VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSJ #1689 2541755
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 111755Z SEP 07
FM AMEMBASSY SAN JOSE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8847
INFO RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0314
RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SAN JOSE 001689 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PASS TO EEB, RACHEL WALLACE AND LINDA RECHT 
PASS TO IO 
STATE PASS TO USTR 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON KIPR ETRD WTRO CR
SUBJECT: COSTA RICA RESPONSE - WHTO IGWG ANTI-IP PROPOSALS 
 
REF: SECSTATE 121503 
 
¶1. (SBU) On September 7, 2007, EmbOffs met with Gabriela Castro and 
Susana Vasquez at Costa Rica's Ministry of Commerce and Trade 
(COMEX) to discuss the Costa Rican response to reftel's message. 
The COMEX officials said that due to the upcoming referendum to 
ratify Costa Rica's participation in the Central American Free Trade 
Agreement (CAFTA-DR), the GOCR needed to be very careful in 
addressing delicate trade issues in the weeks before the October 7 
vote.  Continual polling shows that Costa Ricans opposed to the 
trade deal list the perceived negative impact of CAFTA-DR on health 
care in the country as a prominent reason why they will vote against 
the deal.  Due to the sensitive nature of this IPR issue, the COMEX 
officials do not believe the GOCR will take any action that could 
bring attention to this issue prior to the referendum. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Castro said that this request comes at a time when COMEX 
trade experts are crashing on finalizing the legislation needed for 
Costa Rica to fulfill its CAFTA-DR obligations.  COMEX hopes to have 
the legislation ready for the Costa Rican congress' approval 
immediately after the October 7 referendum.  COMEX officials 
involved with preparing the legislation affecting IPR are traveling 
to Washington D.C. the week of September 10 to conduct further 
consultations with USTR on issues related to fully implementing 
Costa Rica's CAFTA-DR obligations. 
 
¶3.  (U) The flurry of activity makes it even more difficult for 
COMEX to sacrifice trade or IPR experts to travel to the Ottawa 
meetings.  However, Castro said that if Costa Rica can 
satisfactorily complete consultations with USTR on IPR issues during 
the upcoming trip to Washington D.C., the GOCR can "think about 
achieving a common perspective on the WHO issue and sending a COMEX 
trade official with the Ministry of Health delegation to the 
upcoming September 20-21 meetings." 
 
¶4.  (U)  COMMENT:  Although we would certainly not want to encourage 
the creation of campaign points for the "No" campaign, Post believes 
that COMEX participation in the IGWG meeting would not create an 
issue that is sufficiently high profile to warrant attention by the 
Costa Rican public.  Nonetheless, we also believe that the 
likelihood of COMEX achieving its goal of wrapping up its 
consultations prior to the October 7 referendum is unlikely.  Thus, 
it is unlikely that COMEX officials will travel to Ottawa. 
 
LANGDALE