ACP SECRETARIAT
PRESS RELEASE
Gaborone, 4-5 May 2004
ACP COUNCIL OF MINISTERS
TOWARDS STRENGTHENING THE ACP STRATEGY FOR THE
REVISION OF THE COTONOU AGREEMENT AND THE EPA AND WTO NEGOTIATIONS.
The ACP Council of Ministers meeting in Gaborone, Botswana on 4 and
5 May 2004, under the presidency of Mr. Pierre MOUSSA (Congo), took
decisions on issues of vital importance to the ACP Group such as the
revision of the Cotonou Agreement, the ACP-EU EPA negotiations and the
ACP strategy for resolving the post-Cancun stalemate situation at the
WTO.
During the session, the ACP Ministers strongly affirmed their resolve
to make the solidarity among the ACP regions an essential element of
their trade negotiating strategy for the EPAs as well as the WTO negotiations.
As regards the revision of the Cotonou Agreement, they agreed that it
should not take the form of a renegotiation and that the main objective
of the Agreement, the fight against poverty, should be central to the
process.
The main decisions and resolutions adopted by Council are as follows:
Revision of the Cotonou Agreement. The ACP Council of Ministers approved
the structure of the negotiations that will be conducted at three levels:
ministerial, ambassadorial, and technical, as well as their timetable.
The negotiations were formally launched at the ACP-EU Council of Ministers
that followed the ACP session.
Negotiations for Economic Partnership Agreements. The ACP States decided
to pursue discussions relating to the first phase of the negotiations
at the all-ACP- level on a number of issues. The most important part
of the decision concerns the continuation of the negotiations with the
EU at the all-ACP phase, having regard to the fact that four issues
should be negotiated at that level, namely, trade-related matters (with
the exception of the Singapore issues), rules of origin, settlement
of disputes and the non-execution clause. As regards the EPAs, the ACP
Ministers believe that no link can be established between those agreements
and the provisions of the Cotonou Agreement relating to political consultations
and the related sanctions. Still on the EPA negotiations, the ACP Council
of Ministers proposed to the EU side that the consideration of the situation
of the non-LDC ACP countries that are not in a position to conclude
this type of agreement, be postponed to 2004.
WTO, DOHA WORK PROGRAMME
The ACP Council of Ministers decided to fine-tune its strategy in the
context of the post-Cancun situation with a view to consolidating its
leadership in safeguarding the interests of developing countries. Among
the salient points of its agenda were: two G-90 meetings to be held
on the initiative of two ACP countries, Guyana and Mauritius, in June
and July 2004 respectively; presentation of the ACP’s points of view
to the forthcoming UNCTAD session in July 2004; and organisation of
a special meeting of the ACP Ministers of Trade prior to the next session
of the WTO General Council.
Amendment of the rules of procedure of the ACP-EU joint institutions
under the ACP-EC Partnership Agreement
This exercise should concern the composition of these institutions whose
membership numbers should be modified in accordance with the criteria
of parity and the use of the working languages.
Health Standards. Council took a decision and voted a resolution on
health standards, the main objective being to prevent them from being
used as non-tariff barriers against ACP products on the European markets.
The decision concerns an aid programme designed to help coffee, cocoa
and groundnut producers to improve the quality of their products in
respect of which the ACP is seeking financial and technical assistance
from the European Union. The resolution focuses on the amount of cadmium
and heavy metals in swordfish and other fish for which the levels set
by the EU are considered to be too high by the ACP.
A Council decision focuses on the campaign against drought and desertification
on which it adopted a joint ACP-EU draft declaration.
Resolution on cotton. The ACP Ministers urged the EU Council to reduce
the cotton export subsidies a step towards the ultimate removal of all
forms of subsidies which distort the cotton market.
Among the other resolutions adopted by Council was one dealing with
access to affordable medicines, three resolutions on commodities – rice,
sugar and bananas – by which the ACP Group underscored its concern at
the threat of erosion of the benefits it has been enjoying on the European
markets and called for the EU’s support to help consolidate these sectors
which are vital to some ACP economies.
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