CELEX: 51981PC0034
Language: en
Date: 1981-01-29 00:00:00
Title: RECOMMENDATION FOR A COUNCIL DECISION ON THE SIGNATURE AND CONCLUSION OF THE 1980 INTERNATIONAL COCOA AGREEMENT (presented by the Commission to the Council)

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DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM (81) 34
Vol. 1981/0008
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 ---pagebreak---                                                                  COM ( 81 ) 34 final
      COMMISSION                                                Brussels , _ n . ,       .
        OF THE
                                                                           29th January 1981
EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES                                             FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
    General Secretariat
                             RECOMMENDATION FOR A COUNCIL DECISION
                             ON THE SIGNATURE AND CONCLUSION OF THE
                              1980 INTERNATIONAL COCOA AGREEMENT
                        ( presented by the Commission to the Council )
        COM ( 81 ) 34 final
 ---pagebreak---     Recommendation for a Council Decision on the Signature and Conclusion
                of the 1980 International Cocoa Agreement
                           Explanatory Memorandum
Negotiation of the 1980 International Cocoa Agreement was completed on
 19 November 1980 .  Cocoa is one of the most important "basic commodities
included in the UTTCTAD Integrated Programme .
The main elements in the new three-year agreement are the following:
- a 250,000 tonne international buffer stock which could be raised to
   350,000 tonnes if the Agreement were extended for a further two years ;
- a price range from US 100 cts/lb ( minimum price ) to
   US 160 cts/lb ( maximum price ), with two intervention prices for the
   buffer stock at 110 and 150 cts , leaving a 40 c free zone ;
- arrangements for adjusting intervention prices in the light of market
   conditions tied to net buffer-stock buying or selling operations over
   a given period ;
- complementary measures to maintain minimum and maximum prices to be decided
   on by the Agreement Board , after exhaustion of buffer-stock capacity .
The buffer stock is to be financed by transferring funds from the first
two Agreements ( some 230 million dollars), the levy of contributions on
trade in the commodity, borrowings by the buffer stock guaranteed by
warrants , and any other arrangement for complementary financing that the
Board may recommend to the Governments .    Provision is made for future
association with the Common Fund .
 ---pagebreak---                             -   2 -
  2.   The Agreement wae negotiated by the Community and its Member States
       in accordance with directives approved by the Council^ • These
       directives were followed satisfactorily as regards both the aims
       and the content of the Agreement . The Community and its Member
      States played a crucial role in the negotiation, which followed
      upon two years 1 efforts and the break-downs in November 1979 and
      March 1980 , which led to termination of the 1 975 International
      Agreement .
  3 . The Agreement is open for signature from 5 January to 31 March 1981
      inclusive .  It will enter into force definitively or provisionally
      on 1 April 1981 * or during the two following months , provided not less
      that 5 exporting countries representing 80^ of total exports and
      importing countries representing 70% of total imports have deposited
      their instruments of acceptance or notified their intention of
                                           2
      applying the Agreement provisionally •     Even if these conditions are
      not satisfied the Agreement can still enter into force after this
      date as between governments who so decide at a meeting convened by
      the UNCTAD Secretary-General .
  4.  With regard to the conditions for the entry into force and
      implementation of the Agreement , the Commission suggests that the
      Community utilize the appropriate procedure and diplomatic channels
      to persuade the United States , a major importing country, and the
      Ivory Coast , a major exporting country , to re-consider the positions
      they adopted at the end of the negotiating conference .
      With more particular reference to the Ivory Coast , Togo and Gabon,
      ACP countries whose participation, if not essential , is still very
      desirable if the Agreement is to enter into force by the scheduled
      date , the Community should raise the matter with these countries ,
      in view of the marked interest shown by the other ACP countries in
  Council documents 4435/79 of ?-4 January 1 979 * 4688/79 of 7 February 1 979 *
  5325/80 of 27 February 1980 , 8827/80 of 16 July 1980 , 9901/80 of
  29 September 1980
2
  These percentages require the participation of the Ivory Coast ( 22.5^),
  but not necessarily that of the United States ( 22.5
 ---pagebreak--- the Agreement "being concluded ( Ghana, Cameroon, Zaire , Trinidad
and Tobago , etc .), and by the other developing countries concerned
( Brazil and Ecuador in particular).
The Community should complete the procedure for the acceptance
of the Agreement as quickly as possible so that it can enter into
force on 1 April 19^1 , as the commodity* s situation on the world
market has been deteriorating rapidly for some months now , there
being no stabilizing machinery in operation.    There is no reason
for the Community to hold out until it IOKWS whether the United
States and the Ivory Coast are going to sign the Agreement .    It
was a motive force behind the negotiation of the Agreement ; it
ought , logically, to play the same part in its implementation.
The Commission therefore recommends that the Council adopt the
attached draft decision .
 ---pagebreak---                                                         Annex I
                     RECOMMENDATION FOR A
                       COUNCIL DECISION
                   on the conclusion of the
              I9S0 International Cocoa Agreement
THE COUNCIL OP THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES ,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic
Community, and in particular Article 113 thereof ;
Having regard to the recommendation from the Commission ;
Whereas the I98O International Cocoa Agreement is an instrument
for regulating world trade whose main object is to balance supply
and demand in respect of cocoa so that its price may be stabilized
in line with market conditions ;
HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS :
                            Article 1
The 1980 International Cocoa Agreement is hereby approved on
behalf of the European Economic Community ,  The text of the
Agreement is annexed to this Decision .
                            Article 2
The President of the Council is hereby authorized to designate the
person who shall be empowered to sign the Agreement so as to
commit the Community,
                            Article 3
This Decision shall be published in the Official Journal of the
European Communities ,
Done at Brussels , ••••«,,«••                   For the Council
                                                  The President