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			SUMMARY RECORD OF THE 69th SESSION  OF THE ACP COUNCIL OF MINISTERS  HELD FROM 26 - 28 JULY 1999 AT ACP HOUSE  ACP/25/022/99 Rev.1 [Final] Brussels, 15 November 1999AMS/sac Or: English As approved by the 70th session of the ACP Council of Ministers  held on 22nd and 23rd November 1999  at Santo Domingo - DOMINICAN REPUBLIC)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Adoption of the agenda

Communication from the President

Appointment of a Rapporteur and Friends of the Rapporteur

Bureau's recommendations on requests for observer status by 4 Pacific States

Approval of the Rapporteur's Report of the 69^th ACP session

Consideration of the Secretariat's financial matters

Consideration of the Committee of Ambassadors' report on its activities

since the Special ACP Ministerial session in Dakar

ACP-EU Trade cooperation

Intra-ACP, Regional, Cultural and Social Cooperation

Internal matters

Preparations for the 2^nd ACP-CE Ministerial Negotiating Conference...

Implementation of Decisions No.1,2,3 and 4 of the Libreville Declaration of the 1^st ACP Summit

Update on preparations for the 2^nd Summit of ACP Heads of State and Government

Institutional matters

Joint Assembly matters

Appointment of the members of the Incoming Ministerial Bureau

Outcome of the 69^th ACP Council session

Date and Venue of the 70^th ACP Council, the Third ACP-EU

Negotiating Conference and the 25^th ACP-EU Council of Ministers

Any other business

Annex: List of decisions and resolutions adopted at the 69^th session of the ACP Council of Ministers

OPENING CEREMONY

The 69^th session of the ACP Council of Ministers was presided over by H.E. Mr Sévérin ADJOVI, Minister of Trade, Handicraft and Tourism of Benin and President-in-Office of the ACP Council of Ministers.

Having welcomed the delegates, the President commended his predecessor, Professor G. SAITOTI of Kenya and his Bureau members for the excellent work they had accomplished during their tenure of office. The President then referred to the items on the agenda of the ACP and ACP-EU Council of Ministers and called for the cooperation and active participation of all to ensure success in Council's deliberations.

He made special mention of the financial situation of the Secretariat and appealed to countries in arrears of contribution to make good their dues and remain current. The Secretariat would need the financial means to ensure effective and efficient operation during the critical phase of the negotiations. He added that the question of the review of the scale of contribution would be addressed at the session and hopefully there would be an equitable solution.

Regarding the 2^nd ACP-EU Ministerial Conference, the President indicated that Council would be called upon to take a stance on outstanding thorny issues such as good governance and trade.

In that regard, he urged Council to seek decisions that would enable the negotiators to make progress in the negotiations.

COUNCIL'S PROCEEDINGS

1. Adoption of the agenda [ACP/25/013/99 Rev.2]

Council considered and adopted the draft agenda as set out in document ACP/25/013/99 Rev.2.

2. Communication from the President.

The communication from the President bore on the subjects itemized hereunder :

ACP-EU ministerial discussions on the Comoro Islands and Guinea Bissau

In accordance with Article 366 (b) of the Lomé Convention, at the invitation of the European Union, an ACP delegation participated the previous day in the deliberations on the then current situation in the Comoro Islands and Guinea Bissau.

He reported that the Committee of Ambassadors, at its meeting the previous Friday:

• had condemned the military coup in the Comoro Islands;

• had taken cognizance of the time-frame presented by the Representative of the Comoro Islands, with a view to returning that country to constitutional rule; and 
• had mandated the ACP team to support that time-frame, such as it was presented, with a view to returning to democracy.

5. had expressed regrets at the events that had transpired in that country; and 

6. had expressed its support for the time-frame established for a return to normalcy in Guinea Bissau. 

During the deliberations, the Commission : 

• stated that it was entirely satisfied with the proposals put forward by the delegation from Guinea Bissau, and promised to provide overall material and financial aid for the implementation of its programme; and 
• declared that more extensive discussions should be held between the Commission and the Comoro Islands authorities in order to have a clearer idea of their needs. It was only following such discussions and after having received further clarification from the authorities of the Comoro Islands that they would consider reactivating disbursements to that country.

At its meeting the day before, the Bureau reviewed the agendas for the ministerial sessions as well as specific items such as the financial situation of the Secretariat, and institutional issues including the election of a Secretary General, the allocation of the other political posts at the ACP, etc.

The Bureau also received a delegation from the Dominican Republic on the subject of the preparations for the Second ACP Summit.

The Bureau also examined the requests for Observer Status by four Pacific States, namely the Cook Islands, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federal States of Micronesia and the Republic of Palau.

On the last issue, the Bureau agreed to accept the four requests and preferred to defer any decisions on two other potential requests expected from the Pacific region.

The Bureau's recommendations on all these issues would be made known when they were reviewed by Council.

Invitation to the new WTO Director

During the Bureau's meeting, it was suggested that Council take advantage of the presence in Brussels of the new WTO Director, Mr. Mike Moore, to invite him to address the Council.

Council endorsed the proposal and requested the Secretariat to make the necessary arrangements for the meeting.

Council took note of the President's communication.

3. Appointment of a Rapporteur and Friends of the Rapporteur

In accordance with the rules of rotation among regions which guide the choice of a rapporteur when an ACP Council session is held at Headquarters, the responsible region - in this case the Caribbean - was required to nominate a Rapporteur. Consequently, Trinidad and Tobago, the region's nominee, was appointed Rapporteur for the 69th session of Council.

The countries listed below were designated by their respective regions to be Friends of the Rapporteur :

East Africa : Mauritius

Southern Africa : Lesotho

Central Africa : Burundi

West Africa : Côte d'Ivoire

Pacific : Solomon Islands

4. Bureau's recommendations on requests for observer status by 4 Pacific States (Cook Islands, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of Palau).

Council endorsed the Bureau's recommendation accepting the requests by 4 Pacific States (Cook Islands, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia and the Republic of Palau) for observer status in the ACP Council, and invited in the delegations present.

On behalf of the Prime Minister and Government of the Cook Islands, the Head of delegation expressed gratitude to Council for the decision to accept the country's request. He added that his country had, over the years, followed the ACP Group and it shared the Group's endeavours . He wished Council success in achieving the ACP goals in the negotiations.

5. Approval of the Rapporteur's Report of :

-the 68^th session of the ACP Council held in Brussels from 28^th to 29^th September and 1^st October [ACP/25/021/98];

- the Special session of the ACP Council of Ministers held in Dakar, Senegal from 6^th to 7^th and on 9^th February 1999 [ACP/25/013/99 Rev.1] 

Following the presentation of the two reports by Hon. Mouhamed El Moustapha DIAGNE, Minister of Economy, Finance and Planning of Senegal, the Rapporteur of the two Ministerial sessions, Council considered and approved the two reports. Council commended the Rapporteur and his Friends for having produced very good reports on its deliberations at the two sessions captioned above.

The Head of Delegation of Togo extended the congratulations of the Head of State, Government and people of Togo to the Council of Ministers for the decision it took in Dakar calling for the resumption of cooperation between that country and the European Union.

6. Consideration of the Secretariat's financial matters

a. Bureau's recommendations on the review of the scale of contributions to the budget of the ACP Secretariat [ACP/45/020/99]

Having heard the introductory remarks by the President, Council held an exchange of views at the close of which it decided, in the short term, to update the figures on which the current scale of contributions was based, maintaining the seven bands of contribution and reallocating states appropriately. The statistics used should represent an average of 3 years and the updated figures should be used for the assessments for the year 2000. The basis of assessment should be kept current until such time as a new system was approved.

Council further decided to immediately set up a team of Regional Experts to consider Model C of the UNDP consultants' report [doc. ACP/45/019/96] and to report back to the Bureau of Council at its next session. Finally, the Secretariat was requested to produce a manual of procedures for reviewing periodically its management.

7. Consideration of :

a. the Committee of Ambassadors' report on its activities since the Special ACP Ministerial session in Dakar [ACP/26/080/99 Rev.1]

Having heard the introductory remarks by the Chairman-in-Office of the Committee of Ambassadors, H.E. Mr S. MUMBENGEGWI, Ambassador of Zimbabwe, Council held an exchange of views on the matters raised in the activity report and concluded on those subjects as indicated hereafter :

PART 1 : ACP-EU TRADE COOPERATION

A. Trade Cooperation

Having been advised that this section had not been cleared by the Committee of Ambassadors, Council deferred its consideration and directed that the text be cleared by the normal procedure and submitted to the Ministers for consideration at the next session of Council.

B. Customs cooperation

Council took note of developments in the area of Customs cooperation as set out on pages 10 to 12.

C. Ministerial reports on :

Sugar [AP/63/029/99]

The report submitted by the Ministerial Spokesman on Sugar, the Rt Hon. Dr A. Boolell, Minister of Agriculture and Natural resources of Mauritius, contained in document ACP/63/029/99, covered the following items:

the communication by the Spokesman;

a strategy on advancing the ACP sugar cause, including lobbying missions, meetings with targeted institutions and alliance between ACP and the EU Member States, refiners, beet processors and producers;

the report of the Chairman of the Sugar Subcommittee on the Subcommittee's activities and developments in respect of its mandates;

the 6^th Ministerial Conference to be held in Swaziland and the request that the Sugar Subcommittee prepares that conference in a timely manner to ensure success;

information from Mauritius that it might experience a crop reduction of some 45% reduction in the next harvest as a consequence of a severe drought and it might therefore invoke "Force Majeure" in respect of 1999/2000 delivery period.

Commodities [ACP/67/035/99]

The elements of the report submitted by the Chairman of the ACP Article 75 Committee, Hon. G. Alain GAUZE, Minister for the Promotion of External Trade of Côte d'Ivoire, as found in document ACP/67/035/99, covered the following subjects :

Recent developments in International Commodity Agreements :

i) the 1993 International Cocoa Agreement : The Agreement had been extended for an initial 2-year period up to the year 2001 and in the meantime consumers and producers were collaborating with a view to adapting production to consumption as much as possible.

ii) the 1994 International Coffee Agreement : The Ministers expressed satisfaction that the producers and consumers adopted Resolution 834, extending the agreement for a 2-year period, from 1^st October 1999 to 30^th September 2001 with the setting up of a Negotiating Group to prepare a new draft agreement.

iii) the 1994 International Agreement on Tropical Timber : The Ministers expressed satisfaction at the establishment of a framework for fruitful dialogue to facilitate the attainment of the sustainable management of tropical forests as desired by all parties. However, the ACP Group expressed concern over the limited resources available for attaining Objective 2000 on sustainable management of tropical forests.

iv) The Common Fund for Commodities : The Ministers welcomed the adoption of the new strategy introduced by the 5-year Plan of Action and the resolution of the issue of the use of the financial resources of the "first window" through the re-allocation of the members' quotas.

v) Issues arising from the use of vegetable fats other than cocoa butter in the manufacture of chocolate : The Ministerial Committee reaffirmed its position adopted in Barbados in 1998, namely :

authorization to add only substitute vegetable oils and fats of tropical origin at 5% maximum total of finished chocolate product weight;

prohibition of the use of vegetable oils and fats obtained by enzyme-controlled processes where it would not have any consequence for the use of shea butter in the manufacture of chocolate.

The Committee also expressed concern about the methods of detection and quantification of vegetable fat other than cocoa butter, which was not always dependable.

On the question of impact studies, the Ministers agreed to further consult in order to arrive at an understanding on the subject.

Bananas

The report made by the ACP Ministerial Spokesman on Bananas, Hon. Mr Norris CHARLES, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Marketing of the Commonwealth of Dominica, covered the following items :

WTO Panel's ruling on the Banana dispute : Having heard a report by the Ambassadorial Chairman of the ACP Working Group on Bananas regarding the WTO condemnation of the modified EU banana regime as still not being WTO compatible, the US sanctions against certain EU products and the ruling in favour of Ecuador, the Banana Ministerial Consultations made inter alia, the suggestions listed below to bring the regime into conformity with WTO rules :

i) a tariff-only system with a tariff preference, possibly at zero for the ACP

ii) a tariff-only system plus a quota for ACP suppliers

iii) a quota system plus duty-free access for ACP suppliers

iv) a quota system plus a separate quota for ACP suppliers.

It was noted that the three latter options would require a WTO waiver.

The Ministers were aware that the options proposed by the WTO would guarantee ACP preferences on the EU market. Although it was not possible at that stage to formulate precise details of ACP requirements in the new regime, the Ministers endorsed the general principles laid down hereafter :

i) guaranteed access to the EU market for ACP bananas at a viable price;

ii) retention of Tariff Rate Quota;

iii) Financial support for ACP producers;

iv) A fair licensing system that will not be an impediment to the ACP and will allow access without any undue cost; and

v) access for non-traditional suppliers should be safeguarded.

Lobbying missions to the EU capitals : Ministers reported on various lobbying missions undertaken by their respective Heads of Government or Ministers to various EU capitals seeking support for the ACP position on the modified regime.

Ministers took note of the report on the lobbying missions and agreed that:

the efforts should continue; and

it was necessary to intensify the US lobby.

EU Regulation providing a special framework of assistance : The EU had adopted a regulation to provide a special framework of assistance for traditional ACP suppliers to assist with the improvement of efficiency and productivity. Producing States were urged to submit their proposals to the Commission for consideration as soon as possible.

The Head of the Ghana delegation proposed that the distinction between traditional and other suppliers be removed as some countries had made a great effort to invest in the Banana industry with the aim of diversifying their economies and as such required the allocation of a quota.
The Head of the Ghana delegation was advised to enter into informal consultations with the members of the Banana Consultations Committee.

Finally, Council agreed that the ACP's position should be made clearly and forcefully to the EU counterparts during the ACP-EU Council session.

Development Finance Cooperation

In the absence of the Chairman of the Ministerial Committee on Development Finance Cooperation, the Chairperson of the Authorized Representatives, H.E. Nana Oye-Mansa YEBOAA I, Ambassador of Ghana presented the report on the aforementioned Committee which covered the following subjects : 

i) The 1998 progress report from the Development Finance Cooperation Subcommittee, in conformity with the progress report approved in Barbados at the 67^th Council session and Work Programme for the remaining part of the year : In 1998, the Committee held 2 meetings which yielded the following results :

the Ministers committed themselves to meeting at least once a year to devise the appropriate strategies;

the 1998 meeting of the National and Regional Authorizing Officers exchanged views on the future relations with the EU, and

the 1999 work programme was approved.

ii) The 1998 report on the implementation of cooperation with the European Union in the area of development Finance, the 1998 joint evaluation report and the 1999 Work Programme : This report bore on the implementation of financial and technical cooperation and the Committee noted that, generally, 1998 was a better year of implementation than1997, primarily because of the maturity of the 7^th EDF and the release of projects outstanding and the start of the 8^th EDF on 1^st June 1999.

iii) The draft resolution on ACP-EC Development Finance Cooperation: The draft resolution presented to Council (it was subsequently adopted by the ACP Council : see annex) reflected the difficulties in the area of implementation of Sysmin; tenders and awards of contracts, as well as the preparation and dissemination of standardized documents relating to prescriptions concerning EDF-financed contracts.

Finally the Committee examined the joint evaluation report for the past year whose main activities related to :

the finalization and circulation of the report on the evaluation of regional cooperation in West Africa; and

finalization and retransmission to the ACP Secretariat of the overall evaluation of ACP-EC cooperation.

The 1999 Work Programme bore on the finalization of the evaluation of Sysmin.

Ministers of Mines

Making a brief report to Council on the meeting of ACP Ministers of Mines, H.E. Mr. Fassiné FOFANA, Minister of Mines of Guinea, indicated that there had been a high attendance at the meeting which benefited from the participation of the Director General of the DGVIII, Mr P. LOWE and Mrs Clare SHORT, Secretary of State for International Development of the United Kingdom. The good attendance by ACP Ministers demonstrated the ACP Ministers' interest in cooperation in the area of mining.

At the close of their deliberations, the ACP Ministers of Mining adopted a Declaration (which was made available to participants to the ACP Council session).

Council directed that the conclusions of the meeting of the Ministers of Mines be taken into account by ACP Negotiating Groups 3 and 4.

Council adopted the various Ministerial reports presented to the 69^th session.

PART II : INTRA-ACP, REGIONAL, CULTURAL AND SOCIAL COOPERATION

The ACP-EU Foundation for Cultural Cooperation

Council endorsed the recommendation that the dossier on the Foundation be closed on the grounds that it had been overtaken by events.

The 'International Foundation for Science ' Project

Council approved the above project, the objective of which was to assist young ACP scientists.

The 'Exhibition of African Art' Project

Council approved to support the request for funds for the Exhibition of African Art project.

The Gorée Memorial

Having been informed that the Minister of Culture of Senegal made a presentation of the Gorée Memorial to the Committee of Ambassadors, Council acceded to the request that the project be recognised as an ACP project.

d. Draft agenda of the 24^th ACP-EU Council of Ministers [ACP/21/003/99, ACP-CE/2142/99]

Council took note of the draft agenda of the 24^th ACP-EU Council of Ministers.

PART III : INTERNAL MATTERS

The Secretariat's financial situation 

Having considered the Secretariat's note on its financial situation (ACP/45/021/99 Rev.1) and having expressed concern that the EU Commission had stopped all reimbursements of expenses incurred since 1^st July 1998, Council decided :

- to urge Member States to make good their contributions;

- to direct the Chairman of the Committee of Ambassadors to strictly, rigorously and without fail, apply the sanctions more particularly those pertaining to receipt of documents, authorization to speak and ineligibility to hold office;

- to direct the Chairman of the Committee of Ambassadors and the Secretary General not to invite representatives of Member States who were in arrears of contribution of three years or more, to any activities organised by the Joint Assembly, to seminars, conferences, etc.. organised by the ACP Group on its own or in association with the EU. The other joint institutions such as the CDI and CTA should be invited as far as possible to also implement this decision.

Other matters in this chapter requiring Council's consideration and decisions are the subject of a specific agenda item, namely item 11.

8. Preparations for the 2^nd ACP-CE Ministerial Negotiating Conference

a. Progress reports on the negotiations

Negotiating Group 1 : Political and Institutional matters [ACP/00/0269/99]

The progress report presented by the President of Council supplemented by the Chairman of the Committee of Ambassadors, both Spokesmen of Negotiating Group 1 at their respective levels, covered the points itemised below :

i) Issues that had been settled and for which there were agreed key sentences included :

- the preamble

- objectives of the ACP-EU partnership

- fundamental principles

- political dialogue

- elements of the political environment other than the essential elements

- peace-building policies, conflict prevention and resolution; and

- Institutional framework.

ii) Issues still under discussion, were :

- essential elements

- non-execution clause

- migration

- the actors of the partnership

- accession mechanisms and criteria.

iii) Pending issues included :

- period of validity of the Convention

- conclusion, ratification, implementation, and 

- miscellaneous.

In the exchange of views that ensued, members of Council made the following comments and remarks :

Articles 2 and 3 of the current Convention should be reflected in the framework;

Good Governance is an important objective to be pursued but could not be considered as an essential element, nor should it be narrowed down to corruption. There should be a common definition of the term;

it is not acceptable for corruption to be portrayed as only an ACP problem;

there should be a common definition of the non-execution clause with a joint procedure for implementing the provisions thereof.

Negotiating Group 2 : Private Sector and Other Development Strategies

The report presented by the Ministerial Spokesman on Negotiating Group 2, Hon. N'DIORO of Cameroon, covered the following matters :

Issues on which the partners agreed key sentences included :

- framework for the development strategies (principles and objectives to be pursued in support of development strategies)

- clause with cross-reference to annexes setting out additional provisions and operational arrangements for each sector of cooperation

- investment and private sector development

- support to macroeconomic and structural reforms and policies for restoring overall economic and budgetary equilibrium

- sectoral policies and strategies

- gender issues

- youth issues

- cultural development

- the environment and natural resources

- institutional development and capacity building 

- regional cooperation and integration; and 

- extending the partnership to all actors in development.

Issues to be considered by Ministers :

- Investment guarantee and setting-up of ACP-EU investment guarantee agency; and

- nature and scope of the risks to be covered.

Issues not finalized :

- Objectives of regional cooperation and integration

In the exchange of views that followed the presentation of the report, Council took note that the Caribbean region had prepared a memorandum in which it proposed amendments to the key sentences. Council agreed to take into account those amendments in the work of Negotiating Group 2.

Negotiating Group 3 : Economic and Trade cooperation

The report on Negotiating Group 3 was presented by the Ministerial Spokesman, Hon. A. HYLTON of Jamaica and it covered the following areas:

- analytical work on Alternative Trade Arrangements;

- joint ACP and EU analysis on the consequences of applying the GSP to ACP non LDCs;

- feasibility and impact of the EU's REPA proposal on ACP Subregions;

- objectives, principles, modalities and procedures of ACP-EU economic and trade cooperation

- the key sentences agreed on (contained in doc ACP/00/246/99 Rev.6 - CE/TFN/GCEC3/44); and

- clarification work pursued on a number of subjects.

In the exchange of views that followed the report, Council focussed on :

- an interim period of 10 years and an agreement to develop ACP views on alternative trade and the maintenance of non-reciprocal arrangements over the period;

- the report of the ACP Experts was adopted and the Experts were given a further mandate to consolidate their proposals on principles and objectives for inclusion in the framework agreement.

Negotiating Group 4 : Financial cooperation

The report by Hon.Gerald Ssendaula Minister of Finance, Planning and Economic Development of Uganda covered the following subjects :

i) areas of agreement for which there was preliminary approval of the key sentences;

- general provisions

- financial cooperation

- technical cooperation

- procedures and management systems; and

- the 5 annexes setting out dispositions for implementation of financial assistance.

ii) Areas of disagreement, namely :

- scope of financing

- nature of financing

- the need to retain Stabex and Sysmin

- humanitarian and emergency assistance.

iii) Outstanding matters :

- debt and structural adjustment.

In the exchange of views that ensued, Council stressed the following points:

- that the ACP should continue to press for additional resources to ensure stability in financial flows;

- direct EU budgetary support should not lead to supplanting national authority, especially in setting up national priorities;

- ACP should seek to have their nationals as "Chief and Authorising Officer";

- the ACP Group should not give up the idea of concessionary loans.

Council adopted the Negotiating Groups' progress reports.

Having learnt of the demise of the father of the Ambassador of Ghana, H.E. Nana Oye Mansa YEBOAA I, Spokesperson for Group 4, Council directed the Secretary General to convey condolences on behalf of the President and the ACP Council of Ministers.

9. Implementation of Decisions No.1,2,3 and 4 of the Libreville Declaration of the 1^st ACP Summit [ACP/28/007/99]

Following a detailed presentation by the Secretary General on the action taken on each of the decisions captioned above, Council held an exchange of views in which specific reference was made to :

i. The preparation for the WTO Multilateral Negotiations

Council urged that the ACP Group participate actively in the preparatory process of the next round of WTO Multilateral Negotiations to ensure that the interests of the Group are taken into account. To that end, the ACP should work in close collaboration with the EU, towards the preparation for the Ministerial Conference.

ii. Decision No.4 on Institutional Reform

Council mentioned the potential difficulties that could arise if the Secretary General and the proposed Under Secretaries General (see Doc. ACP/41/049/99) were appointed by the same authority. To avoid such possible conflict at the top management level, it would be necessary to clearly define their roles.

Council further took note of the progress report on the implementation of Decision No.4 contained in document ACP/41/049/99 and agreed to extend the time for completion of the final report to 31^st October 1999, and required the Committee of Ambassadors to take account of the comments made at the current session of Council.

In conclusion, the Ministers requested the Secretary General to broaden and upgrade the existing report (document ACP/28/007/99) to include other decisions adopted in the context of the Declaration itself, for submission to the next meeting of Council, through the Committee of Ambassadors.

10. Update on preparations for the 2^nd Summit of ACP Heads of State and Government

Having heard an oral update by Hon. Dr Eduardo LATORRE, Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Dominican Republic, on the physical preparations of the Summit, Council decided to entrust the Dominican Republic with the task of ensuring that all physical arrangements were put in place in good time for the successful hosting of the Second Summit of ACP Heads of State and Government at the end of November 1999.

11. Institutional matters :

a. Information Note on the election of a Secretary General [ACP/27/014/99 Rev.2]

b. Appointment of a Deputy Secretary General

c. Contracts of members of staff of the General Secretariat [ACP/27/015/99]

Having considered the Secretariat's notes captioned above, Council instructed the Committee of Ambassadors to have the two posts advertised within the prescribed time. To facilitate the process of selection of these senior posts and those of the ACP-EU institutions on the basis of the provisions of Article 20(3) of the Georgetown Agreement, Council advised that regions conduct internal consultations with a view to making proposals.

With respect to other members of staff of the Secretariat, Council having noted the exercise underway in relation to the implementation of Decision No.4 of the Libreville Declaration. Council instructed the Committee of Ambassadors and the Secretary General to take the necessary measures to ensure continuity in the effective and efficient running of the Secretariat during the transition from the ending of the current Convention and a successor Agreement.

12. Joint Assembly matters :

28^th session of the ACP-EU Joint Assembly (Strasbourg, 29^th March - 1^st April 1999)

Council took note of the resolutions adopted at the 28^th session of the ACP-EU Joint Assembly held in Strasbourg, France, from 29^th March to 1^st April 1999.

The Head of Delegation of The Bahamas reminded Council that the Bahamas would be hosting the 29^th session of the Assembly. He added that an advance team had visited Nassau and was satisfied with the state of preparations. The authorities were seeking to make arrangements to waive visa requirements. Finally, the country was looking forward to the occasion.

13. Appointment of the members of the Incoming Ministerial Bureau :[ref.doc. ACP/549/79 Rev.35]

Council appointed the countries listed below, nominated by their various regions, to serve on its new Bureau as from 1^st November 1999 :

Caribbean : ST VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES (President)

Pacific : Papua New Guinea

West Africa : Côte d'Ivoire

Central Africa : Burundi

East Africa : Madagascar

Southern Africa : South Africa

Taking the floor, the Head of Delegation of St Vincent and the Grenadines, after thanking Council for the appointment, indicated that he was accepting it with humility and expressed his determination to work for achieving the noble objectives of the ACP Group.

14. Outcome of the 69^th ACP Council session

- Adoption of decisions and resolutions

Council adopted the decisions and resolutions listed below :

A : Decisions

Decision No.1/LXIX/99 : The ACP General Secretariat's financial situation

Decision No.2/LXIX/99 : Review of the scale of contributions

Decision No.3/LXIX/99: The Association ACP National Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Economic Operators

Decision No.4/LXIX/99 : The advertisement of the posts of Secretary General and Deputy Secretary General of the ACP Group

Decision No.5/LXIX/99 : Contracts of the members of staff of the ACP General Secretariat

Decision No.6/LXIX/99 : Hosting of the Second Summit of the ACP Heads of State and Government

B: Resolutions

Resolution No.1/LXIX/99 : Bananas

Resolution No.2/LXIX/99 : Rum

Resolution No.3/LXIX/99 : Sugar

Resolution No.4/LXIX/99 : Stabex transfers for Sudan for 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996 and 1997 years of application

Resolution No.5/LXIX/99 : Stabex transfers for Burundi for 1991, 1992 and 1993 years of application.

Resolution No.6/LXIX/99 : Development Finance Cooperation

The decisions and resolutions captioned above are attached as an annex.

15. Date and Venue of :

a. 70th session of ACP Council of Ministers

The 70^th session of the ACP Council of Ministers would take place from 6^th to 8^th November 199⁹ in Brussels.

b. the Third Joint Ministerial Negotiating Conference

The third Joint Ministerial Negotiating Conference was scheduled to take place from 9^th to 10^th November 1999 in Brussels.

c. the 25^th ACP-EU (ordinary) session

The 25^th ordinary session of the ACP-EU Council of Ministers would take place in Spring 2000 at a date and place to be determined after consultations between the two parties.

d. Signing ceremony of the successor Agreement to the Lomé IV Convention

Council took note of the offers received and agreed to revert to the subject at a subsequent session.

In the fringes of the Council session, Council received Mr Mike MOORE, the new Director General of the WTO, who made an address to Council.

16. Any other business

Conclusion

In his concluding remarks, the President thanked the Committee of Ambassadors for the preparatory work done to assist Council. He made special mention of those who had been closely associated with the preparation of the documents, the interpreters and other persons whose work contributed to the success of the Council session.

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