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DECISIONS AND RESOLUTIONS
OF THE 79th SESSION OF THE ACP COUNCIL OF MINISTERS
[ACP/25/005/04]
4 - 5 May 2004
Gaborone, BOTSWANA
DECISIONS
No.1 REVIEW OF THE COTONOU
AGREEMENT
No.2 ADAPTATION OF THE RULES OF
PROCEDURE OF THE JOINT INSTITUTIONS OF THE ACP-EC PARTNERSHIP
AGREEMENT
No.3 ACP-EC JOINT DECLARATION
ON COMBATING DROUGHT AND DESERTIFICATION
No.4 OCHRATOXIN AND AFLATOXIN
No.5 NEGOTIATIONS OF ECONOMIC
PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENTS (EPAs)
No.6 NEGOTIATIONS OF ECONOMIC
PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENTS (EPAs) –POSTPONEMENT OF THE REVIEW
PROVIDED BY ARTICLE 37(6) OF THE COTONOU AGREEMENT
No.7 REQUEST PRESENTED BY THE
COMMONWEALTH OF DOMINICA AND THE REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA REGARDING
THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE BUDGET OF THE ACP SECRETARIAT
No.8 ESTABLISHMENT OF
CONSULTATIONS AT MINISTERIAL LEVEL ON ACP EVERETHING BUT ARMS (EBA)
LDC SUGAR
No.9 NEGOTIATIONS UNDER THE WTO
WORK PROGRAMME
RESOLUTIONS
No.1 ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE
MEDICINES
No.2 CONTENT OF CADMIUM AND
OTHER HEAVY METALS IN SWORDFISH AND OTHER FISHES
No.3 COTTON
No.4 RICE
No.5 SUGAR
No.6 BANANAS
No.7 BUDGETIZATION OF THE
EUROPEAN DEVELOPMENT FUND
No.8 LDC SUGAR EBA
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DECISION N°1
REVIEW OF THE COTONOU AGREEMENT
The ACP Council of Ministers,
RECALLING the provisions of the
Cotonou Agreement signed on 23 June 2000 for a period of 20
years;
RECALLING specifically Article
95 of the Cotonou Agreement on the review of its provisions
before the expiry of each five year period during its existence;
BEARING IN MIND that the ACP
States and the European Community and its Member States
exchanged notifications in February 2004 on the review of the
provisions in the Cotonou Agreement that they desire to make;
TAKING INTO consideration that
the Committy of Ambassadors has adopted the proposals in the
Secretariat’s Note on the Review of the Cotonou Agreement;
HEREBY DECIDES :
1. to approve the negotiating
structure and the time-table for the negotiations for the review
of the Cotonou Agreement as set out in the Secretariat’s Note [ACP/27/002/04]
adopted by the Committee of Ambassadors ;
2. to formally launch the
negotiations for the review of the Cotonou Agreement during the
29th session of the ACP-EC Council of Ministers, on the basis of
the subject areas that were notified in the exchange of letters
between the Presidents of the ACP and EC Council of Ministers.
DECISION N°2
ADAPTATION OF THE RULES
OF PROCEDURE OF THE
JOINT INSTITUTIONS OF THE ACP-EC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENT
The ACP Council of Ministers,
COGNIZANT that the enlargement
of membership of the European Union from 15 to 25 members became
effective on 1st May 2004;
AWARE that enlargement of the
European Union will have consequences for the organization of
joint institutions under the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement;
TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the
position of the ACP Group on this subject during the 54th
meeting of the ACP-EC Committee of Ambassadors of 2 April 2004;
HEREBY DECIDES:
To adopt the recommendations of
the 54th meeting of the ACP-EC Committee of Ambassadors as
contained in Doc. ACP-CE 2106/04 entitled “Proposed amendments
to the rules of procedures of the joint institutions set up
under the Cotonou Agreement to take account of the enlargement
of the European Union” and related to the membership and the
languages to be used during the joint meetings.
DECISION N°3
ACP-EC JOINT DECLARATION ON COMBATING DROUGHT AND
DESERTIFICATION
The ACP Council of Ministers,
RECALLING Article 32 of the
Cotonou Agreement, which inter alia recognizes that ACP-EC
cooperation on environmental protection and the sustainable
utilization and management of natural resources shall aim at
mainstreaming environmental sustainability into all aspects of
development cooperation;
RECALLING also that the
above-mentioned Article 32 provides that ACP-EC cooperation on
environmental protection shall aim at supporting specific
measures and schemes addressing critical sustainable management
issues, such as desertification, drought deforestation and water
resources;
ACKNOWLEDGING the role and
importance of the United Nations Convention to Combat
Desertification (UNCCD) in poverty alleviation, and its
importance for attaining the Union Nations Millennium
Development Goals;
REAFFIRMING our determination
to enhance dialogue to mainstream desertification policies and
drylands issues into relevant national and regional strategies,
including ACP national and regional indicative programmes (NIPs
& RIPs);
REITERATING our commitment to
enhance cooperation at country and regional levels to attain the
objectives of the UNCCD;
HEREBY DECIDES:
1. To endorse the Draft ACP-EC
Joint Declaration on Combating Drought and Desertification and
to submit it to the ACP-EC Council of Ministers for approval ;
2. To mandate the ACP Committee
of Ambassadors to follow-up the implementation of this
Declaration in conjunction with the Committee of Permanent
Representatives of the European Community (COREPER).
DECISION N°4
OCHRATOXINE AND AFLATOXINE
The ACP Council of Ministers,
ACKNOWLEDGING the importance of
the export of commodities for ACP countries;
AWARE of the fact that health
standards have become a sensitive issue in international trade
and that there is need to take appropriate steps to ensure that
products exported by the ACP States meet the health standards
established by the importer countries;
NOTING the on-going discussions
within the EU with a view to adopting maximum levels of
ochratoxin in certain foodstuffs including coffee and cocoa and
aflatoxin in groundnuts;
NOTING further that the
production of ochratoxin and aflatoxin could be reduced to the
minimum by adopting appropriate measures to help ACP producers
to improve the quality of their products;
CONSIDERING that the measures
in question require considerable financing and that the
resources of the ACP States are limited;
HEREBY DECIDES TO:
1. approve the Committee of
Ambassadors’ recommendation to establish a programme to help
coffee, cocoa and groundnut producers improve the quality of
their products;
2. to request financial and
technical assistance from the European Union for the said
programme;
3. give a mandate to the
Committee of Ambassadors and the Secretary-General to ensure the
implementation of this decision.
DECISION N°5
NEGOTIATIONS OF ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENTS (EPAs)
The ACP Council of Ministers,
RECALLING Decision No.1 of the
Special Session of the ACP Council of Ministers, on 1st October
2003, on the continuation of Phase 1 of the negotiations of the
ACP-EC Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs);
RECALLING also Decision No.2 of
the Special Session of the Council of Ministers, on 1st October
2003, on the ACP Follow-up Mechanism for Phase II of the
negotiations of the EPAs;
WHEREAS phase II of the
negotiations of the EPAs have been launched in Central Africa ;
West Africa ; Eastern and Southern Africa and the Caribbean
regions and are expected to be launched soon in the SADC
configuration and the Pacific region;
HAVING CONSIDERED the
recommendations of the Committee of Ambassadors’ report on the
negotiations of the EPAs, especially in relation to the
continuation of the all ACP-EC negotiations;
CONCERNED by the position taken
by the EC during the EPA negotiations at all ACP-EC level on
dispute settlement and the non-execution clause;
DESIROUS of safeguarding the
unity and solidarity within the ACP Group while ensuring
transparency and coherence throughout the process of
negotiations of the EPAs;
HEREBY DECIDES THAT :
1. Discussions at the All-ACP
level will continue to be conducted on issues of common interest
including:
(i) Adjustment costs of fiscal,
balance of payments, economic and social implications of EPAs;
(ii) Flanking measures for regional integration;
(iii) Financial support ;
(iv) Trade-related issues (Singapore issues only) ;
(v) Trade-related issues (excluding Singapore issues);
(vi) Commodity Protocols;
(vii) Data protection;
(viii) Current payments and capital movements ;
(ix) Rules of origin;
(x) Dispute settlement ; and
(xi) Non-execution clause,
2. Negotiations at the All ACP-EC
level will continue to be conducted on issues of common interest
including:
(i) Trade-related issues
(excluding Singapore issues);
(ii) Rules of origin ;
(iii) Dispute settlement ; and
(iv) Non-execution clause.
3. The non-execution clause
should not be included in the EPAs. Dispute settlement cannot be
construed as establishing or inducing a system of collective
responsibility of the Member –States of a region party to an
EPA;
4. Discussions on issues of
common interest at the All ACP-Level will be conducted by the
ACP negotiating structures as specified in Decision No.1/02 of
26 September 2002 of the Special Session of the ACP Council of
Ministers;
5. The discussions and
negotiations referred to in points 1 to 3 above shall be
conducted in parallel with Phase II of the EPA negotiations, as
appropriate;
6. No link should be
established between the EPA and Articles 96 and 97 of Cotonou;
7. The Committee of Ambassadors
is mandated to prepare a draft Model Dispute Settlement
Agreement that may be used by the various ACP regions and
configurations negotiating EPAs. In this regard the Committee
may seek technical assistance, as appropriate;
8. Any region or configuration
which intends to negotiate any of the issues listed under
paragraphs 1 and 2 above with the EC , is at liberty to do so
but is urged to inform the ACP Group;
9. In conformity with the
provisions of Article 37.4 of the Cotonou Agreement, a formal
and comprehensive review of the envisaged agreements will be
conducted at the All-ACP level in 2006 prior to the conclusion
of the EPAs.
DECISION N°6
NEGOTIATIONS OF ECONOMIC PARTNERSHIP AGREEMENTS (EPAs) –
POSTPONEMENT OF THE ASSESSMENT PROVIDED FOR IN ARTICLE 37(6) OF
THE COTONOU AGREEMENT
The ACP Council of Ministers,
RECALLING the provisions of the
Cotonou Agreement on new trading arrangements, in particular
Article 37 (6) which states that “In 2004, the Community will
assess the situation of the non-LDC which, after consultations
with the Community decide that they are not in a position to
enter into economic partnership agreements and will examine all
alternative possibilities, in order to provide these countries
with a new framework for trade which is equivalent to their
existing situation and in conformity with WTO rules”;
WHEREAS phase II of the
negotiations of the EPAs have been launched in Central Africa ;
West Africa ; Eastern and Southern Africa and the Caribbean
regions and are expected to be launched soon in the SADC
configuration and the Pacific region;
HAVING REGARD TO the resolution
of the 7th Session of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly of
16 to 19 February 2004 on Economic Partnership Agreements, in
particular with regard to its call to the ACP-EC Council of
Ministers session of May 2004 to consider adopting a decision
that will postpone until 2006 the review of the situation of
non-LDC ACP States under Article 37(6) of the Cotonou Agreement;
HAVING CONSIDERED the
recommendations of the Committee of Ambassadors’ report on the
negotiations of the economic partnership agreements, especially
the part relating to the assessment provided for in Article
37(6) of the Cotonou Agreement;
HEREBY DECIDES :
to propose to the 29th Session
of the ACP-EC Council of Ministers that the assessment in 2004
provided for in Article 37(6) of the Cotonou Agreement, of the
situation of the non-LDC ACP States that are not in a position
to enter into economic partnership agreements, should be
postponed until 2006 to coincide with and be conducted in
conjunction with the formal and comprehensive review provided
for under Article 37 (4) of Cotonou.
DECISION N°7
REQUEST PRESENTED BY THE COMMONWEALTH OF DOMINICA AND THE
REPUBLIC OF LIBERIA REGARDING THEIR CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE BUDGET
OF THE ACP SECRETARIAT
The ACP Council of Ministers,
HAVING HEARD the statements
made by the representatives of the Commonwealth of Dominica and
the Republic of Liberia regarding the situation in their
countries;
HAVING NOTED their requests to
be exempted from sanctions and to write off their unpaid
contributions;
TAKING NOTE of their intention
to fulfil their future obligations towards the ACP Secretariat;
HEREBY DECIDES:
To instruct the Committee of
Ambassadors:
1. to examine and take a
decision on the requests of the Commonwealth of Dominica and the
Republic of Liberia regarding their arrears of contributions to
the Secretariat’s budget; and
2. to report to the Council of
Ministers on the implementation of this decision at its next
budgetary session.
DECISION N°8
ESTABLISHMENT OF CONSULTATIONS AT MINISTERIAL LEVEL ON ACP
LDC SUGAR UNDER THE EVERYTHING BUT ARMS INITIATIVE (EBA)
The ACP Council of Ministers,
RECALLING the provisions of the
ACP-EC Partnership Agreement signed in Cotonou on 23 June 2000,
in particular part 5 relating to LDLICs;
HAVING EXAMINED the report from
the Committee of Ambassadors to the 79th Session of ACP Council
of Ministers, in particular paragraph 146 of Document [ACP/26/018/04
Rev.3];
CONSIDERING that the General
Affairs Council of the European Union had adopted on 26 February
2001 amendment to the EU GSP to launch the Everything But Arms (EBA)
initiative that grants all products from LDCs, except arms and
ammunition, duty free access without quantitative restrictions;
TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the
Framework Agreement that governs the implementation of EBA quota
which was signed by the LDC sugar exporting countries on 23
October 2001;
NOTING that the quota allocated
to the LDCs under the EBA arrangement has contributed to the
development of LDC sugar industries and the creation of
investments;
HAVING REGARD to the
conclusions of the first meeting of the Ministerial LDC Sugar
Group held in Brussels, on 2 – 3 March 2004;
AWARE of the challenges facing
the LDC sugar industries in particular with regard to the sugar
reform and the WTO challenge to the EC export subsidies on
sugar;
HEREBY DECIDES :
1. to establish consultations
at Ministerial level on ACP EBA LDC sugar;
2 . to mandate the Committee of
Ambassadors to prepare and approve the necessary rules and
procedures for the conduct of these consultations ;
3. to authorize the
Secretary-General to provide the Secretariat assistance.
DECISION N°9
NEGOTIATIONS UNDER THE WTO DOHA WORK PROGRAMME
The ACP Council of Ministers,
BEARING IN MIND the current
impasse in the WTO negotiations following the outcome of the 5th
WTO Ministerial Conference held in Cancun, Mexico;
RECALLING the ACP Declaration
on the aforesaid Conference issued by the ACP Ministers of Trade
in July 2003 and the conclusions reached at their follow-up
meeting held in November 2003;
COGNISANT of the need to
reorient the position of the ACP Group to take account of the
evoluing situation in the efforts to conclude the negotiations
under the Doha Work Programme;
AWARE of the convening of a
Ministerial meeting of G90 countries in Georgetown, Guyana from
3rd to 4th June 2004 to draw up a common G90 platform;
HAVING REGARD to the proposed
special session of the WTO General Council scheduled to take
place in Geneva from 27 - 29July 2004;
HEREBY DECIDES :
1. to mandate the ACP Committee
of Ambassadors, in collaboration with the ACP Representatives in
Geneva, to:
(a) examine the draft G90
common platform made available to ACP Member States by CARICOM,
in conjunction with the ACP Declaration issued ahead of the 5th
WTO Ministerial, in order to update the ACP position in relation
to the on-going negotiations under the Doha Work Programme;
(b) define the parameters
within which the ACP Group can operate, with the requisite
flexibility, in order to maximise its benefits; and
2. to call on the Committee of
Ambassadors to report to the meeting of the ACP Ministers of
Trade which will be held in the margins of the meeting of the
G90 scheduled for July in Mauritius before the above-mentioned
special session of the WTO General Council.
RESOLUTIONS
OF THE 79TH SESSION OF THE ACP COUNCIL OF MINISTERS
GABORONE, 4 -5 MAY 2004
ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE MEDICINES
The ACP Council of Ministers,
meeting in Gaborone (Botswana)
on 4th to 5th May 2004;
HAVING REGARD to the Fourth WTO
Ministerial Declaration made in Doha Qatar, in which WTO Members
undertook to place the needs and interests of developing
countries at the heart of the Work Programme adopted in the
Declaration;
HAVING REGARD to the ACP
Declaration on the Fifth World Trade Organization Ministerial
Conference;
STRESSING the fact that grave
challenges to public health continue to afflict many ACP States
especially those resulting from HIV/Aids, tuberclosis, malaria
and other epidemics and pandemics;
UNDERSCORING the commitment in
the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health
that “the [TRIPS] Agreement can and should be interpreted and
implemented in a manner supportive of WTO’s Members’ right to
protect public health and, in particular, to promote access to
existing medicines and the creation of new medicines for all”;
WHEREAS on 30 August 2003 the
WTO Council for TRIPS reached an agreement, which allows any
member country producing genetic copies of patented
pharmaceutical products under compulsory licenses to export the
products to eligible importing countries within the terms set
under that decision;
WHEREAS many ACP States lack
the capacity to develop and implement legislation that makes use
of the flexibility allowed under the TRIPS Agreement, and are
likely to be able to do so without increased technical support;
WHEREAS the current Agreement
of 30 August 2003 is only a temporary waiver, and a permanent
solution can only be found though a modification to the TRIPS
Agreement scheduled for 2004:
- Calls upon the WTO member
countries to draft an amendment to the TRIPS Agreement that
simplifies and clarifies the procedures and removes unnecessary
obstacles to the export of medicines in order to address public
health problems;
- Underlines that such an
amendment should be permanent and workable and should make it
easier for countries with inadequate local production to acquire
genetic versions of patented medicines;
- Calls upon developed
countries to make a firm commitment to provide support for the
development and implementation of legislation in ACP States in
order to make use of the flexibility allowed under the TRIPS
Agreement;
- Welcomes Council Regulation
(EC) No.953/2003 of 26 May 2003 to avoid trade diversion of
certain key medicines into the European Union, and which is also
intended to enable producers to significantly increase
affordable supplies of medicines to countries of destination as
specified in the Regulation;
- Calls upon the European
Commission to expedite the preparation of its internal
regulation to facilitate the granting of licenses for the export
of medicines to the developing countries designated in the said
EC Regulation;
Requests the President of
Council to forward this resolution to the Council of the
European Union, EU Member States, the Co-Presidents of the
ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly, the President of the
European Parliament, the European Commission and the Director
General of the World Trade Organization
CONTENT OF CADMIUM AND
OTHER HEAVY METALS
IN SWORDFISH AND OTHER FISH
The ACP Council of Ministers,
meeting in Gaborone (Botswana)
on 4th to 5th may 2004;
A. RECALLING that one of the principal objectives of the Cotonou
Agreement is to promote and accelerate the economic and social
development of the ACP States;
B. WHEREAS the parties to the
Cotonou Agreement have committed themselves, in conformity with
the provisions of Article 3 thereof, to refrain from any measure
liable to jeopardise its objectives;
C. HAVING REGARD to the Cotonou
Agreement, especially Article 23 paragraph (d) and Article 53
thereof;
D. AWARE of the importance of
sanitary and phyto-sanitary measures for the protection of human
health, animals and plants;
E. CONSIDERING the vital
importance of the fisheries sector for the ACP countries in
general and the most vulnerable among them, in particular;
F. HAVING REGARD to Regulation
EC 466/2001 fixing the maximum content of cadmium in swordfish
at 0.05 ppm;
G. CONSIDERING that the
European Community has fixed the cadmium content in certain food
products such as crustaceans at 0.5 ppm, and lamb, pork and
poultry at 1.0 ppm, whereas these products are much more
consumed than swordfish;
H. CONSIDERING that there is
not enough proof to demonstrate that a cadmium content of over
0.05ppm and even a content of 0.5 is likely to expose consumers
to health risks;
I. CONSIDERING the serious
repercussions that the maintenance of the current content of
cadmium and other heavy metals in swordfish and other fish may
have on the economies of the ACP exporting countries and on the
European swordfish and other fish industry;
Calls upon the European Union
to:
a) acknowledge that the cadmium
and heavy metals content in swordfish and other fish currently
in force is too low;
b) take the appropriate
measures to ensure an upward review of the content to put it at
the same level as that of crustaceans at 0.5 ppm for swordfish
and also extend this measure to other heavy metals in fish as
appropriate ;
c) ensure that access to the
market of the European Union is preserved for ACP products in
general, and fish products in particular.
INSTRUCTS the President of the
ACP Council of Ministers to forward this resolution to the
Council of the European Union, the President of the European
Parliament and the European Commission.
COTTON
The ACP Council of Ministers,
meeting in Gaborone (Botswana)
on 4th and 5th May 2004;
A. RECALLING the Resolution on
cotton adopted at its 77th session held in Brussels from 13 to
15 May 2003;
B. RECALLING Decision No. 8/LXXVIII/03
adopted at its 78th session of 28 November 2003 calling for the
cotton sector to be strengthened in the ACP countries;
C. HAVING REGARD to the
resolution on Cotton and the other commodities: problems
encountered by the ACP States, adopted by the seventh session of
the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly held in Addis Ababa
(Ethiopia) from 16 to 19 February 2004;
D. SUPPORTING the observations
made by the consultation meeting of the 4 co-author countries of
the sectorial initiative for Cotton held in Ouagadougou, Burkina
Faso, on 23 and 24 February 2004;
E. WELCOMING the EU-Africa
partnership proposal in support of cotton sector development
made by the European Commission on 12 February 2004 and the
European Council Decision of 22 April 2004 on the reform of the
Community’s cotton market;
F. NOTING the European
Commission’s Plan of Action on the chains of agricultural
commodities dated 12 February 2004;
G. HAVING EXAMINED the
partnership proposal, Plan of Action, and the elements of the
above-mentioned Decision of the EU Council;
H. APPRECIATING the measures
already taken by the EC to render the partnership proposal
operational, especially the proposal to organize an EU-Africa
Forum on Cotton in Paris on 5 and 6 July 2004;
I. HAVING REGARD to the needs
expressed and recommendations made during the 1st meeting of ACP
actors in the cotton sector held in Cotonou, Benin on 21 and 22
March 2004;
J. NOTING the conclusions of the WTO African Regional Workshop
on cotton held in Cotonou, on 23 and 24 March 2004;
K. RECALLING the major role of
cash crops, such as cotton, in the economic stability of the
States as well as in rural development and food security;
L. RECALLING the strong
pressure exerted on the ACP economies by the instability of
cotton prices due to the continued grant of internal support and
export subsidies by certain developed countries to their cotton
producers;
M. RECALLING ALSO that these
subsidies and assistance had led to budgetary readjustments in
the ACP States and the reallocation of resources at the expense
of long-term development actions and policies to support the
most vulnerable sectors of the population;
N. CONCERNED at the lack of
significant progress in the handling of the sectorial initiative
for cotton examined in the framework of the WTO;
O. EMPHASIZING that an
expeditious resolution of the cotton issue at the WTO would be a
positive signal for the pursuit of negotiations in the framework
of the Doha Development Programme;
P. APPRECIATING the readiness
expressed by the bilateral and multilateral partners’ at the
Cotonou Workshop to support the cotton sector in the ACP states
concerned, without however accompanying it with any concrete
commitment on their part;
1. Hereby Reaffirms the urgent
need for an expeditious and sustainable solution to the problems
of the cotton sector through a stabilization of the global
market;
2. Urges the European Union:
(i) In the framework of the reform of the cotton market:
- to go beyond the 65% decided by the Council of the EU and
effect a complete de-coupling (100%) of the internal support to
cotton production in Europe, by gradually phasing it out on the
basis of a clearly-defined timetable;
- to set a ceiling for the assistance accorded by the green box;
- not to reclassify the assistance accorded by the orange and
blue boxes in the green box;
(ii) In the framework of the proposed partnership to support the
development of the cotton sector, to:
- assist the ACP Cotton producer and exporter states in
identifying support programmes to be established at national and
regional level; and
- identify and disburse the necessary funds for the adequate
implementation of the activities set out in the framework of the
partnership;
3. Requests the European Union
to:
- take the relevant measures to
safeguard and ensure appropriate funding for the losses due to
the short-term fluctuations in the cotton price, pending the
abolition of the internal support accorded to European cotton
producers;
- assist in developing
conditions of viability of local cotton processing activities
and formally undertake to take the relevant measures regarding
access to the European market to guarantee the success of the
eventual processing initiatives;
- be sufficiently flexible in
the appraisal of the elements during the mid-term review of
national strategies to enable appropriate assistance to be
accorded the cotton sector in the ACP States;
4. Calls upon the European Union to:
- undertake a reduction in the
cotton export subsidies solely as a step towards the total
abolition of all forms of subsidy which distort the cotton
market;
- support and facilitate the
initiatives the ACP states have been taking with the other
development partners to obtain assistance for the strengthening
of the cotton sector in the ACP countries;
5. Appeals to the other
countries to adopt the relevant measures to dismantle all
subsidies that distort the rules of fair competition on the
cotton market;
6. Calls upon all ACP countries
to continue supporting the activities of the ACP cotton
producer-countries, especially the continued defence of the
sectorial initiative for cotton, with a view to obtaining a
special treatment for cotton separate and apart from the
agricultural negotiations underway at the WTO;
INSTRUCTS the President of the
ACP Council of Ministers to forward this resolution to the
Council of the European Union, the President of the European
Parliament and the European Commission.
RICE
The ACP Council of Ministers,
meeting in Gaborone (Botswana)on
4th and 5th May 2004;
A. HAVING REGARD to the trade
and sustainable development, and poverty alleviation objectives
of the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement signed in Cotonou on 23 June
2000;
B. RECALLING the Partnership
Agreement’s recognition of the importance of commodities to the
ACP countries and its acknowledgement that the process of
liberalization could lead to a deterioration of the relative
competitive position of ACP states which could threaten their
development efforts;
C. NOTING the EU´s commitment
in the Partnership Agreement to support the integration of ACP
economies into the world economy and to promote regional
integration and development;
D. EMPHASISING that Declaration
XXIV –Joint Declaration on Rice– of the Partnership Agreement
recognises the importance of the rice sector in the economic and
social development of the ACP rice exporting countries in terms
of employment, foreign exchange earnings contribution to GDP,
and social and political stability;
E. RECOGNIZING with
appreciation the approval by the EDF Committee in September 2003
of the financing proposal to support an integrated sector
–specific programme for the development of ACP exporters of rice
through unallocated EDF resources;
F. DEEPLY concerned that the
European Council’s approval of the proposal regarding the Common
Market Organisation for rice to reduce the intervention price
for rice by 50% and to increase direct aid to European rice
farmers will drastically affect ACP rice exports and will result
in economic, political and social instability in our countries;
BEARING IN MIND the commitment made by the European Union to
preserve the benefits to ACP countries of the ACP-EC trading
arrangements during the preparatory period.
Calls on the European
Commission to:
1. honour the commitment made during the meeting of the ACP-EC
Working Party on Rice of 24th October 2003, to enter into
negotiations with ACP rice producing and exporting countries
with a view to granting duty-free, quota free access for rice
into the EU market within the context of the impending EPA
negotiations;
2. Call on the European
Commission to implement fully the requested adjustments to the
currently applied management of the quota system as articulated
during the ACP-EC Joint Working Party on Rice on 24 October
2003;
3. provide immediate
compensation to ACP rice producing and exporting countries on an
equitable and comparable basis similar to that accorded to
European rice farmers as a result of the fifty percent reduction
in the intervention price for rice paid to European farmers;
4. commit to negotiations
during the upcoming mid-term review of the European Development
Fund (EDF) with a view to reallocating resources to the ACP rice
producing and exporting countries within the overall envelope of
the EDF;
5. work with the ACP to develop
a proposal aimed at financing a “Complementary Rice Enhancement
Agreement” within the context of a rescue programme for ACP rice
producing and exporting countries;
6. commit to further
discussions as regards a common definition of a New Rice Import
Regime at the next meeting of the ACP-EC Joint Working Party on
Rice scheduled for May-June 2004;
7. take into consideration
submissions from the ACP on a New Rice Import Regime before the
entry into force of the new regime in September 2004
INSTRUCTS the President of
Council to forward this resolution to the ACP-EC Council of
Ministers and the European Commission.
SUGAR
The ACP Council of Ministers,
meeting in Gaborone (Botswana)
on 4th and 5th May 2004;
A. RECALLING the Resolution on
Sugar adopted by the 78th Session of the ACP Council of
Ministers held in Brussels from 27 to 28 November 2003;
B. HAVING REGARD to the
Resolutions adopted by the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly
held in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, from 31 March to 3 April
2003 in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) from 16 to 19 February 2004;
C. HAVING REGARD the Council
Regulation (EC) No. 1260/2001 of 19 June 2001 on the common
organisation of the market in the sugar sector;
D. REAFFIRMING that the ACP-EC
Partnership Agreement signed in Cotonou in June 2000 is centred
on the eventual eradication of poverty, the achievement of
sustainable development and the gradual integration of ACP
countries into the world economy;
E. RECALLING the ongoing EPA
negotiations and, in this context, underlining Article 36(4) of
the Cotonou Partnership Agreement which reaffirms the importance
of the commodity Protocols, the need to review them in the
context of the new trading arrangements with a view to
safeguarding the benefits derived therefrom, bearing in mind the
legal status of the Sugar Protocol;
F. STRESSING that the parties
to the Marrakech Agreement establishing the World Trade
Organisation recognised that their relations in the field of
trade and economic endeavour should be conducted with a view to,
inter alia, ensuring full employment and sustainable development
while seeking to protect and preserve the environment and
recognising the need for positive efforts to ensure that
developing countries secure a fair share in the growth of
international trade;
G. RECALLING the Doha
Development Agenda adopted at the Fourth WTO Ministerial
Conference held in Qatar in November 2001;
H. NOTING that notwithstanding
the disappointing outcome of the Ministerial Conference in
Cancun, agriculture negotiations in the WTO will have to take
into account, inter alia, non-trade concerns, special and
differential treatment of developing countries, maintenance of
preferential arrangements and the vulnerabilities of Small
Developing economies which include SIDs, Land-locked and LDCs;
I. CONSIDERING that the ACP
sugar–supplying States, which are either least-developed,
developing, net-food importing, small vulnerable, landlocked or
small island States and single-commodity producers/exporters
with specific economic and social difficulties, depend on
predictable and stable earnings from sugar exports, under
preferential access arrangements, to the EU for their
sustainable socio-economic development;
J. EMPHASISING that the ACP
sugar-supplying States have been judiciously using the vital
foreign exchange earnings from exports to the EU in their
rationalisation programmes to improve efficiency, increase
productivity and competitiveness, and to promote meaningful
diversification in other sectors, wherever possible;
K. RECOGNISING the
multifunctional role which the sugar industry plays in ACP
supplying States through its contribution to environmental
protection, rural development and food security as well as the
preservation and protection of the traditional way of life;
L. WELCOMING the close
collaboration between the ACP Sugar Supplying States and the
European Commission in defense of the EU Sugar Regime against
the dispute action taken by Australia, Brazil and Thailand at
the WTO;
M. REAFFIRMING the fact that
ACP Sugar Protocol is an integral part of the EU sugar regime
and the Protocol quantities are bound in the EU’s WTO
commitments;
N. RECALLING also the Joint
Declaration (Annex XXIII) on market access of the Cotonou
Partnership Agreement by which the parties agree to examine all
measures in order to maintain the competitive positions of the
ACP states on the Community market, and wherein the Council of
the European Union underlines its obligation to take into
account the effect of any agreement or other measures to be
taken by the EC on ACP-EC Trade;
O. FURTHER RECALLING that the
Community undertook to honour the political and contractual
commitments which some EU Member States had with their
traditional partners prior to their accession to the Community;
P. CONSIDERING the current
discussion on the reform of the EC Sugar regime which has now
been launched on the basis of the recent Commission
communication on the sugar sector which unfortunately excludes
the option “return to fixed quotas” which was most favoured by
the ACP and a wide range of European stakeholders;
Q. NOTING that the option of
return to fixed quota based on a managed system would best
safeguard the interests of the sugar protocol signatories and
would provide remunerative prices for the EBA beneficiaries;
R. NOTING that the Commission
proposes to submit before the summer break new proposals for the
review, and in this regard, it will take into account the impact
assessment of its options on the ACP sugar supplying States; and
welcoming the agreement of Commissioner Fishler to meet the ACP
side before submitting his proposals to the Commission;
S. WELCOMING the proposals of
the Commission on the need in the outermost region of the EU to
maintain sugar production for both socio-economic and
environmental considerations;
T. FURTHER NOTING that the
outermost regions, as the ACP countries which are in a
comparable situation, will never achieve the level of
competitiveness of multicommodity exporters;
Calls on the European Union and
the Commission to:
- defend, maintain and honour
the legal obligation and political commitment enshrined in the
Cotonou Agreement, particularly the Sugar Protocol and recognise
that the “review” referred to in Article 36 (4) of the Cotonou
Agreement does not in any way imply a “renegotiation” of the
Sugar Protocol and that the provision in this Article is to
ensure the WTO-compatibility of the Sugar Protocol and to
safeguard the benefits derived therefrom, taking into account
the special legal status of the Protocol;
- ensure that such a review
does not entail any further shifting of the burden of internal
EU CAP reforms and its wider trade liberalisation initiatives on
the small and vulnerable economies of the ACP Sugar Protocol
Supplying States;
- take into consideration the
WTO negotiations in agriculture, and work closely with the ACP
so that the preferential arrangements remain at least as
beneficial as they are now and are provided the appropriate
legal security;
- build on the proposals regarding preferences contained in
Harbinson II Text and paragraph 2.11 of Annex A of the Cancun
Revision 2 Text;
2. Calls on the Commission of
the European Communities and the EU Member States to take, in
conjunction with ACP Group of States, all necessary measures to
defend the Sugar Regime and the terms and conditions of the ACP
Preferential access against unwarranted challenges posed by
Australia, Brazil and Thailand;
3. Further calls on the
European Commission and the EU Member States to honour their
commitments under the Sugar Protocol irrespective of the outcome
of the dispute settlement procedures;
4. Urges the Commission and the
EU Member States to examine with the ACP the results of the
assessment of the impact of their proposals on the Sugar Regime
Review on the ACP States in order to ensure that the benefits
currently derived are not eroded. In this regard, the submission
by the ACP States Signatory to the Sugar Protocol and the ACP
LDC sugar producing countries on the review of the Sugar Regime
must be fully taken into account;
5. Further calls on the
Commission and the EU Members that in the context of the reform,
provisions are made for the establishment of the necessary
mechanisms and instruments to guarantee at least the same level
of earnings to the ACP producers as the EU beet growers, the
outermost regions of some EU Members States and the Aegean
islands;
6. Invites the Commission to
consult with ACP sugar supplying States on a regular basis, on
commitments which they have undertaken and will undertake with
respect to sugar in the context of their bi-lateral and regional
trading arrangements with third countries and groupings;
7. Requests the President of
Council to forward this resolution to the EU Council, the
European Parliament, the EU Member States and the Commission.
BANANAS
The ACP Council of Ministers,
Meeting in Gaborone (Botswana)
on 4th and 5th May 2004;
A. HAVING REGARD to the
Resolution of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly held in
Addis-Ababa (Ethiopia) from 16 to 19 February 2004;
B. RECALLING the Resolution on
Bananas of the 78th Session of the ACP Council of Ministers held
in Brussels on 12-15 May 2003;
C. HAVING REGARD to the
Resolution of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly on Bananas
adopted at its fourth Session in Cape Town (South Africa) from
18 – 21 March 2002;
D. RECALLING the Resolution on
Bananas adopted at the Special Session of the ACP Council of
Ministers held in Brussels on 10th and 11th December 2002;
E. AWARE of the considerable
importance of banana production and trade to the economic and
social stability and development of ACP countries;
F. WHEREAS the Community is
bound by Article 36.3 of the Cotonou Agreement under which the
non-reciprocal trade preferences applied under the Fourth ACP-EC
Convention shall be maintained under the conditions defined in
annex 5;
G. WHEREAS under protocol 5 of
the Article 1 of the Fourth ACP-EC Convention the Community is
bound to guarantee that no ACP State shall be placed as regards
access to its traditional markets and its advantages on those
markets in a less favourable situation than in the past or
present;
H. WHEREAS the Community is
bound by the Cotonou Agreement especially Protocol 5 Article 1
thereto to take measures to ensure the viability of the ACP
banana exporting enterprises as well as the maintenance of
outlets for ACP bananas on the Community market;
I. WHEREAS EU banana imports
from the ACP are governed by import licensing arrangements which
disproportionately penalise ACP suppliers, particularly the most
vulnerable, and the concerns expressed to the Commission by the
JPA and the ACP were not given due consideration, with the
result that ACP interests have not been satisfactorily
accommodated in the reform of the EU banana regime;
J. RECOGNIZING that elements of
the reform of the Common Organization of the Market for Bananas,
such as an increase of the quota for third countries and a
concentration of licences in the hands of fewer importers have
resulted in prices plummeting to levels which threaten to
displace ACP suppliers, most of whom have no alternative
markets;
K. CONCERNED about the
continuing deterioration of prices for ACP bananas on the
European market due to the reform of the Common Market
Organisation which threatens the existence of the ACP banana
industry; and has resulted in temporary destabilization of
banana industry in Suriname and the serious threat to continued
production of bananas from the Windward Islands and Belize;
L. CONCERNED about the recent
flooding and natural disasters in the Dominican Republic, and
the resulting deterioration of the banana sector, which has had
a direct impact on small and independent growers who depend on
bananas as their sole source of income.
M. CONCERNED about the possible
adverse effects on banana prices and about viability of the
banana industry in the ACP States, in the event of any increase
in the relevant quota as a result of EU enlargement;
N. CONCERNED by the response
from the Commission dated the 10th of January 2003, in which it
states that no price guarantee mechanism is envisaged under the
CMO for bananas and that the volume of the tariff quota can only
be modified to ensure supply of the EU market;
O. RECALLING that the SFA was
established to assist ACP States’ banana industries in improving
their competitiveness and diversification efforts and that
delays in the disbursement of the funds under this arrangement
due to, inter alia, changes in the EU financial regulations,
have served to militate against the achievement of these
objectives;
P. NOTING the four scenarios
constructed by the EU Commission on the implications of a
tariff-only system with various rates applied and determined to
arrive at a common position on the flat-rate tariff which is to
be introduced in 2006;
1. Calls on the European Union
to undertake the following:
• Introduce immediate measures
to halt and reverse the continued deterioration of prices and
ensure that access to the European market for ACP bananas at a
remunerative price is preserved;
• Consult with the ACP on
process of EU enlargement and the potential impact of such
enlargement on the regime for bananas;
• establish urgently an
appropriate mechanism to allow for the speedy disbursement of
the funds under the SFA;
• Establish a mechanism out of
the unallocated 8th E.D.F. resources to provide technical and
financial assistance to ACP countries that do not currently
benefit from the Special Framework of Assistance (SFA) and;
establishment of a disaster fund;
• Ensure that any increase in
the quota for bananas resulting from EU enlargement does not
cause any disturbance on the EU market for bananas that further
threatens the viability of ACP banana producers;
• Establish an emergency aid
mechanism to help rebuild the Dominican banana sector affected
by recent floods in the Dominican Republic;
• Ensure that the tariff for
bananas as from 2006 is at a level which would ensure the
continued viability of the ACP bananas industry;
2. REQUESTS the ACP-ECCouncil
of Ministers to resolve any differences between the ACP’s and
the Community’s interpretation and application of its
obligations under the Cotonou Convention to ACP banana producing
States;
3. INSTRUCTS the President of
Council to forward this resolution to the EU Council, European
Parliament and the European Commission.
BUDGETIZATION OF THE
EUROPEAN DEVELOPMENT FUND
The ACP Council of Ministers,
Meeting in Gaborone (Botswana)
on 4th and 5th May 2004;
A. HAVING REGARD to the ACP-EC
Partnership Agreement signed in Cotonou on 23 June 2000, which
entered into force on 1 April 2003;
B. RECALLING that, since its
creation in 1957, the European Development Fund (EDF) has
remained the principal instrument for financing cooperation
between the European Union and the African, Caribbean and
Pacific States;
C. REAFFIRMING the important
role of financial cooperation with the European Union in the
development of the ACP countries at national and regional level,
hence the need to strengthen development finance cooperation in
the framework of the EDF;
D. NOTING with interest the
unprecedented progress made in 2003 in the implementation of
financial cooperation;
E. CONSIDERING the new role
assigned to National and Regional Authorizing Officers under the
Cotonou Agreement, and the capacities required for ensuring the
execution of all the tasks and responsibilities identified,
especially improved management of the aid financed by the EDF;
F. REAFFIRMING the importance
of the role and responsibilities of National and Regional
Authorizing Officers in the management and execution of projects
and programmes as defined in Annex IV of the Cotonou Agreement;
G. CONCERNED about the proposed
budgetization of the EDF and the effect it will have on the
principles and key elements of development finance cooperation,
especially co-management, ownership, predictability of
resources, and flexibility in the use of the resources;
H. STRESSING the need to
thoroughly examine the scope of budgetization of the EDF and to
ensure that it adequately responds to the objectives and
principles of development finance cooperation;
1. Urges the European
Commission to step up its efforts to ensure the long-term
viability of the results obtained in 2003 in the implementation
of financial cooperation, by deriving benefit from the
application of the new approach to programming and
deconcentration of powers and decisions;
2. Urges the Member States of
the EU, and the European Commission to refrain from taking any
decision likely to produce effects contrary to the objectives of
the Cotonou Agreement;
3. Calls on the European
Commission and the ACP States to establish an appropriate
framework for conducting thorough consultations in conformity
with the letter and spirit of Article 12 of the Cotonou
Agreement;
4. Recommends that, in parallel
with the discussion on budgetization of the EDF, a 10th EDF be
made available to the ACP countries to enable them to continue
with the attainment of the objectives of the Cotonou Agreement,
as well as the implementation of the economic partnership
agreements;
5. Mandates the Committee of
Ambassadors to propose, on the basis of objective criteria, the
specific needs of the various categories of ACP States,
international commitments and the implication of EPAs, the
volume of resources of the Second Financial Protocol of the
Cotonou Agreement;
6. Instructs the President of
the ACP Council of Ministers to forward this resolution to the
Council of the European Union, the European Commission, and to
the Co-Presidents of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly.
LDCs EBA SUGAR
The ACP Council of Ministers,
Meeting in Gaborone on 4th and
5th May 2004;
A. HAVING REGARD to the
provisions of the ACP-EU Partnership Agreement signed in Cotonou
on 23 June 2000, in particular part 5 thereof;
B. RECALLING the Resolution on
Sugar adopted by the 78th Session of the ACP Council of
Ministers held in Brussels from 27 to 28 November 2003;
C. HAVING examined the report
of the Committee of Ambassadors to the 79th Session of the ACP
Council of Ministers, in particular paragraph 145 of document
ACP/26/018/04 Rev.2;
D. CONSIDERING the decision of
the General Affairs Council of the European Union dated 26
February 2001 to launch the EBA Initiative;
E. TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the
objectives of the Cotonou Agreement which are centred on the
eventual eradication of poverty, the achievement of sustainable
development and the gradual integration of ACP countries into
the world economy.
F. RECOGNISING the
multilfunctional role which the sugar industry plays in ACP LDC
supplying States through its contribution to environmental
protection, rural development and food security;
G. TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the
framework Agreement that governed the implementation of EBA
quota which was signed by the LDC sugar exporting countries on
23 October 2001;
H. NOTING that the quota
allocated to the LDC’s under EBA arrangement has contributed to
the development of LDCs sugar industries and attracted
investment;
I. DEEPLY CONCERNED about the
challenges facing the sugar industries with regard to the reform
of the sugar regime and WTO Panel;
J. HAVING REGARD to the
conclusions of the first meeting of the Ministerial LDC Sugar
Group held in Brussels on 2-3 March 2004;
1. Calls on the European Union
to:
- continue to honour the
commitments they have undertaken with the LDC sugar exporting
States under the EBA Initiative;
- grant LDC sugar producers
accelerated and increased market access for sugar at
remunerative prices during a longer transitional period in order
to build capacity on their future role as important sugar
suppliers to the European Union;
- defer the gradual
liberalization of import tariffs currently foreseen from 2006 –
2009 until 2016 – 2019;
- grant the LDCS immediate
additional access under a progressive second tariff quota
covering all sugar products and that the volume of this
additional access be based on the export capacity of the LDCs,
increasing 15% annually starting in 2004/05 with 466,033 MT;
- ensure that this additional
access be capped at 1,425,606 MT from 2012/2013 and that this
additional access should not impact on imports from the
traditional ACP suppliers to the EU;
- propose robust anti-fraud
measures and a formal registration system based on the principle
of customs cooperation and procedures to ensure that the full
benefits of the initiative reach the LDC sugar exporting
economies agree to maintain the value of preferential access at
a remunerative level;
2. Instructs the President of
Council to forward this resolution to the EU Council, the
European Parliament and President of the European Union.
Secretariat of
the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP Group) -
Avenue Georges Henri, 451
B - 1200 Brussels Belgium
Tel: +32 2 743 06 00 - Fax: +32 2 735 55 73 - email:
info@acp.int
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