INDONESIA - SAMPLE SHARING POSITION HARDENS

REF: A) State 141771 B) Jakarta 02734 and previous

1. (SBU) Summary. Following participation in a Third World
Network-organized meeting in Geneva, Indonesia's views on sample
sharing seem to be hardening. Dr. Widjaja Lukito, Government of
Indonesia lead on sample sharing, told us on October 11 that
Indonesia intends to seek support within the Global Influenza
Surveillance Network (GISN) for the inclusion of rigorous "Standards
Terms and Conditions (STCs)" - roughly akin to material transfer
agreements - for sample sharing. Lukito agreed to meet with USG
officials during the October 17-18 Chatham House meetings in London.
End summary.

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MORE RIGOROUS STCs
------------------

2. (U) During an October 11 meeting with Dr. Widjaja Lukito, Health
Policy Adviser to the Minister of Health; Dr. Endang Sedyaningsih
Mamahit, Litbangkes Senior Researcher; and Dr. Indroyono Tantoro,
Public Health Risk Adviser, we delivered instructed talking points
(ref A), outlining the USG's position on the GISN and plans for the
October 17-18 Chatham House event. The three members of the
Indonesian negotiating team recently returned from meetings in
Geneva which they described as "planning sessions for the upcoming
GISN meetings."

3. (SBU) Lukito reported that Indonesia remains concerned with the
same issues discussed during our September 27 meeting (Reftel B) but
that they also will focus on greater attention to the "Standard
Terms and Conditions" (STCs) that delineate documents and conditions
that must accompany all specimen transfers. Although Indonesian
negotiators no longer use the term of "material transfer
agreements", STCs provide similar restrictions for specimen use for
noncommercial purposes only, including risk assessment or
development of "noncommercial" vaccines.

4. (SBU) Lukito said that, under this type of STCs, the GOI would
agree to share samples as long as documentation restricts samples
use to noncommercial purposes. Before a GISN collaborating center
forwards any materials to the commercial sector or a research
laboratory, the collaborating center must seek permission from the
Member State. The Member State should have an opportunity to
negotiate terms with how the samples are used. Endang said that the
STCs could be used on a multilateral basis to obtain benefits for
all developing countries. Lukito was less clear and seemed to imply
that Member States might negotiate bilateral benefits (technology
transfer, domestic production, etc.)

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CLEARER UNDERSTANDING OF GISN
-----------------------------

5. (SBU) Endang also described that the MOH needs to better
understand how the GISN operates. The Indonesian team feels
frustrated with the introduction of new terms during each round of
discussion on the GISN. For example, the Indonesians understood the
term "global reference laboratory," but were surprised when
negotiators introduced the new term "essential noncommercial
regulatory laboratories" at the July Singapore meeting. The
Indonesian team noted that frequent changes in GISN terminology
contribute to slower progress in the negotiations. Endang also
asked why there are only four "essential noncommercial laboratories"
when many countries believe there should be more of laboratories
designated. Endang noted that GISN collaborating centers enter into
MTAs with the commercial sector using material collected in the
GISN. She felt it was unfair that collaborating centers can enter
into such agreements and that Member States cannot. Lukito clarified
that Indonesia is concerned that STCs applied only to samples shared
for potential pandemic vaccines, but not on samples shared for
seasonal flu vaccines.

6. (SBU) Lukito said that Indonesia remains committed to seeking
solutions to the sample sharing impasse and encourages continued
dialogue. He welcomes a side meeting with Ambassador John Lange and
David Hohman at the October 17-18 Chatham House meetings to better

JAKARTA 00002871 002 OF 002

explain the Indonesian position and understand the US position.
Lukito noted that the Indonesian team is staying at the Fleming
Mayfair Hotel.

7. (SBU) Note: We believe that the Third World Network has been
coaching Indonesian participants to harden negotiating positions.
The Indonesians were considerably more guarded and nationalistic
than on September 27 (ref B). The team initially did not offer
information, posed terse questions and provided guarded answers that
conveyed a sense of distrust when compared to the candor and
openness of earlier meetings. The Indonesians believe that the
current governance of the GISN provides benefits, such as access to
pandemic vaccines, to developed countries. They want sample sharing
directly linked to benefits sharing for developing countries and see
STCs as their guarantee. On October 9, Endang had privately
commented to an embassy official that the Geneva planning meetings
had been "discouraging." We believe that Endang and others
privately want a solution to the impasse so that they can return to
pressing other work priorities but that the negotiating team is
caught between Third World Network politics and a Minister who sees
the issue as a personal crusade.

HEFFERN

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