US blocked dozens of experts from attending biotech conference
Cuba Sun Nov 27, 2:59 AM ET

HAVANA (AFP) - US authorities blocked dozens of US experts from attending a major Cuban biotechnology conference that opens here this weekend.


US authorities blocked dozens of US experts from attending a major Cuban biotechnology conference that opens in Havana, seen here, this weekend(AFP/File/Gabriel Bouys)

Carlos Borroto, chairman of the Havana Biotechnology Conference 2005 which opens on Sunday with some 550 specialists from 35 countries, said US authorities' lone exception was the permission to travel granted renowned US professor John Benemann.

The United States and Cuba do not have full diplomatic ties, and the United States has had a full economic embargo on the only communist-ruled country in the Americas since 1962. US nationals are not allowed to spend money in communist-ruled Cuba, an effective travel ban.

Benemann is due to give one of the keynote addresses at the conference, on alternative fuels.

Briton Chris Lamb, director of the John Innes Centre based in Britain, is due to address the group on plant disease resistence.

Experts are on hand from Britain, Canada, Germany, India, France, Belgium, Italy, Norway, Singapore, Thailand, Cuba, Mexico, Argentina and Chile, among other countries, at the week-long event at Cuba's Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Center in Havana.

They will discuss developments ...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20051127/sc_...in_051127075616

siehe hierzu auch:

Kuba: Biotechnologie – Produktion und Vertrieb von Medikamenten und Impfstoffen

Seit 2000 fördert das Hessische Ministerium für Wirtschaft die Biotechnologie in Kuba. Grundlage war eine InWEnt – Projektstudie. Diese hatte ergeben, dass die kubanische Biotechnologie ein hohes wissenschaftliches und technisches Niveau erreicht hat und deshalb interessante Perspektiven für die Kooperation mit Europa bietet.

Nachdem in den vergangenen Jahren vor Ort in Kuba Workshops über „Good Manufacturing Practices“ und über Probleme der Lizenzierung kubanischer Produkte für den europäischen Markt durchgeführt wurden, fördert das hessische Wirtschaftsministerium nunmehr Praxisaufenthalte von kubanischen Fachleuten in Deutschland. Diese werden in Kooperation mit dem Paul Ehrlich Institut, Bundesamt für Sera und Impfstoffe, in Langen bei Frankfurt realisiert. Fortbildungsthemen sind u.a.: Überwachung von biologischen Produkten und Qualitätskontrolle.

http://www.inwent.org/themen_reg/themen/.../index.de.shtml
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Cuban scientist Gustavo Kouri shows a model of the facilities of the biotechnology laboratory that he directs, in this Nov. 15, 2005 photo in Havana, Cuba. Hundreds of scientists from around the world gathered for Cuba's annual biotechnology conference on Monday, but only a handful were Americans _ the result of tightened U.S. sanctions that communist officials say have greatly damaged scientific exchanges between the nations in recent years. (AP Photo/Jorge Rey)

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