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			SUMMARY RECORD OF THE 28TH MEETING OF THE  COUNCIL OF ACP MINISTERS  (Maseru, Lesotho, from 8 to 11 December 1981) Ref: ACP/935/81 (Secr.) Brussels, 30th March 1982

OPENING CEREMONY

1. The 28^th Session of the Council of ACP Ministers was opened on Tuesday 8 December 1981 by the Right Honourable Prime Minister of Lesotho, Dr. Leabua Jonathan.

2. In his welcome speech, the Prime Minister declared that the holding of the Council in Maseru was proof of the ACP Group's great political and moral support for Lesotho, a landlocked country surrounded by the Republic of South Africa. Dr Jonathan pointed out that, through its apartheid policy, South Africa not only created economic and social problems for Lesotho, but also endeavoured to destabilize the regimes of neighbouring countries. He then emphasized the importance of solidarity between developing countries in their struggle for a more balanced international economic order.

Finally, he urged greater Intra-ACP and Regional Cooperation giving as an example the new regional grouping set in Southern Africa, the "Southern African Development Coordination Conference" (SADCC).

The Prime minister's speech is attached as Annex I.

3. On behalf of the Council, the President of the Council of ACP Ministers, the Honourable Vaovasamanaia Philips, Minister of Finance of Western Samoa, thanked his Majesty King Moshoeshoe II and the people of Lesotho for their warm fraternal welcome. He also extended thanks to Dr. Jonathan for his kind words of welcome. The Honourable Minister Phillips expressed the Council's admiration for the significant development efforts made by the people of Lesotho in the face of the difficult situation. He ended by re-affirming the ACP Group's solidarity with Lesotho.

DELIBERATIONS OF THE COUNCIL

4. The President of the Council of ACP Ministers gave an address, the text of which is attached as Annex II. In his speech, the President stressed that it was urgent that the issues relating to the guaranteed price of ACP sugar for 1981/82 and the insufficiency of funds for the 1980 Stabex transfers be settled.

The President also observed that the ACP Group must begin to reflect deeply on the future of ACP-EEC relations, particularly in the context of the Convention subsequently to Lomé II. The President also emphasized the need to fully implement the provisions of Lomé II.

Regarding Intra-ACP Cooperation, the Honourable Minister Phillips called upon the Council to fix more modest objectives commensurate with the ACP's possibilities.

Finally, the President announced that the ACP Group had been enlarged with the accession of two new states : Belize in Central America, and Antigua and Barbuda in the Caribbean.

5. Communication from the President

Minister Phillips informed the Council of the outcome of the talks he had with his counterparts, the President-in-Office of the Council of EEC Ministers, Mr D. HURD, the United Kingdom's Ministers of State for Foreign Affairs. These talks, which took place on the occasion of the last meeting of the ACP-EEC Consultative Assembly held in Luxembourg on 28 to 30 September 1981, related to the insufficiency of funds for meeting 1980 Stabex transfers and the guaranteed price of ACP sugar for the 1981/82 delivery period.

The President indicated that Mr. Hurd had undertaken to submit these two controversial issues to the Community for through re-examination, after which he would immediately inform the ACP of the EEC's final position.

The President of the Council of Ministers added that he had as yet received no positive reply from his counterpart and that the EEC Council was due to discuss the issues at its forthcoming meeting.

6. The ACP Council, in the meantime, decided to adopt the recommendations of the Committee of Ambassadors and of its own Bureau, that an Extraordinary Meeting at the ACP/EEC Ministerial level should be convened at short notice, to try and resolve the statement. It therefore directed that a telex be sent at once to the current President of the EEC Council asking for this special ACP/EEC Ministerial meeting on Sugar and Stabex to be held in Brussels on 16 December 1981.

7. Adoption of the agenda, document ACP/720/81 (Secr.) Rev.6

The draft agenda was adopted without any amendments.

The agenda is attached as Annex III.

8. Appointment of the Rapporteur

The Honourable E.R. Sekhonyana, Minister of Planning, Employment and Economic Affairs of Lesotho, was designated Rapporteur for this session. He was to be assisted by a representative of each ACP Sub-region as follows :

CARIBBEAN : Guyana

PACIFIC : Papua New Guinea

WEST AFRICA : Nigeria

CENTRAL AFRICA : Gabon

EAST AFRICA : Uganda

9. Adoption of the Summary Record of the 27^th Session of the Council of ACP Ministers - [Doc. ACP/709/81 (Secr.)]

The Council approved the above summary record tabled by its rapporteur, the Honourable Professor George Benneh, Minister of Finance and Economic Planning of Ghana.

It invited the ACP General Secretariat to correct the minor typing mistakes appearing in this report.

10. Examination of the Committee of Ambassadors' Report to the 28^th Session of the Council of ACP Ministers [Doc. ACP/783/81 (Amb.) Rev.2]

This report was introduced by H. E. Mr S. SY, Ambassador of the Republic of Senegal and Chairman-in-Office of the of the committee of Ambassadors.

Ambassador SY began by thanking the President of the Council of Ministers, the Honourable Mr V. Phillips, Minister of Finance of Western Samoa, for the very wise views and encouragement he had offered to the Committee of Ambassadors. He expressed heartfelt thanks to the Government and people of Lesotho and to H. E. Mr L. B. Monyake, Ambassador of Lesotho to the EEC, for the fraternal and particularly warm welcome extended to delegates.

After mentioning the present international climate affecting international economic development and cooperation, the Chairman of the committee of Ambassadors enlarged upon the main chapters of the report, namely :

- internal matters of the ACP Group;

- questions of ACP/EEC Cooperation under the Second Lomé convention;

- general considerations relating to certain major international issues;

- the situation in Southern Africa;

- trends in North-South relations;

- review of the united Nations Conference on the Least Development Countries held in Paris;

- future prospects for cooperation agreements between the ACP and the EEC.

Mr SY ended by paying tribute, on behalf of the Committee of Ambassadors, to Mr Claude Cheysson, the erstwhile EEC Commissioner for Development, who, Mr SY Said, had made such an important contribution to the defence of the ACP cause. Mr SY then wished the Council success in its deliberations, mentioning that the time for action had arrived.

11. The Council took note of this report and sent a message of congratulations and thanks to Mr Cheysson, who is now France's Minister for External Relations and another to Mr E. Pisani, the new Development commissioner at the EEC Commission.

The text of the introductory speech by the Chairman of the Committee of Ambassadors is attached, as Annex IV.

INTERNAL MATTERS

12. Examination and adoption of the 1982 budget of the ACP General Secretariat[Doc. ACP/659/81 (Amb) Rev.2]

Council considered the 1982 draft budget proposal of the ACP Secretariat [Doc. ACP/659/81 (Amb) Rev.2] and, after a general discussion, appointed an ad hoc Ministerial sub-Committee to review and make suitable recommendations, under the Chairmanship of H. E. Minister Teferra WOLDE-SEMAIT, Minister of Finance of Ethiopia and representatives of Cameroon, Ghana, Fiji, Trinidad and Tobago and Zimbabwe.

The Sub-committee's recommendations as contained in Doc. ACP/934/81 and attached to this report (Annex V), were subsequently approved in their entirety.

Council adopted decision N° 1 (XXVIII) 81 on the 1982 Budget of the ACP General Secretariat.

13. Report of the Secretary-General on the executive of the 1980 Budget[ACP/664/81 (Secr.) Rev.1]

As this report had not been studied by the Committee of Ambassadors, Council noted the document and directed the Committee to do necessary examination.

14. Audit report for 1980 and Secretary-General's comments thereon[ACP/881/81 (Secr.)]

As the Audit report for 1980 and the Secretary General's comments thereon had not been considered by the Committee of Ambassadors, Council merely took note of the document and directed the Committee to do the necessary examination.

15. New financial regulations for the ACP General Secretariat[ACP/029/81 (Secr.) Rev.9]

The Chairman of the Establishment and Finance Subcommittee, Ambassador Dicko of Cameroon, introduced for the consideration of the Council the draft of the new Financial Regulations recommended by the Committee of Ambassadors in Document ACP/029/81 Rev.9.

Council exhaustively discussed the draft text during which clarifications were sought and amendments and suggestions were proposed in respect of some of the Articles in particular Articles in particular Articles 4, 7, 13, 14, 16, 18, 22 and 23.

After due consideration and in view of the long felt desire to ensure efficient financial management and control of the Secretariat, Council adopted the draft Financial Regulations as presented by the Committee of Ambassadors in Document ACP/029/81 Rev.9.

However, Council at the same time directed the Committee of Ambassadors to consider the amendments proposed during the Council meeting and finalize the Financial regulations.

Council adopted Decision N° 2 (XXVIII)81 in respect of the Financial Regulations of the ACP Group.

16. The revised Organigramme of the ACP General Secretariat[ACP/058/81 (Secr.) Rev.2]

Council, in adopting the recommendations of the Ad Hoc Ministerial Subcommittee on the question of the 1982 Budget (Doc. ACP/659/81 Rev.2), mandated the Committee of Ambassadors to complete this outstanding issue in the shortest possible time.

17. Review of the conditions of service of the staff of the Secretariat [ACP/925/81]

Council directed the Committee of Ambassadors to complete this exercise as soon as possible.

INTRA-ACP COOPERATION

18. Review of progress in Intra-ACP Cooperation

the Chairman of the subcommittee on Intra-ACP Cooperation, Ambassador Monyake of Lesotho, in his introduction of the reports of the work of the Committee, reviewed the history and developments in this area of Intra-ACP Cooperation.

Council then proceeded to discuss the reports of the three Intra-ACP meetings held in 1981.

Concerning the Report of the Financial and Banking experts on the Project for the Establishment of a Bank for the Development of ACP Trade, Council took note of document ACP/448/81 (Intra-ACP) Rev. 2 as well as the summary of recommendations and the comments by the Committee of Ambassadors contained in document ACP/859/81 (Intra-ACP).

While reiterating the desirability of establishing an ACP financial institution which would enhance the development of ACP Trade, Council concluded that the whole project needed to be studied further so as to bring out its various aspects before the council to enable it to take a definite position on it.

In the light of the above, Council mandated the Committee of Ambassadors to undertake action specified in Phase 1 of the follow-up action on the project for establishment of an ACP bank as presented in document ACP/448/81 (Intra-ACP Rev.2. Under this phase, the following activities are envisaged :

short analysis of the current situation and existing mechanisms for financing exports of ACP countries;

a statement of the objectives and economic foundations of the bank and of the benefits and costs to the member states. For this analysis, the following will be taken into consideration :

- amount and structure of resources to be utilized;

- mobilisation of resources and marketing of export financing instruments.

conclusions and recommendations including, as appendices, the pertinent special reports.

Concerning document ACP/704/81 (Intra-ACP cooperation) Rev. 1, the Report on the Intra-ACP seminar on cooperation in Education, research and Training for Self-Reliant Development as well as its synopsis (Doc.ACP/838/81 and its summary of

recommendations Doc. ACP/839/81 Rev.1), Council took note of the report and mandated the Committee of Ambassadors to take action accordingly.

Council adopted Resolution N° 6 (XXVIII) 81 on Intra-ACP Cooperation.

19. Review of the System of rotation of the Presidency of the Council of ACP Ministers

the Chairman of the committee of Ambassadors gave an account of the outcome of the consultations he had held pursuant to the mandate given him by the Council of Ministers. He had noted that there was no consensus in favour of a change in the present system of rotation. The Council took note of the report and asked the Committee of Ambassadors to continue consultations so as to find the best solution possible to this delicate issue. The Council asked the Committee to submit to it appropriate recommendations so that it could examine them at its next session in Libreville, Gabon.

20. Election of the new Bureau of the Council Ministers

The Council decided that the next Ministerial Bureau would be as follows :

- West Africa : Mali

- East Africa : Tanzania

- Central Africa : Gabon

- Southern Africa : Swaziland

- The Caribbean : Guyana

- Pacific : Tonga

The new Ministerial Bureau would take office as from 1^st February 1982.

The President of the new Ministerial Bureau would be Mali.

19. Progress Report on ACP/EEC Trade and Economic Relations

The Chairman of the Subcommittee on Trade Cooperation, H. E. Ambassador E. MULOKOZI of Tanzania introduced Section B of the report of the Committee of Ambassadors Doc. ACP/783/81 rev.2 dealing with, inter-alia, the following matters :

The question of the supply of available agricultural products from the Community to ACP countries (Pages 23 paragraph 18 of the report).

The question of the Enlargement of the Community to include Spain and Portugal and its consequent effects on the ACP trade with the Community (page 24 paragraph 19 of the report).

The Community's Generalised Scheme of Preferences (GSP); and the Community's for 1982 (Page 26 paragraph 20 and page 27 paragraph 21 respectively).

Evolution of trade between the ACP and the EEC (including the deterioration of the ACP terms of trade with the Community (page 28 paragraph 22 of the report).

ACP-EEC Replies to the GATT questionnaire on the Lomé II convention (Page 31 paragraph 24 of the report).

Trade promotion : Financing of ACP participation in trade Fairs and Exhibitions out of EDF funds (page 31 paragraph 25 of the report).

- With regard to the question of (iv) above on the evolution of trade between the ACP and the EEC including the deterioration of ACP terms of trade, Council noted with concern the lack of economic and statistical information from ACP States which in turn led to delays in the carrying out of important studies in preparation for joint negotiations with the Community.

Council urged the ACP States to supply the necessary economic and statistical data to the ACP general Secretariat so as to enable it to prepare quantitative material for use in the negotiations with the Community.

Council further mandated the Committee of Ambassadors to pursue the joint examination with the Community of the evolution of trade between the ACP and the EEC (including the deterioration in the ACP terms of trade with the Community) without necessarily waiting for the ACP Studies on the matter.

Council adopted Resolution N° 2 (XXVIII) 81 on the subject.

- Council also received and noted the reports on the question of the Bananas Market situation in the UK Market which was introduced by H. E. Ambassador Dicko of Cameroon (page 46 paragraph 32 of the report).

- the delegation of Papua New guinea proposed a Resolution on the Minerals Scheme Sysmin and on Stabex (Page 49 paragraph 34; and page 52 paragraph 35 respectively). The delegations of Zaire and Zambia proposed some amendments to this.

Council eventually adopted Resolution N° 5 (XXVIII) 81 on this matter.

SUGAR

Council noted with concern the deadlock in the Sugar price negotiations due to the discriminatory and inflexible position adopted by the Community. The matter was also reviewed by the Ministerial consultation meeting of the Sugar producing countries held in Maseru, Lesotho on 10^th December 1981, which made a number of recommendations to Council.

In the unavoidable absence of Minister Bollel of Mauritius, the delegation of Guyana reported to Council on the Ministerial consultation meeting. The Ministerial consultation meeting on sugar re-affirmed its position to seek a special meeting of the ACP-EEC Ministerial council to be held on 16^th December 1981 so as to resolve the issue relating to Sugar and Stabex.

Council agreed therefore that, if the EEC President did not reply to the ACP President's telex on 10^th December 1981, the ACP President should call the EEC President on telephone to find out what the position was on the proposed special meeting of the ACP-EEC Council of Ministers.

In the meantime a press statement was to be issued on the problem of sugar from the Council meeting in Maseru, with a view to bringing pressure to bear on the EEC through the public media.

Restoration of Sugar quota to Kenya :

Council recalled that the ACP-EEC Council meeting in Luxembourg in April 1981, decided that those ACP States affected by force majeure provisions which had been rejected by the community should be re-allocated quotas based on their production capacity and ability to deliver the sugar quotas to the Community. Council recalled further that at the time Kenya had indicated its willingness and readiness to deliver its sugar quota once allocated. Council noted that so far the EEC has not acted on this matter except the mere statement that the matter was receiving attention.

Council mandated the ACP President to call on the EEC to restore the quota to Kenya and to all the other ACP countries who were in a similar situation. The ACP President should also deplore the attitude of the EEC in causing such delay on the matter.

Contact with Mr Hurd, representative of the EEC President :

In the course of the Council meeting, the ACP President informed Council that Mr Hurd had replied to this telex that in his opinion, the proposed special meeting of the ACP-EEC Council of Ministers to be held on 16^th December 1981, was not feasible.

Council agreed that the ACP should insist on the convening of the special session of the ACP-EEC Council. Since the ACP President would not be available to attend the proposed meeting in brussels on 16^th December 1881, it was agreed that a member of the Ministerial bureau should deputise for him.

- On Agricultural Cooperation, Council took note of the report which was introduced by H. E. GBAGUIDI, Ambassador of Benin (page 41 paragraph 28).

In that report the Ambassador pointed out that some of the matters reported on in the Committee of Ambassador's report had been overtaken by events following recent discussions with the Community. For example :

On the question of the appointment of the director of the Centre for Agricultural and Rural development, the community has accepted the arrangement that the ACP should nominate the Director, and the question of the profile of the Director has since been resolved.

On the question of the location of the Centre, the Community has proposed a location (Wageningen, in the Netherlands) but the matter has yet to be finally resolved.

22. CUSTOMS COOPERATION

Considering the difficulties that still exist in obtaining facts and data from ACP States on fishery products in order to formulate a common position representative of the ACP Group, council endorsed the recommendation of the committee of Ambassadors (as contained in the report Doc. ACP/783/81 Rev.2 page 40 paragraph 27) that "a meeting of fisheries experts from ACP States be convened in brussels in February 1982 to prepare and finalize ACP position on the origin of fishery products .... before Joint discussions with the Community".

23. FINANCIAL AND TECHNICAL COOPERATION

Council took note of the Committee of Ambassadors' report on this area of Cooperation which was introduced by Ambassador F. OKELO of Uganda, Chairman of the Subcommittee on financial and Technical Cooperation. The report dealt with three main issues :

- the delay by the Commission in preparing the 1980 report on the management of financial and technical cooperation and therefore the inability to present to Council any report or comments on it yet;

- the lack of response from the Community on the ACP counter-proposals on the different drafts presented by the Community on public works, supplies and service contracts; and finally

- the preparation undertaken for the first meeting of the ACP ministerial members on Article 108 of the Lomé Convention.

In this regard Council also took note of the report by the Honourable Minister of Finance and Economic Planning of Ghana, Co-Chairman of the Joint Management Committee [Article 108 (6)] on the first meeting of ACP members of the said Committee, held in Maseru on 7 December 1981. The report dealt in the main with :

- the working organization of the Committee including appointment of a Chairman (Ghana) and a Vice-chairman (Fiji), the delegation of power to authorized representatives ;

- the adoption of a working document on the measures to improve the implementation of financial and technical cooperation Doc. ACP/833/81 Rev.2 ;

- a strong appeal to Council to urge Member States to make very serous and concerted efforts to supply it with detailed and concrete examples of the problems faced in the supplement of financial and technical provisions so as to supplement the working document and to enable the Committee to defend the interests of the ACP more effectively.

24. Least Developed, Landlocked and Island Countries

This subject was introduced by Ambassador B.O. Jobe of the Gambia, Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Least Developed, Landlocked and Island States. He emphasised the importance of an early implementation of the Substantial New Programme of Action and the immediate action programme as adopted in the UN Paris Conference on the LDC.

In order to maintain the momentum of the UN Paris Conference and to demonstrate the ACP committee to a speedy implementation particularly by the EEC and its members states, he advised that the Committee of Ambassadors was recommending to the Council of Ministers the adoption of a resolution on Least Developed Countries to demonstrate their political support.

Council took note of the report on the UN Paris Conference on the Least Development Countries contained in Doc. ACP/819/81 Rev.1 and adopted Resolution N° 8 on the Least Developed, Landlocked and Island ACP States.

Council also took note of :

- the fact that the Committee of Ambassadors was still considering a series of studies on the special measures taken under Lomé II to assist these states;

- the decision of the ACP-EEC Committee of Ambassadors in pursuance of Decision N° 10/81 of the ACP-EEC Council of Ministers of 10 April 1981 delegating certain powers to them whereby the list given in Article 155 (3) (a) and © of the Second Lomé Convention enumerating the Least Developed and Island ACP States respectively was amended to include.

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Vanuatu in both lists; and

Equatorial Guinea in the first of these lists.

Council took note of the report on Cultural Cooperation in the context of ACP-EEC relations, doc. ACP/855/81, for consideration at a future date.

26. REQUEST BY COOK ISLANDS FOR ACCESSION TO THE SECOND LOME CONVENTION AND TO THE GEORGETOWN AGREEMENT

The chairman of the Committee of Ambassadors gave a progress report to Council on the request by Cook Islands at the present time, does not have the required status to join the Convention and the Georgetown Agreement.

Nevertheless, the Council agreed and directed that the Committee of Ambassadors and the Secretariat should explore with the EEC the type of assistance which the Community could give to the Cook Islands and the feasibility of this country participating in the work of Intra-ACP Cooperation.

27. REQUEST BY BELIZE FOR ACCESSION TO THE SECOND LOME CONVENTION AND TO THE GEORGETOWN AGREEMENT

[Doc. ACP/885/81 (Secr.)]

Council approved the requests by BELIZE for accession to the Lomé Convention and to the Georgetown Agreement.

28. REQUESTS BY ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA FOR ACCESSION TO THE SECOND LOME CONVENTION AND TO THE GEORGETOWN AGREEMENT

In view of the fact that ANTIGUA and BARBUDA is a Part IV country under the Treaty of Rome, Council approved the request by ANTIGUA and BARBUDA to accede to the Second Lomé Convention and the Georgetown Agreement without awaiting for its compliance with the necessary ACP internal procedures.

29. STATEMENT BY KENYA

At this point during the session of the council, the distinguished representative of Kenya took the opportunity to deny certain nefarious allegations being perpetrated internationally by agents of the racist South African regime that Kenya was not only aware but involved in recent attempts by mercenaries to over throw the Government of the Seychelles. The statement is attached herewith as Annex VI.

Council sent a message expressing support and solidarity with the government and people of the Seychelles against this act of aggression.

GENERAL MATTERS

30. DISCUSSION ON IMPORTANT INTERNATIONAL ISSUES

THE SITUATION IN SOUTHERN AFRICA

The Minister of Botswana, Mr A. Mogwe spoke on the situation in Southern Africa. He expressed appreciation of the courage of the Government of the Kingdom of Lesotho in the support it has given to the struggle of the people of Namibia and South Africa for their rights to freedom and removal of discrimination.

He also appreciated the fact that the Caribbean and Pacific Members of the ACP Group have been able to come and see for themselves the situation in which the people of Lesotho, Namibia, Angola, Mozambique and Zimbabwe are place in relation to South Africa.

The Minister informed Council of the concentration of forces in South Africa, acts aimed at destabilising the neighbouring front line countries whom south Africa suspects of harbouring what she regards as communist - backed freedom fighters. He added that this is demonstrated by incursions by South Africa into neighbouring countries such as Angola, Mozambique and Zimbabwe.

In Namibia, the Minister said, the situation was aggravated by the actions and attitude of the United States against the SWAPO.

The Minister referred to South Africa's efforts to form a constellation of buffer states around her and pointed to the organization of Southern Africa Development Coordination Conference as a counter move to the South Africa plans.

He appealed to Council to take note of the concentration of these forces in Southern Africa; and in particular to take note of the Landlocked situation of Lesotho to appreciate the gravity of the situation. Several other delegations contributed to the discussion which followed.

Council noted the report on the situation in Southern Africa as discussed on page 78 - of the report of the Committee of Ambassadors to Council of Ministers [Doc. ACP/783/81 Rev. 2 paragraph 46 (9).

Council adopted Resolution N°9 (XXVIII) 81 on the situation in Southern Africa.

31. THE DEVELOPMENTS IN NORTH/SOUTH RELATIONS[Doc. ACP/927/81]

Ambassador S. DIARRA of Ivory Coast introduced this item of the agenda. He gave a brief historical background of the Cancun Conference, which was not a success for the following reasons :

- preparations for the Conference were not properly done;

- more thorough arrangements to give the subject under discussion deeper analysis were needed, given the fact that the meeting involved 22 Heads of States;

- in the event most speeches lasted only about 10 minutes and did not give a deep and thorough analysis of the problems involved;

- no specific stands were taken by the participants and the situation was complicated by the fact that the position of the USA was rather subtle.

He asked that the position initiated by the developing countries needed to be strengthened by the Council of ACP Ministers adopting a resolution on the matter.

At this point the ACP President suggested that such a resolution, if adopted, may have to be sent to the UN General Assembly so that the US Representative and all those concerned could get the ACP message. He also said that the resolution might be sent to the EEC.

The delegate of Kenya underlined the great poverty that faced the people of the developing countries and the need to remove this poverty either by self reliant methods through Intra-ACP Cooperation or through other means in order to raise standards of the people of the ACP countries. At the same time he cautioned against the temptation of setting up new international organizations which might appear to be beneficial but in the long run prove to be obstacles to development in addition to other already existing obstacles, such as lack of financial resources, expertise and technology, etc.

The delegation of Ghana supported the idea of adopting a resolution on the matter stressing the fact that the EEC partners to ACP Group are content with the Lomé Convention which they hold out to other developed countries as a model of North-South relations and he added that unless they are pressed they will not willingly move to give their assistance to be developing world.

These views were echoed by the delegate of Nigeria who also stressed the need for South-South Cooperation and ............... the ACP States to support the stand taken by those ACP States who attended the Cancun Conference. He suggested that the Secretariat should be instructed to prepare endeavours for early resumption of the Cancun negotiations.

Council adopted Resolution N° 10 (XXVIII) 81 on the Global Negotiations between countries of the North and of the South.

32. REVIEW OF THE UN (PARIS) CONFERENCE ON LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES [ACP/819/81 Rev. 1]

Council took note of the report on the UN Paris Conference on the Least Developed Countries contained in Doc. ACP/819/81 Rev.1].

Council decided, inter-alia,

- to request the Community to implement the provisions of the Substantial New programme of Action (SNPA) as adopted by the UN Paris Conference; and

- to use its influence on other donors to implement the SNPA, as early as possible.

Council adopted Resolution N° 8 (XXVIII) 81 ON THE Least Developed, Landlocked and Islands countries.

33. DATE AND VENUE OF NEXT MEETINGS OF THE COUNCILS OF ACP AND ACP/EEC MINISTERS VENUE The Council took note of the fact that the Venue would be Libreville (Gabon).

DATE EEC Proposal : 13^th and 14^th May 1982

ACP position : any date which is convenient to Gabon.

Council agreed that the 13^th and 14^th May should be considered as tentative dates for the joint session in Gabon; in which case the proceeding ACP Council meeting would take place from 10 to 12 May 1982.

Details on the exact dates will be worked out later between the Gabon authorities, the ACP Group and the EEC.

34. PRESS COMMUNIQUE

council adopted a press communique which is attached herewith as Annex VII.

35. VOTE OF THANKS

At the conclusion of the meeting Council expressed its appreciation, gratitude and thanks to His Majesty, King Moshoeshoe II, the Government and People of Lesotho in Resolution N° 11 (XXVIII) 81.