Decision No 1/2003 of the Joint Committee on Agriculture set up by the Agreement between the European Community and the Swiss Confederation on trade in agricultural products

of 21 October 2003

concerning the adoption of its Rules of Procedure

(2003/808/EC)

THE JOINT COMMITTEE,

Having regard to the Agreement between the European Community, of the one part, and the Swiss Confederation, of the other part, on trade in agricultural products (hereinafter referred to as the Agreement), and in particular Article 6(4) thereof,

Whereas that Agreement entered into force on 1 June 2002,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

Chair

The office of Chair of the Committee shall be held alternately for a period of one calendar year by the European Community and the Swiss Confederation, hereinafter referred to as "the Parties".

Article 2

Secretariat

The Chair shall carry out the secretarial duties of the Committee. The Chair shall transmit to the heads of delegation the name and other particulars of the person performing the secretarial tasks.

Article 3

Meetings

1. The Chair shall fix the date and venue of meetings in agreement with the heads of delegation.

2. If a head of delegation requests that an extraordinary meeting be held, the Chair shall convene such a meeting within 30 days of the request being received.

3. Unless otherwise decided, the meetings of the Committee shall not be public.

Article 4

Delegations

1. Before each meeting, the heads of delegation shall inform the Chair of the intended composition of their delegation.

2. The Parties shall appoint the heads of delegation who, outside the meetings, are to be the contact persons for all matters relating to the Agreement.

3. The Committee may invite persons who are not members of the delegations to attend meetings in order to provide information on specific issues.

Article 5

Correspondence

All correspondence to or for the Chair of the Committee shall be sent to the secretariat of the Committee. The latter shall send a copy of all correspondence relating to the Agreement to the heads of delegation, to the Swiss Mission to the European Union, and to the Commission of the European Communities.

Article 6

Agendas for meetings

1. The Chair shall draw up the provisional agenda for each meeting. The provisional agenda shall be sent to the heads of delegation no later than 15 working days before the start of the meeting.

The provisional agenda shall include the items in respect of which the Chair has received a request for entry in the agenda at least 21 days before the start of the meeting. Such items shall be entered in the provisional agenda only if, where relevant, the documents relating to them have been sent to the Chair no later than the date on which that agenda is sent.

2. The agenda shall be adopted by joint agreement by the heads of delegation at the start of each meeting. An item other than those appearing on the provisional agenda may be placed on the agenda if the heads of delegation so agree.

3. With the agreement of the heads of delegation, the Chair may agree to reduce the time limits set out in paragraph 1 in order to take account of the requirements of a particular case.

Article 7

Minutes

1. The secretariat shall draw up draft minutes of each meeting. The draft shall state the decisions taken, the recommendations made and the conclusions adopted. The draft minutes shall be submitted to the Committee for approval. Once adopted by the Committee, the minutes shall be signed by the Chair, the secretariat of the Committee and the head of delegation of the Party not holding the office of Chair. An original copy shall be kept by each of the Parties.

2. The draft minutes shall be drawn up within 10 working days of the meeting and shall be submitted to the Committee for approval under the written procedure set out in Article 9. If that procedure cannot be completed, the minutes shall be adopted by the Committee at the next meeting.

Article 8

Adoption of instruments

1. The decisions and recommendations of the Committee within the meaning of Articles 6 and 12 of the Agreement shall bear the title "Decision" and "Recommendation", followed by a serial number, the date of adoption and an indication of the subject matter.

2. The decisions and recommendations of the Committee shall bear the signatures of the Chair, the secretariat of the Committee and the head of delegation of the Party not holding the office of Chair.

3. Either Party may decide to publish any instrument adopted by the Committee.

Article 9

Written procedure

1. The instruments of the Committee may be adopted by written procedure where the two heads of delegation so agree.

2. The Party proposing the use of the written procedure shall submit the draft instrument to the other Party. The other Party shall reply, indicating whether it accepts or does not accept the draft, whether it proposes any amendments, or whether it requests further time for reflection. If the draft is adopted, it shall be finalised in accordance with Article 8.

Article 10

Expenses

Each Party shall bear the expenses it incurs in taking part in the meetings of the Committee.

Article 11

Confidentiality

The deliberations of the Committee shall be governed by professional secrecy.

Article 12

Working Groups

The working groups shall operate under the authority of the Committee, to which they shall submit a written report after each of their meetings. The report shall be sent to the secretariat of the Committee, which shall forward it to the heads of delegation. The working groups shall not be authorised to take decisions, but may make recommendations to the Committee.

Each working group shall be assisted by the representatives of the Parties, which shall decide on the number and identity of those representatives.

For the Joint Committee on Agriculture

The Heads of Delegations

Signed at Brussels, 21 October 2003

For the Swiss Confederation

Christian Häberli

For the European Community

Aldo Longo

For the Secretariat of the Joint Committee on Agriculture

Remigi Winzap