CZECH RESPONSE: UPDATE AND ACTION REQUEST ON

UNCLAS PRAGUE 000734 SENSITIVE SIPDIS STATE FOR EEB MLURIE AND JSPECK STATE PLEASE PASS TO USAID FOR BHAMMINK USDA FOR FAS/GSM WKMILLER AND FAS/OCRA DSALMON, BBAYSINGER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: EAGR ECON ETRD TBIO EAID PGOV EZ SUBJECT: CZECH RESPONSE: UPDATE AND ACTION REQUEST ON PROPOSED GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP FOR AGRICULTURE AND FOOD (GPAF) REF: SECSTATE 123480 (U) This message is sensitive but unclassified. Please protect accordingly. ¶1. (U) This is an action request. Please see paragraph 3. ¶2. (SBU) The regional FAS officer and EconOff delivered reftel demarche November 25 to First Deputy Agriculture Minister Ivo Hlavac. Hlavac agreed that food security is an important issue but had two concerns. First he asked whether there was sufficient time to prepare a GPAF meeting for the first half of 2009, noting that it usually took the UN at least six months to prepare its high-level meetings. Second, he was concerned over how GPAF would impact the FAO financial reform process. He noted that he had attended the FAO meeting last week at which the Czechs had helped launch a debate on FAO reform. The Czechs very much support efforts to streamline FAO finances and introduce greater transparency in FAO financial flows. He worried that creation of the GPAF was just another way to ask for a big budget outside of the FAO system. ¶3. (SBU) Post would welcome further information and points that we could share with Hlavac to address his concerns. Graber