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PP RUEHIK RUEHPOD RUEHYG
DE RUEHNT #1050/01 2551144
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 111144Z SEP 08
FM AMEMBASSY TASHKENT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0273
INFO RUEHZG/NATO EU COLLECTIVE
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RUEHTA/AMEMBASSY ASTANA 0546
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RHMFIUU/DTRA CT WASHINGTON DC
RUEAADN/DTRA DULLES WASHINGTON DC
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RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC 0384
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 2786
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RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK 0369
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RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1451
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC
RUMICEA/USCENTCOM INTEL CEN MACDILL AFB FL 0007

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 TASHKENT 001050 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR SCA/CEN, ISN, UCI, T, AND L 
HHS FOR DEPARTMENT OF THE LEGAL ADVISOR 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PARM PREL TBIO UZ
SUBJECT: UZBEKISTAN: U.S. CONDUCTS PATHOGEN SECURITY 
LEGISLATIVE WORKSHOP 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: A team of scientific and legal experts from 
the Department of State and the Department of Health and 
Human Services conducted a Legal and Pathogen Security 
Workshop September 8-9 in Tashkent.  Representatives from the 
Parliament, Cabinet of Ministers, Ministries of Health, 
Justice, Emergency Situations, Agriculture and Water 
Resources, and Foreign Affairs, as well as from the Academy 
of Sciences, State Customs Committee, and State Inspection 
Agency took part in the event.  Defense Threat Reduction 
Agency (DTRA) representatives also participated.  The Uzbeks 
showed themselves to be further along than we expected on 
many aspects of Biological Weapons Convention implementation. 
 End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) The U.S. team delivered presentations on the basic 
principles of Biological Weapons Convention implementation, 
pathogen security, U.S. practice in regulating the possession 
and use of "select agents," as well as providing a draft of 
Model Legislation to cover all these subjects.  The team led 
the group through each article of the Model Legislation, and 
the Uzbek representatives provided extensive commentary on 
Uzbek practice and legal basis, asked questions on U.S. 
practice, and made suggestions on how to improve the model. 
Particularly active were representatives from the Ministry of 
Health, the Academy of Sciences, and the Customs Committee. 
A question that arose several times was the effective 
regulation of private laboratories in Uzbekistan, and the 
Uzbek side indicated that it needed to explore the matter 
further.  What also emerged from the discussion was the high 
level of personnel security measures that are already in 
place in Uzbekistan for facilities that work with dangerous 
pathogens, largely through DTRA efforts. 
 
¶3. (SBU) During the course of the workshop, the Ambassador 
took the opportunity to emphasize to the group the importance 
of these issues for U.S.-Uzbek cooperation in the sphere of 
counterproliferation.  He noted that events over the past 
year, from joint work within the framework of the 
Proliferation Security Initiative to Uzbekistan's accession 
to the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism, show 
that the United States and Uzbekistan are close partners in 
the common struggle to combat proliferation and terrorism. 
He also stated that in many aspects of this effort the United 
States and Uzbekistan appear to have "common language," as 
evidenced by the similarities between the U.S. proposed Model 
Legislation and existing Uzbek laws, directives, and other 
instruments.  The Uzbek side spoke favorably of the 
U.S.-Uzbek relationship on several occasions during the 
workshop and noted in particular U.S. support for training 
regional-level laboratory personnel as well as major efforts 
to provide Customs with state-of-the-art radiation detectors 
for Uzbekistan's border crossing points. 
 
¶4. (SBU) At the end of the workshop, when the participants 
turned to next steps, the Uzbek side proposed that it would 
undertake the following: the Model Legislation and the other 
presentations, which had already been translated into 
Russian, would be provided to all other relevant ministries 
and organizations for their review and comparison with 
existing Uzbek law and regulations, that comments be 
solicited, and that a common view be reached within the 
 
TASHKENT 00001050  002 OF 002 
 
 
Government of Uzbekistan.  The U.S. side expressed its 
appreciation to the Uzbek side for its participation in the 
workshop and looked forward to hearing the results of 
Uzbekistan's review. 
 
Comment: 
-------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) This workshop is similar in scope and content to 
those conducted by this team over the past several years in 
Georgia, Kazakhstan, Southeast Asia (Thailand, Malaysia, 
Indonesia, the Philippines), and Libya.  In many respects, 
the team found that Uzbekistan appears to have in place many 
of the fundamental elements of the Model Legislation but 
noted that national reports provided by Uzbekistan to the 
1540 Committee and to the Implementation Support Unit in 
Geneva (related to Biological Weapons Convention 
implementation) do not adequately demonstrate how much 
Uzbekistan has already done in taking the necessary 
legislative and regulatory measures, in the form of 
comprehensive pathogen security measures, to prevent the 
misuse of dangerous pathogens.  In discussing this lack of 
national reporting with some of the participants, it may be 
that Uzbekistan has focused more of its international 
outreach on issues related to the implementation of the 
Chemical Weapons Convention, particularly given the existence 
of an international organization and large secretariat in The 
Hague, as well as funding by Switzerland and Norway for 
practical training. 
NORLAND