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			SUMMARY RECORD OF THE 53RD MEETING OF THE  COUNCIL OF ACP MINISTERS  (Brussels, HELD ON 18TH AND 19TH NOVEMBER 1991) Ref: ACP/25/002/92 [Final] AMS/evo  Brussels, 17th March 1992 Retyped by : bae

(As approved by the 54^th session of the ACP Council of Ministers
held from 18^th to 20^th May 1992 in Kingston, Jamaica)

OPENING CEREMONY

The opening ceremony of the 53^rd session of the ACP Council of Ministers was presided over by Dr Augustin NGIRABATWARE, Minister of Planning of the Republic of Rwanda and President-in-Office of the ACP Council of Ministers.

Having welcomed the delegates and thanked them for the confidence they placed in him, the President pointed out that the world was undergoing changes and these did not spare the ACP countries, particularly those in Africa where the changes in the concept of power and democracy had sparked off social and political unrest in some countries.

The unrest, the President stressed, was compounded by misery due to lack of natural resources drought and the deterioration of terms of trade.

The ACP Group had expressed its deep concern about the new geopolitics which might deflect the Community's attention and aid from the ACP council and direct it towards Central and Eastern Europe. Faced with that eventuality, the ACP Group had sought to consolidate its solidarity and cohesion.

The new convention was being ratified in changing circumstances which were not totally foreseen during its negotiations and whose implications could be far-reaching for ACP countries. In that regard, the President urged ACP States to expedite the ratification

process so that they could start benefiting from the Convention's arrangements.

Council would, during its deliberations, deal with a number of difficult issues, which were central in ACP-EEC Cooperation, namely :

- 1990 Stabex transfers,

- cancellation of ACP debt towards the Community and its Member States

- erosion of preferences accorded to the ACP by the Lomé convention,

- the situation in South and Southern Africa, and

- the issue of human rights.

Turning to internal matters, the President-in-Officer referred to the alarming financial situation of the General Secretariat. He said the lateness in payment of contributions to the budget of the Secretariat had resulted in huge arrears which impeded the normal functioning of the institution. He urges Council to reflect on possible solutions which would resolved the long-standing problem of accumulated arrears of contributions. Meanwhile, he appealed to defaulting States to face up to their financial commitments towards the Secretariat.

COUNCIL'S PROCEEDINGS

Council's proceedings were held under the Chairmanship of its President's-in-Office.

1. Adoption of the agenda [ACP/25/017/91 Rev.2 (Final)]

Council adopted the draft agenda of its 53^rd session as set out in document ACP/25/017/91 Rev. 2 [Final].

2. Appointment of a Rapporteur and Friends of the Rapporteur

In accordance with the system of rotation when a meeting of Council is held at the Group's headquarters, the region of the Pacific was invited to nominate a Rapporteur for the 53^rd Session. Consequently, Fiji, the Pacific region's nominee, was appointed Rapporteur to the Council Session.

The countries listed below were designed by their respective regions to serve as Friends of the Rapporteur :

Central Africa : SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE

East Africa : TANZANIA

Southern Africa : NAMIBIA

West Africa : CAPE VERDE

Caribbean : HAITI

3. Communication from the President

[I] The President informed Council that towards the end of September 1991 he made an intervention on behalf of Council at the meeting of the ACP-EEC Joint Assembly held in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. In that intervention, the President said he referred notably to the issues of :

- debt

- Stabex, and

- the slow disbursement of EDF resources (and the studies being carried out on the subject).

[ii] The President sought Council's understanding for the change of dates of the 53^rd session of Council.

Following the President's communication, Council held an exchange of views on the change of dates which created some difficulty for a number of delegations, resulting in many Ministers being unable to attend the session. Council pointed out that there existed rules concerning the conduct of Ministerial Meetings. Specifically, the fixing and changing of dates of Council meeting should be done in consultation with Bureau members. If the President was unable to attend, he could delegate one of the Vice-Presidents to deputize for him. Council stressed that in future, the rules should be adhered to.

The President on his part, indicated that he did not change the dates : he simply indicated the period during which he was available to preside over the Council's session.

Council tool note of the communication.

4. Approval of :

(a) the Rapporteur's's report of the 52nd meeting of the ACP Council of Ministers held from 3^rd to 4^th May 1991 in Brussels

[ACP/25/016/91 Rev.1]

(b) the summary record of the Special Meeting of the ACP Council of Ministers held on 7^th May 1991 in Brussels [ACP/25/019/91]

Council approved, without amendments, the above draft summary records following their presentation by the Rapporteur of the 52nd session, His Excellency Mr Saaeed Saad Mahgoub SAAD, Ambassador of Sudan and the President himself, respectively. In his introductory remarks, Ambassador SAAD thanked the friends of the Rapporteur for their assistance in finalizing the reports and the Secretariat for providing the first drafts.

5. Consideration of the report of the Committee of Ambassadors [ACP/26/082/92 Rev.2]

In order to facilitate the consideration of the Committee of Ambassadors' activity report to Council, document ACP/26/082/91 Rev.2, the meeting decided that the Chairman should introduce each chapter, to be followed by an exchange of views.

Upon Council's invitation, the chairman of the Committee of Ambassadors, H.E. Mr M. IBINGA MAGWANGU, Ambassador of Gabon, led Council through the report, chapter by chapter, drawing to Council's attention developments in ACP-EEC Cooperation, Intra-ACP Cooperation and on the international scene affecting ACP countries, which required Council's advice and guidance.

Below is a summary of Council's position on specific issues it discussed and took a stance on :

(a) Conditions of service of the ACP General Secretariat

Council took not of the information that :

- pursuant to its Decision N°.9/LII/91, the locally recruited staff had been withdrawn from the Belgian legislation with effect from June 1991 and that they

now enjoyed equivalent benefits in the framework of the Staff Regulations of the ACP Secretariat.

- a 20% increase in house rent had been adopted as an interim measure.

Following a discussion on the outstanding matters, Council renewed its mandate to the Committee of Ambassadors in order to enable it adopt and apply final measures regarding :

- the adjustment of the housing allowance,

- the introduction of an ancillary allowance to the pension scheme by 31^st January 1992, and

- to submit to it recommendations on the reclassification of staff at the next Council session.

(b) Intra - ACP Cooperation

Intra-ACP Training Project : In his introduction of the Intra-ACP Cooperation chapter, the Chairman of the Committee of Ambassadors indicated that the Committee had agreed to recommend to Council that the "Intra-ACP Training Project" be named "The Charles Katungi Training Project" in memory of the late Chairman of the Subcommittee on Intra-ACP, Regional, cultural and Social Cooperation, H. E. Mr Charles K. KATUNGI of Uganda.

Council adopted the recommendation and approved the launching of

"The Charles KATUNGI Training Project".

© Request by the Conference of ACP National Chambers of Commerce,

Industry and other Economic Operators

The Chairman of the Committee of Ambassadors told Council that the Committee had considered the request submitted on behalf of the Conference by its Steering Committee and had adopted them. The Committee's decision had been communicated to the Chairman of the Conference.

Council, after a review of the elements of the Committee's position, endorsed its decision. The Committee's recommendations comprised the following :

- the Conference was granted observer status at ACP meetings. The granting of observer status, however, did not in any way imply that the ACP Group would finance the participation of the Conference in those meetings,

- the ACP Group would provide technical assistance to the Conference in the field of trade and other related information,

- one of the Secretariat experts would provide advisory services to the Chambers of Commerce, Industry and other Economic Operators, and, the ACP Group would not entertain the request to finance a permanent Secretariat for the Conference.

(d) Trade Cooperation

Annex XXIX of Lomé IV : Council was informed that the ACP-EEC Working Party, set up in May 1991 by the ACP-EEC council of Ministers to examine the Community's trade liberalization measures in the context of the Uruguay Round of MTN, had not finalized its work. However, the ACP side had already conveyed to the EC side its concerns on the matter.

While awaiting the outcome of the work of the ACP-EEC Working Party, council agreed to :

- urge the Community to preserve the benefits currently enjoyed under the Convention, and to undertake to compensate the ACP States for the loss estimated at US$94 million of their trade advantages in its market through, improved access for products of exports interests for the ACP States;

- insist that the Community eliminates selective internal taxes imposed by some of the Member States on products of export interest for the ACP

- States, in particular coffee, cocoa and horticultural products;

- request in Community to safeguard ACP interests in other areas and products of special sensitivity covered by the negotiations, such as Agriculture, Textiles and Clothing, Trade in Services, TRIPS and TRIMS, and special agreements, and to ensure that the principle of differential and more favourable treatment for the developing Contracting Parties is strictly adhered to; and

- finally, council urged the Working Group on Annex XXIX to expedite its work so as to submit its conclusions and recommendations to Council's next meeting.

With regard to the text of the activity report, Council requested that the simulation exercise referred to in paragraph 113, carried out by the ACP-EEC Working Group (on Annex XXX) should be extended to cover, inter alia

- textiles and clothing

- leather, and

- tropical wood.

Likewise, the text should mention, at paragraph 130 under the EC programme on POSEIDOM, POSEICAN and POSEIMA, the expert of wheat bran by Mauritius to Reunion.

(e) STABEX

Council noted with great concern that the fourth consecutive year, the available resources for the Stabex scheme had proved inadequate to meet all eligible ACP transfer requests. The major causes of that state of affairs were the continued decline in the world prices of agricultural commodities covered by the system and the inadequacy of resources in the scheme.

Council also expressed its deep concern that the Community was unable to accept the ACP request aimed at ensuring that the acquis of Lomé III regarding the transfer basis for both category of Lease Developed, Landlocked and Island Countries (LDLICs), was maintained. In effect, the Lomé III convention provided that the transfer basis for the Least Developed and Landlocked Countries on the one hand and Island Countries on the other hand, which fell below 2 MECUs and 1 MECU respectively, should not be subjected to reductions.

Notwithstanding the Commission's statement that the allocation of additional resources from SYSMIN would not affect the normal functioning of that system, Council was concerned by the Community's reliance on SYSMIN resources as the main source of funding to help resolve the problems of shortfalls in STABEX transfers.

In view of the above, Council adopted a resolution

- calling on the community to maintain and preserve the acquis of Lomé III concerning the transfer basis for the two categories of Least Developed, Landlocked Countries, and Island Countries

- urging the Community to ensure that all legitimate Sysmin requests are fully covered whenever SYSMIN resources are used to meet Community obligations under STABEX

- calling on the Community to seek a solution to the inadequacy of STABEX transfer resources, use its influence to help put in place viable international commodity agreements, and to assist in arresting and reversing the deterioration of trading conditions for ACP States, and

- calling for a special ACP-EEC session of the Council of Ministers to deal with issues and problems of the Stabex system.

Finally, council gave mandate to the Committee of Ambassadors to elaborate a comprehensive strategy and long-term solutions to the structural difficulties inherent

in the STABEX system and to submit its findings and recommendations to Council at its 54^th session in May 1992.

(f) Development Finance Cooperation :ACP¨States' indebtedness

Council recalled that at the May 1991 ACP-EEC Ministerial Council Meeting the Community had indicated that it was considering the ACP request for the cancellation of its debt to the Community. Since then, the Community had not indicated its position on the request.

Considering the worsening economic situation in ACP countries caused mainly by the slump in world commodity prices, the crushing burden of debt and its servicing and the effects of structural adjustment, Council agreed to adopt a resolution on ACP States' indebtedness, to be transmitted to the EEC side.

Having renewed its call to the EEC for the cancellation of the pre-Lomé IV EDF debt of all ACP States, Council

- appealed to the Community Member States, which had not done so, to consider positively writing off public debts owned them by the ACP States and to favour ACP States in the implementation of debt relief measures,

- reiterated its call for the introduction of new mechanisms to enable a substantial reduction in the indebtedness of ACP countries towards private entities, notably commercial banks, and

- renewed its request for the constitution of an appropriate forum within the context of ANNEX L of the Lomé IV Convention for an exchange of views on the general problem of the debt of ACP States.

Finally, having considered the statement made by the Hon. Dr SAHADEO BASDEO, Minister of External Affairs and International Trade of Trinidad and Tobago and Chairman of the Article 193 Committee, Council handed down a mandate to the Committee of Ambassadors requesting it to give urgent consideration to the proposal for a study on a Euro/ACP Investment Fund and submit a report to its 54^th session in May 1992. The Minister had also proposed strengthening of the administrative staff servicing the Article 193 [now Article 325] Committee.

Council took note of the report of the Committee of Ambassadors and all the information contained therein and thanked the Ambassadors for having prepared such a comprehensive document.

6. Draft decision of the ACP-EEC Council of Ministers on the removal of the obligation to replenish Stabex resources [ACP-CEE 2222/91]

Having considered the draft decision of the ACP-EEC Council of Ministers on the removal of the obligation to replenish Stabex resources, Council indicated that the text was acceptable. It drew to the attention of the Committee of Ambassadors the conclusion on its exchange of view on Stabex and the question of ACP States' indebtedness and urged the Committee to implement urgently the mandates contained therein.

7. Consideration of Special Ministerial Reports

(a) Sugar

The Rt Hon. Mr M. DULLOO, Minister for Agriculture, Fishers and Natural Resources of Mauritius, and ACP Ministerial Spokesman on sugar, reported on the outcome of the ACP ministerial consultations held on 17^th November 1991, in Brussels. The Ministerial Spokesman's report covered notably the following issues :

[I] Compensatory package : Following the special consultations on sugar between ACP and EEC Ministers on 7^th May 1991, the EEC Council of Ministers decided on 24^th May 1991, to provided 30 MECU's, as compensation to the ACP States signatory to the Protocol, and to be paid as marketing premium.

The Spokesman observed that the ACP States concerned had shown solidarity in respect of all members and in particular Malawi, so that all ACP sugar supplying States could benefit equitably from the measure.

[ii] Improvement access to the Portuguese market : According to the transitional arrangement in respect of Portugal's accession to the EEC, the overall supply of sugar to the Community would be reviewed in 1992. In accordance with Annex XXVIII of Lomé IV, the first round of joint consultation would be held on 6^th December 1991.

Pursuant to the decision taken at the 3^rd Special ACP Ministerial Conference on Sugar held in London in May 1990, an ACP mission should proceed to Lisbon on 27^th November 1991 to meet and discuss with the Portuguese authorities and refiners. Council would be informed about the outcome of the mission at its 54^th session in May 1992.

[iii] GATT : Having recalled that in the Punta del Este Declaration, the GATT negotiators had recognised and made allowance for the need to avoid disruptive effects on the trade of the less developed countries, the Spokesman said the ACP Sugar Supplying States had been undertaking some lobbying actions to influence the GATT negotiations which had entered a critical and decisive phase. To this end, a document entitled "Sugar and GATT : A contradiction" had been elaborated and also a communication in respect of ACP sugar would be submitted to the GATT Negotiating Group on Agriculture by the Jamaican Mission in Geneva, on behalf of the ACP States signatory to the Protocol.

[iv] Guyana : The ACP side welcomed the Commission's decision to accept that a force majeure situation prevailed in Guyana in respect of the 1990/91 delivery period.

[v] Papua New Guinea and Zambia : The Ministers, having taken note of the Commission's assessment of the supplying capacity of the two countries, requested the Sugar Subcommittee to liaise with the said countries so as to

prepare an appropriate reply to the letter received from the Community.

[vi] Memorandum on economic factors : The Subcommittee had submitted a Memorandum on the economic factors of relevance to the ACP States which the Community ought to take into account in setting the range within which the ACP guaranteed price was to be negotiated in respect of the 1992/93 delivery period.

[vii] Study on freight costs : The terms of reference had been finalized and the study is expected to cost between 125.000 and 200.000 ECUs. The Ministers had decided that the ACP States should look for the appropriate mechanism and procedures for funding it.

[vi] Regional Sugar Training Centre for Africa :The Ministers stressed the importance of such a training centre and they agreed to support the request for core funding of the Regional Sugar Cane Training Centre for Africa. The project could perhaps be studied by the Intra-ACP Cooperation subcommittee with a view to submitting a recommendation to the committee of Ambassadors for funding by the Community.

Council took note of the report and endorsed the various proposals contained therein.

(b) Commodities

The ACP Ministerial Spokesman of the Ministerial Committee on Commodities, Hon Abbey KAFUMBE-MUKASA, Deputy Minister for Finance of Uganda, reported that the aforementioned committee met on Monday 18 November 1991 to discuss the major issues contained in the Committee of Ambassadors' report to Council, namely :

[I] The International Coffee Agreement

[ii] The International Cocoa Agreement

[iii] The VIIIth UNCTAD meeting

[I] The International Coffee Agreement : The Ministerial spokesman said that the consumer countries did not accept the 10% production retention plan presented at the 57^th Session of the International Coffee Council held in London from 23 to 27 September 1991. The consumer countries considered that the legal validity of the retention plan under the Coffee Agreement without economic clauses was doubtful.

Considering that the Community fully approved the idea of an International Coffee Agreement with economic clauses, the Spokesman proposed that Council request the EEC and its member States for their total support to ensure that the ACP market share is safeguarded just as the US does for Central American countries as regards quotas.

In addition, at the VIIIth UNCTAD to be held from 8 to 25 February 1992 in Cartegena, Columbia, the ACP Group and the Community should do all they could to ensure that the international community as a whole undertakes to participate actively in the conclusion of the Agreement and, as a corollary, East European countries accede to the Agreement.

[ii] the International Cocoa Agreement : After considering the committee of Ambassadors' report on the revitalization of the Agreement and given the probability of a new cocoa Agreement with an economic clause being concluded in April 1992, the Ministerial Committee recommended that Council take measures to adopt a strategy resulting in an agreement capable of effectively defending fair and remunerative prices. These measures include notably the following :

- The ACP Cocoa-producing countries which have already undertaken to pay their arrears should abide by the first due date i.e. the settlement of 3.5% of arrears by the end of November 1991, which is a prerequisite for the conclusion of a new Agreement.

- Since the participation of Malaysia and Indonesia is indispensable for the viability of any agreement with a quota system, it would be advisable for the major ACP producers which are the traditional exporters to ensure that these two countries are allocated initial quotas in relation to their production capacity on the imperative condition that the two countries undertake to establish a production policy in conformity with the present trend of demand, i.e., a maximum growth of 2% in 1995 and beyond.

- The concerted measures that the Community and the ACP should take to ensure the United States' accession to the new Cocoa Agreement should be decisive. The measures should be adopted between 13 December 1991 - date of the last International Council Session - and 30 March 1992, probable date on which the Geneva Agreement will be concluded.

- The ACP Group should take advantage of the sensitization missions to be made to EEC capitals to request those among the EEC Member States which are still hesitant about the timeliness of a new Agreement with economic clauses to adopt a firmer and more positive attitude within the framework of the preparatory Working Group meetings.

- In the medium term, the procedures should adopt a concerted production policy which is the key element for regulating supply and the sole guarantee of a good price-defence at remunerative levels considering the volume of stocks held by the consumer countries.

- The ideal long-term solution to the commodity problem resides in a much greater participation of the ACP States in the processing, marketing, distribution and transport of their commodities which the international Community acknowledged as far bask as 1976 during UNCTAD IV and confirmed throughout its subsequent meetings.

- In the light of the present difficulties facing the ACP States and their well-nigh non-participation of the ACP States in the processing marketing, distribution and transport of their commodities, the international community and more particularly donor countries and multilateral financing institutions should undertake to create a Special ACP Fund to finance vertical diversification projects and programmes of action.

[iii] The VIIIth UNCTAD Meeting : Given the importance of the specific policy issues to be discussed at the VIIIth UNCTAD meeting and their direct bearing on ACP States, the Ministerial Spokesman made the following proposals :

- Since UNCTAD VIII policy objectives dovetailed into the Lomé arrangements, it was incumbent upon each ACP States to participate effectively in this conference;

- each ACP State should examine in detail how the conference objectives and conclusions should supplement as well as enhance its domestic policy objectives;

- the conference would be introducing a new and controversial concept of good management. It was advisable for the ACP States to study the implications of this concept on their policies, and

- the ACP States should participate in the formulation of the position of the Group of 77 meeting scheduled to meet in Teheran towards the end of November 1991.

continuing his intervention the Spokesman requested that these measures and actions enunciated in his report (see ACP/67/043/91 for more details) be discussed at the level of the ACP-EEC Article 75 Committee and the ACP Secretariat be fully represented in Cartagena to organize the ACP Group and defend thereby its specific interests.

Nonetheless, the Secretariat should, as soon as possible, transmit the ACP's position through the Spokesman for the Group of 77 (Sudan) to the Chairman of the preparatory Committee, H. E. Mr BARNETT, Ambassador of Jamaica to Geneva, and to the Secretariat's representative attending, in Teheran, the Group of 77 meeting being held in preparation of the UNCTAD VIII.

In its conclusion on all the three issues of importance to the ACP Group, the Ministerial Committee felt it was important to make a provision of BF 1 million in the Secretariat's 1992 budget to enable the latter undertaken all the missions mentioned in the report.

Following an exchange of views on the report, council adopted, in principle, the programme of action and measures proposed by the Ministerial Committee on Commodities and requested the Committee of Ambassadors to examine and approve its details. Council decided to revert to the question of funding the programme during its consideration of the budget proposals for 1992.

© Bananas

In the absence of the Ministerial Spokesman on Banana, the Chairman of the Working Group on Bananas, H. E. Mr C. A. SAVARIN, Ambassador of Dominica, made a report on developments relating to bananas in the context of current arrangements and in the context of a Single European market and the on-going GATT negotiations.

As the submission by the Chairman of the Working Group on Bananas had not been examined before by the Committee of Ambassadors, Council took note of and referred it to the Ambassadors.

In its exchange of views that followed the Chairman's report and which took into account the elements of the Committee of Ambassadors' activity report, Council expressed concern at the Commission's decision to expand the "dollar" quota of a Member State without taking into account its long-term effects on Somalia's share and the individual prevailing circumstance of that traditional supplying ACP State as recognized by the Protocol.

Further, Council considered that the EEC ought to remain committed to preserving the efficacy of the Banana Protocol, a stance which is the more justified in the face of increased pressure from other GATT Contracting Parties to include bananas in the Community's offer on tropical products in the final phase of the GATT negotiations.

Given the above, Council

[I] called on the Commission to rescind its decision to expand Italy's dollar" quota or at least refrain from allowing retroactivity in the decision,

[ii] urged the Community to recognize that the special situation and circumstances of the ACP traditional supplying States warranted the adoption of special measures to protest their preferential share of its market in bananas even in the context of a Single European Market, and

[iii] appealed to the Community to recognize that putting into place arrangements for the smooth transition of the current regime into another more in accord with the requirements of the Single market should be done in a manner to prevent negative effects on ACP expert earnings and market share.

8. Consideration of the draft budget of the ACP Secretariat for 1992

[ACP/45/033/91 Rev.2]

- Audit report for 1990 [ACP/45/042/91]

- management report of the 1991 budget [ACP/45/036/91]

- Situation on the Reserve Fund [ACP/45/038/91]

Following the presentation of the ACP General Secretariat's draft budget for 1992 by the Chairman of the Chairman of the Committee of Ambassadors, Council held a full exchange of views on the proposals contained in the draft. The Exchange of views of Council brought into sharp focus notably the following issues :

The early despatch of the draft budget to ACP capitals :Council stressed that for it to be able to consider the budget in an effective manner, the draft with the accompanying documents should be sent to the capitals well in advance of the budgetary session. This would allow time for Ministers to study and grasp the full implications of the proposals. It strongly urged that for future budget sessions, all relevant documents should reach capitals within the time frame laid down by the Group's rules.

(b) Secretariat's staff complement : Without coming back on its decision to create new additional posts, Council advised that the existing staff complement should be redeployed in a manner to avoid the Secretariat some expenses, but enable it to operate smoothly. This would be in line with stringent budgetary practices in ACP States. However, the standards of the Secretariat should not be compromised by financial considerations.

(c) The rise in the consumer price index and in tuition fees : Council recognized that it had no control on the rise in the consumer price index and in tuition fees, particularly for English speaking schools in Brussels. This state of affairs called for a standing Council decision which would provide the Secretariat with the resources to mitigate the effects of the rise.

To this end, Council, after re-examining its earlier decisions on salary indexation and the ceiling of tuition fees decided as follows :

[I] The reference period for the implementation of the decision on salary indexation would be from 1 August of one year to 31 July of the following year.

[ii] A 5.65% salary increase corresponding to the rise in the consumer price index between 31 December 1989 and 31 July 1991 was granted to the Staff with effect from 1 August 1991, to be partly funded from the Reserve Fund, and EDF.

[iii] For the 1992/93 academic year, the ceiling set for tuition fees is as follows :

1A - 3 BF 155 000

4 - 6 BF 165 000

7 - 8 BF 235 000

9 - 12 BF 285 000

GCSE 'O' BF 285 000

GCSE 'A' BF 320 000

Council requested the Committee of Ambassadors to re-examine the question of the ceiling of tuition fees and submit a proposal in order to enable the Ministers find an appropriate formula which could respond to the rising costs in tuition fees in Brussels.

Council also discussed, within the context of the examination of the budget, the question of the Ministerial participation in important ACP-EEC and international meetings which are of some relevance to the ACP Group. In that regard, it increased the provision for transport expenses of the President of the ACP Council of Ministers to BF 800 000. This allocation took into account the expenses of the participation of the Ministerial Spokesman on Commodities in the VIIIth UNCTAD meeting to take place in Cartagena, Columbia, in February 1992. Council also agreed to refund its President the expenses incurred when he participated, on behalf of the ACP Group, in the meeting of the ACP-EEC Joint Assembly in Amsterdam in September 1992.

Finally, Council examined, also, the Committee of Ambassadors' proposals relating to the salary and allowances of the re-establishment post of Deputy Secretary General. After an exchange of views, Council was unable to agree on the proposals submitted by the Committee of Ambassadors. Consequently, it requested the Ambassadors to look at the matter again and submit its revised proposals to the 54^th Council session in May 1992 in Kingston, Jamaica.

Council adopted the 1992 budget for the ACP General Secretariat fixed at BF 251 913 000.

9. Financial situation and state of contributions [ACP/45/044/91 & ACP/45/045/91]

- Financial situation of the Secretariat

Under this item the Chairman of the Committee of Ambassadors

- informed Council about the steps taken against ACP States in arrears of contribution for a period which made them liable for sanctions, and the financial situation of the Secretariat

- appraised the Ministerial session of the major observations and recommendations contained in the management report of the 1991 budget

- informed Council that the 1990 audit report had been submitted and that the Committee would examined it and make a report to Council before the following audit was undertaken

- advise the Ministers that in view of the exceptional situation prevailing in Liberia, that country should be exempted from suspension from the membership of the ACP Group until the 54^th session.

After an exchange of views on the various issues raised under this item, Council decided as follows :

- Sanctions provided for under the Financial Regulations in respect of Liberia were waived until the next ministerial session.

- Member States in arrears of contributions should clear their arrears latest by 31 December 1991.

- The Chairman of the Committee of Ambassadors should continue to apply the sanctions against the Members States in arrears of their contribution and he should report on the implementation of this decision at the 54^th session of Council.

- The Belgian Office of the international firm of auditors Messrs PEAT MARWICK known as KPMG, be appointed to undertake the audit of the 1991 Secretariat's accounts.

- Finally, the Committee of Ambassadors should examine the issues raised in the auditor's report on the ACP Secretariat's accounts for the year ended 31 December 1990 and it should report to Council at its 54^th session.

10. Progress report on the review of the Georgetown Agreement

Having heard the progress report on the review of the Georgetown Agreement presented by the Chairman of the Committee of Ambassadors, Council held an exchange of views on the subject during which it expressed appreciation for the progress achieved by the Committee in carrying out the exercise. Council noted, however, that progress in the review exercise was rather slow.

In view of the interim nature of the report, the Ministers indicated that no decision, binding on Member States, could be taken on such a report. It reaffirmed the importance it attached to the review of the Georgetown Agreement, and extended its mandate to the Committee of Ambassadors to enable the latter to finalize its recommendations on the review. These should be forwarded to all ACP capitals before Council's 54^th session in may 1992, so as to allow Ministers time to study and formulate their observations.

11. Situation in South and Southern Africa

Following the statement made on this situation in South and Southern Africa on behalf of the Southern-Africa group by its spokesman, H. E. Mr Kapembe NSINGO, Ambassador of Zambia, Council had a discussion on notably recent developments in the region in a world context where solutions were found for the struggle for democracy.

Council welcomed the positive changes that had taken place inside South Africa and the progress made towards peaceful negotiations. It condemned the recent upsurge of violence and the involvement of certain elements of the South Africa security forces in its perpetration. The Ministers upheld that there was still need to use effective forms of pressure including the maintenance of sanctions in order to bring about irreversible positive change in South Africa.

Council viewed the signing of the Peace Accord on 31 May 1991 between the Government of Angola and UNITA as positive development towards ending hostilities in that country. Likewise, the conclusion of the interim agreement between the Government of Namibia and South Africa on the question of Walvis Bay and the off-shore islands was welcomed by the ACP Ministers.

Regarding the situation in Mozambique, Council condemned the senseless campaign of terror waged by RENAMO against the civilian population, and the destruction of social-economic infrastructures caused by armed bandits of RENAMO.

At the close of the discussion, Council, among other things,

- urged the Community to maintain the remaining sanctions and to lift them gradually as appropriate transitional measures were implemented in South Africa

- requested the EC and the Member States to provide humanitarian assistance and emergency aid to Mozambique, Malawi, Angola and Swaziland and the other countries in the region which were suffering as a result of conflicts

- requested the ACP States to maintain and reinforce diplomatic pressure and any other measures already adopted until apartheid was eradicated, and finally

- called on the international community to step up support to the efforts made by Angola and Mozambique to achieve peace.

12. Adoption of special measures in favour of countries which have not ratified Lomé IV (Liberia and Somalia)

In a brief introduction, the Chairman of the Committee of Ambassadors recalled the background to the ACP appeal for the special measures in favour of Liberia and Somalia, which could not ratify the Convention because of the exceptional circumstances prevailing in those countries. The Chairman said the ACP-EEC Committee of Ambassadors had examined the situation and had agreed on the draft text for which Council's approval was sought. He added that the matter was receiving urgent attention in the Community.

After an exchange of views, Council endorsed the text. It thanked the Committee of Ambassadors for taking such a commendable initiative on behalf of the ACP Group.

13. Designation of the members of the Ministerial Bureau [ACP/549/79 Rev.19]

The countries listed below had been designated by their respective regions to serve on the new Bureau whose mandate should begin immediately after the 53^rd session :

Central Africa - CHAD

East Africa - MAURITIUS

Southern Africa - ZIMBABWE

West Africa - COTE D'IVOIRE

Caribbean - TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

Pacific - TONGA

14. Date and venue of the next meeting of

(a) the Council of ACP Ministers

The 54^th session of the ACP Council of Ministers shall take place from 18^th to 20^th May 1992 in Kingston, Jamaica.

(b) the Council of ACP-EEC Ministers

The 17^th session of the ACP-EEC Council of Ministers shall take place on 21^st and 22^nd May 1992, in Kingston, Jamaica.

H.E Mr L. A. WILSON, Ambassador of Jamaica, confirmed the dates indicated above.

15. Outcome of the 53^rd ACP Council session

- Adoption of draft decisions and resolutions :

Council considered and adopted the following decisions and resolutions :

(a) Decisions

- The ACP General Secretariat's 1992 budget [Decision N° 1/LIII/91]

- Structure, functioning and conditions of service of the staff of the ACP General Secretariat [Decision N° 2/LIII/91]

- Arrears of contribution [Decisions N° 4/LIII/91]

- Appointment of external auditors [Decision N° 5/LIII/91]

- External auditors' report for 1990 [Decision N° 6/LIII/91]

- Proposal for study on Euro/ACP Investment Fund [Decision 7/LIII/91]

- Review of the Georgetown Agreement [Decision N° 8/LIII/91].

(b) Resolutions

- Sugar [Resolution N° 3/LIII/91]

- Banana [Resolution N° 4/LIII/91

- The situation in South and Southern Africa [Resolution N° 6/LIII/91]

The following resolutions were referred to the Committee of Ambassadors for finalization and adoption on behalf of Council :

- Stabex transfers for 1990 year of application [Resolution N° 1/LII/91]

- ACP States indebtedness [Resolution N° 2/LIII/91].

Concluding remarks

H. E. Mr C. VALY TUHO, Ambassador of Côte d'Ivoire and Head of delegation, and H. E. Mr T. BADEN SEMPER, Ambassador of Trinidad and Tobago speaking on behalf of his head of delegation, paid tribute to the outgoing President of Council who presided over two sessions of the ACP Council of Ministers and jointly presided over an ACP-EEC Council of Ministers.

In his concluding remarks, the outgoing President thanked once more Council for the support it gave him and his Bureau during his double mandate. That was an honour both for him and his country, Rwanda.

He wished his successor success during his mandate, pointing out that the outgoing Bureau would be passing over to the Bureau elect some sensitive issues.

He also expressed gratitude to the Committee of Ambassadors which, during his long mandate, gave him sustained assistance and support and which prepared the two sessions of Council he chaired. He extended same to the Secretariat which provided the services that facilitated Council's deliberations.

Finally, he wished all delegates a safe return to their respective destinations.

16. Any other business

No other matter was raised under his item.