2001/484/EC: Decision No 4/2001 of the ACP-EC Committee of Ambassadors of 24 April 2001 concerning the Rules of Procedure of the Joint ACP-EC Ministerial Trade Committee
Date: 2001-04-24
Institutions: ACP Committee of Ambassadors
Subjects: ACP countries, ACP-EU Committee of Ambassadors, ACP-EU Convention, joint committee (EU), rules of procedure, trade agreement (EU)

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Official Journal of the European Communities

28.6.2001

II

(Acts whose publication is not obligatory)

COUNCIL

DECISION No 4/2001 OF THE ACP-EC COMMITTEE OF AMBASSADORS

of 24 April 2001

concerning the Rules of Procedure of the Joint ACP-EC Ministerial Trade Committee

(2001/484/EC)

THE ACP-EC COMMITTEE OF AMBASSADORS,

Having regard to the Partnership Agreement between the
Members of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States,
of the one part, and, the European Community and its Member
States of the other part, signed in Cotonou on 23 June 2000,
hereinafter referred to as ‘the Agreement’, and in particular
Article 38(3) thereof,

Whereas:

(1)

(2)

(3)

the
In accordance with Decision No 1/2000 (1) of
ACP-EC Council of Ministers, the relevant parts of the
Agreement provisionally entered into force on 2 August
2000.

Article 38(1) of the Agreement sets up a Joint Ministerial
Trade Committee.

By Decision of 22 June 2000, the ACP-EC Council of
Ministers delegated its powers as regards the adoption of
the Rules of Procedure of that Committee to the ACP-EC
Committee of Ambassadors,

HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

Composition

The Joint Ministerial Trade Committee, hereafter referred
1.
to as ‘the Trade Committee’, shall be composed, on the one
hand, of a minister from each Member State of the European
Community and a member of the Commission of the European
Communties and, on the other hand, of 18 ministers from the
the
ACP States.
number of ministers of ACP States shall be reviewed.

In the event of Community enlargement,

Each party shall communicate the names of its represen-

2.
tatives to the Secretariat of the Trade Committee.

3.
The Trade Committee may decide to set up a number of
smaller groups, composed of an equal number of ACP and EC
the
members of

the Committee including a member of

Commission,
specific areas referred to in Article 12(1).

in order to draw up recommendations on the

Article 2

Chairmanship

The Trade Committee shall be chaired alternately, for a period
of six months, by the member of the Commission of the
European Communities on behalf of the European Community,
and by a representative of the ACP States. The first Chairman
shall be a representative of the ACP States.

Article 3

Meetings

The Trade Committee shall meet at least once a year or

1.
more frequently at the request of either party.

2.
The Trade Committee shall meet either where the meet-
ings of the Council of the European Union are usually held or
at the seat of the General Secretariat of the ACP Group of
States, or in a city of one of the ACP States, in accordance with
the decision taken by the Trade Committee.

The meetings of the Trade Committee shall be convened

3.
by its Chairman.

4.
The proceedings of the Trade Committee shall be valid
only if a majority of the representatives of the Member States
of the European Community, a member of the Commission of
the European Communities and a majority of the representa-
tives of
the ACP States who are Committee members are
present.

Article 4

Representation

(1) OJ L 195, 1.8.2000, p. 46.

The members of the Trade Committee may be repre-

1.
sented if they are prevented from attending a meeting.

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A member wishing to be so represented must notify the
2.
Chairman of the name of his representative before the meeting.

The representative of a member of the Trade Committee

3.
shall exercise all the rights of that member.

Article 5

Delegations

The members of the Trade Committee may be accompa-

1.
nied by officials responsible for trade matters.

Before each meeting, the Chairman shall be informed of

2.
the intended composition of the delegation of each party.

3.
parties,

The Trade Committee may, by agreement between the

invite non-members to attend its meetings.

Representatives of regional or sub-regional organisations
4.
of the ACP engaged in an economic integration process may
attend the meeting as observers, subject to prior approval by
the Trade Committee.

Article 10

Agenda for meetings

1.
The Chairman shall draw up a provisional agenda for
each meeting. The Secretariat of the Trade Committee shall
forward it to the addressees not later than 15 days before the
beginning of the meeting.

2.
The provisional agenda shall include the items in respect
of which the Chairman has received a request for inclusion in
the agenda from either party not later than 21 days before the
beginning of
the meeting. The ACP-EC Sub-Committee on
Trade Cooperation may also present a request that items be
included on the agenda. In this case, the Co-Chairmen of the
in the
said Sub-Committee shall be invited to take part
meeting.

3.
In agreement with the parties, the time limits laid down
may be shortened in order to take account of the requirements
of a particular case.

The agenda shall be adopted by the Trade Committee at

4.
the beginning of each meeting.

Article 6

Secretariat

Article 11

Minutes

The Secretariat of the ACP-EC Council of Ministers shall act as
Secretariat of the Trade Committee.

Article 7

Documents

The Secretariat of the ACP-EC Council of Ministers shall be
responsible for the establishment of all the documents neces-
sary for the meetings of the Trade Committee.

When the deliberations of the Trade Committee are based on
written documents, such documents shall be numbered and
circulated as documents of the Trade Committee by its Secre-
tariat.

Article 8

Correspondence

1.
All correspondence addressed to the Trade Committee or
to the Chairman thereof shall be forwarded to the Secretariat of
the Trade Committee.

The Secretariat shall see to it

that correspondence is
2.
in the case of documents
forwarded to its addressees, and,
referred to in Article 7,
the Trade
Committee. Correspondence circulated shall be sent to the
Secretariat General of
the European
Communities, the Permanent Representations of the Member
States of the European Union and the diplomatic missions of
the representatives of the ACP States.

to other members of

the Commission of

Article 9

Publicity

Unless otherwise decided, Trade Committee meetings shall not
be public.

Draft minutes of each meeting shall be drawn up as soon

1.
as possible jointly by the Secretariat.

As a general rule, the minutes shall show, in respect of

2.
each item on the agenda:

(a) the documentation submitted to the Trade Committee;

(b) statements the entry of which has been requested by a

member of the Trade Committee;

(c) the recommendations made, the statements agreed upon

and the conclusions adopted on specific items.

The minutes shall include a list of members of the Trade
in the

3.
Committee or their representatives who took part
meeting.

4.
The draft minutes shall be submitted to the Trade
Committee for approval at its next meeting. The draft minutes
may also be agreed in writing by the two parties. When the
minutes have been approved, two equally authentic copies
thereof shall be signed by the Secretariat and filed by the
parties. A copy of the minutes shall be forwarded to each of
the addressees referred to in Article 8.

Article 12

Recommendations

The Trade Committee shall make recommendations on
1.
all trade issues, including issues relating to multilateral trade
negotiations, economic partnership agreements, cooperation in
international fora and commodity issues, by mutual agreement
between the parties.

Between meetings,

2.
the Trade Committee may make
recommendations by written procedure if both parties so agree.
A written procedure shall consist of an exchange of notes
between the two co-secretaries of the Secretariat, acting in
agreement with the parties.

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Recommendations of the Trade Committee shall be enti-
3.
tled ‘recommendation’, followed by a serial number, the date of
their adoption and a description of their subject.

Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portu-
guese, Spanish and Swedish.

Recommendations of

4.
authenticated by the Secretariat and by the Chairman.

the Trade Committee shall be

Article 14

Expenses

5.
the
Recommendations shall be forwarded to each of
addressees referred to in Article 8 as documents of the Trade
Committee.

The Trade Committee shall make appropriate periodic

6.
reports to the ACP-EC Council of Ministers.

Paragraph 1 of Protocol 1 to the Agreement, on the operating
expenditure of the Joint Institutions, shall also apply to costs
incurred by the Trade Committee.

Done at Brussels, 24 April 2001.

Article 13

Languages

Unless decided otherwise, the Trade Committee shall conduct
its deliberations on the basis of documents drafted in Danish,

For the ACP-CE Committee of Ambassadors

The President

Z. NGAVIRUE