VZCZCXYZ0002
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHRH #0666 1161237
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 251237Z APR 08
FM AMEMBASSY RIYADH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 8261
INFO RUEHSW/AMEMBASSY BERN PRIORITY 0117
RUEHBS/AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS PRIORITY 0964

UNCLAS RIYADH 000666 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
USTR FOR JASON BUNTIN 
USDOC FOR TYLER HOFFMAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD EINV USTR SA EU SZ
SUBJECT: EU/SWISS POSITIONS ON SAUDI PHRMA PRICING ISSUES 
 
REF: SECSTATE 38022 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  Summary.  Econoffs delivered reftel points to 
Swiss and European Union (EU) officials on April 19.  The 
Swiss Ambassador believes he needs further instructions from 
the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs in Bern to take 
additional measures to advocate for the pharmaceutical 
industry.  The pharmaceutical industry has not contacted the 
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs in Bern to request 
intervention and must do so if they desire him to take action 
in Riyadh.  The EU will forward USTR's non-paper to Brussels 
to receive instructions.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  Econoffs met with the Swiss Ambassador and Deputy 
Chief of Mission on April 19.  The Ambassador shared that he 
met with Saudi Ministry of Health (MOH) officials twice in 
2007 to request that they consult with industry regarding its 
new pharmaceutical pricing mechanism.  He expressed 
satisfaction that implementation of the pricing scheme was 
delayed four months.  He believes this delay resulted from 
him (along with the Ambassadors of Belgium and the European 
Union) meeting with the Minister of Health last fall. 
Despite this success, he believes that the MOH, unfamiliar 
with the World Trade Organization (WTO), does not understand 
that concept of meaningful consultation with industry and 
that its actions do not comply with Saudi Arabia's WTO 
obligations.  The Ambassador further explained that while 
local representatives of Swiss pharmaceutical companies 
(Roche and Janssen-Cilag) have solicited his assistance, the 
headquarters of Swiss pharmaceutical firms have failed to 
contact the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs in Bern. 
He conveyed his frank assessment that the Swiss firms' 
failure to contact the federal government seemed to indicate 
the pricing issue is not yet a high priority for them.  Given 
this failure, he will remain passive until he is instructed 
to act by the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.  The 
Ambassador encouraged American pharmaceutical companies to 
work with Swiss pharmaceutical companies to request 
intervention of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs in 
Bern.  Further, the Ambassador agreed with Econoffs that the 
recent appointment of Minister of Commerce and Industry 
Alireza, one of Saudi Arabia's lead WTO accession 
negotiators, could offer a promising avenue to pursue our 
mutual concerns.  However, he again felt obliged to wait for 
instructions from Bern before approaching the Minister of 
Commerce and Industry. 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  Econoff met with the First Secretary working on 
economic issues for the EU on April 19.  The EU will forward 
USTR's non-paper to Brussels to receive instructions.  The 
official shared that the EU Ambassador felt that he had 
exhausted his means of engaging the MOH on these issues in 
Riyadh and suggested consideration of raising these issues in 
the WTO.  She explained that the EU had quickly resolved a 
beef trade issue merely by placing the matter on a committee 
agenda at the WTO. 
FRAKER