RESOLUTION(1)

on the WTO Millennium Round of negotiations

The ACP-EU Joint Assembly,

- meeting in Nassau (Bahamas) from 11 October to 14 October 1999,

- having regard to its previous resolutions on the WTO,

- having regard to the Marrakech agreements,

A. whereas a new round of multilateral negotiations will be opened in Seattle next November,

B. whereas the main aim of the World Trade Organisation must be to organise world trade in a balanced way which enables all parts of the world to develop harmoniously under rules of fair competition,

C. bearing in mind that the benefits of worldwide free trade eventually, and the immediate costs of multi-lateral trade liberalisation under the Uruguay Round have to be evenly spread between industrialised and developing countries and that a better balance needs to be established in favour of developing countries, to enable and empower the transition,

D. recalling that the Lomé Convention is a comprehensive multilateral agreement which recognises preferential trade arrangement in favour of ACP countries as development instruments,

E. recalling that the EU mandate offers to rollover Lomé preferences until 2005 with a five year waiver and then graduate towards WTO compatible free trade arrangements which will not require a waiver,

F. whereas the ACP seek a ten-year waiver at the WTO during which they can consider alternative arrangements to take effect from 2006 in light of EU's GSP revision, the CAP reform, the EU enlargement and the outcome of the millennium round,

G. recognising, in this connection, the special situation of small States, which by virtue of their small size, face severe constraints such as undue exposure to external factors and risks beyond their control, high volatility of terms of trade because of a narrow base of export products and limited possibilities for diversification,

H. proposing that those States must be supported technically and financially in a stronger regional approach and cooperation which could be a base of a better development in future,

I. further recognising that the ACP States, with few exceptions, are net food importing, developing, least-developed, land-locked or island States with particular economic and social difficulties, which rely on only a few commodities for their socio-economic development,

J. recognising the multi-functional nature of agriculture for ACP countries, its role as a foreign exchange earner and major employer and its contribution to food security, environmental protection and rural development and the improvement of the condition of women,

K. noting that a WTO panel earlier this year ruled against certain aspects of the EU banana import regime and that the EU Council subsequently agreed to reform the system whilst honouring its obligations under the Lomé Convention,

L. whereas a lowering of trade barriers would substantially contribute to the expansion of South-South trade,

1. Formally requests the Council, the Commission, the governments of the ember States of the EU and the governments of the ACP States to make every effort to ensure that the "millennium round" negotiations lead to the recognition by the WTO of the preferential agreements as development aid instruments;

2. Requests a strengthening and differentiation of WTO mechanisms in order to reconcile by a common action the interests of developed and developing countries and, in particular, greater consideration for the objective of combating poverty;

3. Considers that the opening up to external markets can play a pivotal role in the development of the ACP countries and calls on the Commission and the ACP-EU Council to include in the new Lomé Convention provision seeking to strengthen ACP economies and enhance their competitiveness on the world market;

4. Calls on the Council to adjust the present common agricultural policy in order to make the European market more accessible to ACP countries;

5. Stresses the importance of adopting a flexible and open position within the WTO in order to consider the implementation problems encountered by the various countries on an individual basis with a view to finding appropriate and satisfactory solutions for the ACP countries' development prospects;

6. Calls on the future ACP and European negotiators to draw up a common strategy in order to facilitate the taking into account by the WTO of the legitimacy of the health, human rights, environmental and social norms which it tends to regard as obstacles to world trade;

7. Calls on the EU to ensure, during regional and multilateral trade negotiations, that the necessary coherence exists between its development priorities and its trade liberalisation strategies, in particular by making sure that interregional liberalisation between the EU and the developing countries does not compromise those countries' development efforts;

8. Requests the continuation of the Lomé trade preferences and protocols for a sufficiently long transitional period in order to allow ACP countries to protect and develop their economies until the playing field becomes even,

9. Requests the Commission and the EU to be mindful of the special status of the Sugar Protocol, which is of indefinite duration, and to ensure that the benefits the ACP sugar supplying States currently enjoy under the Sugar Protocol and the Special Sugar Agreement (SPS) are not further eroded;

10. Emphasises the need for special and differential treatment for small States, both in terms of access to concessionary finance and trade preferences, with due regard to their vulnerability and limited capacity to withstand external risks and threats, and including the financial and technical assistance for a better regional approach and coordination;

11. Calls on the Commission and the EU to ensure that in the forthcoming WTO round binding commitments are made to implement adequately the Marrakech decision in favour of LDCs and net food-importing developing countries and for technical and financial assistance to be provided by international institutions to improve agricultural productivity;

12. Stresses the fundamental importance of due recognition being given to the multifunctional nature of agriculture and of diverse agricultural systems being recognised and preserved;

13. Urges the Commission and the ACP governments to particularly emphasise the role to be played in the trade liberalisation process by private small companies, private investors and civil society actors and to set up and implement specific programmes assisting them;

14. Stresses the need for assessments of the impact of liberalisation measures on sustainable development (health, environment, poverty) in the developing countries to be taken into account both by the EU and by the WTO, and calls for consideration of the arrangements intended to enable the results of such assessments to be incorporated systematically into WTO procedures and rules;

15. Condemns the imposition and retention of retaliatory sanctions by the United States against European exports, despite the EU's evident determination to comply fully with the WTO ruling;

16. Calls on the EU, as it reforms its banana import regime, to comply with the 1999 WTO ruling, to ensure that ACP bananas will continue to be able to access the EU market on a viable basis and, furthermore, to retain the tariff rate quota system;

17. Instructs its Co-Presidents to forward this resolution to the ACP-EU Council, the Commission and the Director-General of the WTO.

(1) Adopted by the ACP-EU Joint Assembly on 14 October 1999 in Nassau (Bahamas).