US embassy cable - 05BOGOTA1929

UNCLAS BOGOTA 001929 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
STATE PASS TO USTR - BRIAN PECK, BENNETT HARMAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON, ETRD, KIPR, CO, FTA 
SUBJECT: GOC FIRES LEAD IPR NEGOTIATOR FOR THE FTA 
 
 
Sensitive but Unclassified --please protect accordingly. 
 
1.    (SBU)  On February 24 Commerce Minister Botero and FTA 
chief negotiator Gomez announced that the GOC removed 
Colombia's lead intellectual property negotiator, Luis Angel 
Madrid.  Javier Gamboa, Madrid's deputy, will now lead the 
Colombian IP team.  Botero and Gomez fired Madrid after 
finding out late Wednesday, February 23 that the intellectual 
property negotiating team had inserted unapproved language in 
a joint Ecuadoran-Colombian data protection proposal during 
the seventh round of the FTA in Cartagena.  Madrid, without 
the knowledge and approval of the GOC and the Colombian 
private sector, inserted text in the proposal that would 
allow Colombia to retain its current data protection regime, 
contained in decree 2085, during the proposed transition 
period (through 2014).  Ecuador agreed to Madrid's proposal 
as Ecuador has no data protection in place and would not be 
affected by the addition.  Madrid also failed to brief the 
Colombian government on his actions, and they only became 
clear during a presentation to private sector advisors on the 
actions taken at the Cartagena round on February 23. 
 
2.    (SBU)  The local Colombian pharmaceutical sector, whose 
leaders have long claimed that the GOC was negotiating behind 
the back of the private sector, took this action as proof of 
their worst suspicions.  The president of ASINFAR 
(Association of Colombian Pharmaceutical Industries), Alberto 
Bravo, was particularly upset by Madrid,s unilateral action 
and publicly called for the Minister's and Gomez's 
resignations.  The rest of the private sector also saw 
Madrid's action as a  negative precedent and one that 
undermined the GOC's credibility in the negotiations.  Hoping 
to stem this erosion of confidence, Minister Botero 
immediately called for Madrid's removal.  The move seems to 
have worked and the private sector has accepted the GOC's 
explanation and praised the Minister's rapid resolution of 
the problem.  Colombia and Ecuador are now working on a new 
proposal, which will reportedly contain no provision for 
Colombia to retain its current level of protection through 
the proposed transition period. 
 
3.   (SBU)  According to FTA chief negotiator Gomez, the real 
problem with the proposal was in form not substance.  The GOC 
wanted to insert language that would allow it to maintain 
current protections, but could not gain the private sector's 
support at this time.  The GOC was lobbying the local 
companies and hoped to obtain their approval by the next full 
round of negotiations in April in Lima.  Gomez now fears that 
it will be much more difficult to obtain the local industry's 
approval for such a proposal.  Moreover, the episode has 
strengthened the hand of those in the GOC, particularly in 
the Ministry of Social Protection, who wish to weaken current 
data protection standards.  Gomez now feels that he faces an 
even more difficult fight on IP, one of the most sensitive 
areas of the FTA negotiations.  Gomez also highlighted that 
this episode underscores how closely the private sector is 
watching developments during the FTA negotiations and the 
need for full transparency in the process. 
WOOD