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. 
 
------------------ 
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.) 
 
----------------------------- 
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