VZCZCXYZ0001
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSJ #0025/01 0161825
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 161825Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY SAN JOSE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0416
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE
RHMFIUU/CDR USSOUTHCOM MIAMI FL

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