• WTO Ministerial Conference in Seattle

The Council had an exchange of views on the next Millennium Round of multilateral trade negotiations scheduled to be launched in Seattle in November 1999.

The ACP side stressed its preoccupations that the interests of the developing countries be taken into account when the issues for discussions in the new Round are decided upon, in particular with regard to special and differential treatment. The EU indicated that in its opinion the next Millennium Round should be of a global and comprehensive nature with a strong development component as the system needs to be in a position to react to and take into account the specific economic and social constraints of the developing countries and, in particular, the least developed countries.

The ACP and the EU side agreed to continue their consultations in preparation for these negotiations ahead of the Seattle meeting.

• UNCTAD-X Conference

The Council had an exchange of views on the preparation of the UNCTAD-X Conference planned to take place in Bangkok in February next year. It will be devoted in particular to the examination of the questions linked to the integration of developing countries into the global economy and their participation in world trade, as well as strategies to facilitate this integration.

The ACP and EU side agreed to continue their consultations in preparation for this importance Conference.

• Bananas

The Council had an exchange of views on the future of the EU banana regime. The ACP countries expressed their concern that the interests of ACP banana producers be taken into account when the Commission formulates its proposals for amending the EU banana regime to make it fully compatible with the rulings of the WTO and when the EU Council decides on the basis of these proposals.

The Council took note of the intention of the EU to proceed with any modifications to the EU banana regime in close co-ordination with the ACP side.

The Council took note of a statement by the Minister of Agriculture of Mauritius, Alvin BOOLEL, on the possible impact on ACP sugar exports of the forthcoming international trade negotiations relating to agriculture, the preparation by the Commission of proposals on the future EU sugar regime and the intention of the ACP countries to present a document explaining their stand in this respect, highlighting the specific interests of the ACP sugar producing countries.

The Council took note of the oral report from the Committee on Commodities which took place on 28 July 1999 at Ministerial level:

"The Ministerial Committee noted the joint report on the meeting of the Commodities Committee at Ambassadors' level.

The following matters were discussed:

The two sides reviewed the situation concerning existing commodity agreements.

The International Cocoa Agreement had entered the phase in which its second-generation economic clauses became fully applicable. Despite the lack of stabilisation arrangements and mechanisms, producers and consumers were working together to ensure that, as far as possible, production was geared to consumption. The Agreement had accordingly been extended for an initial phase of two years until 2001.

However, producers and consumers would be called upon in the coming months to consider the actual impact of the provisions concerning the policies on concerted production and on consumption in order to find suitable arrangements for the continuation of effective international cooperation in this matter.

With regard to the International Coffee Agreement, the two sides welcomed the fact that at the extraordinary meeting of the International Coffee Council in London on 21 July 1999, producers and consumers had adopted a Resolution stipulating that:

The ACP side urged the need for the Community to finalise its negotiating directives as soon as possible in order that this timetable could be met.

The European Union noted this wish.

As regards the International Tropical Timber Agreement, the two sides expressed their satisfaction at the fact that the framework for a fruitful dialogue had been established. This could only make it easier to achieve the sustainable management of tropical forests by the year 2000 that all parties wanted to see. However, the ACP Group was concerned about the limited resources for achieving the Year 2000 Objective, which was also included in Protocol No 10 on sustainable management of forest resources.

In response, it was stressed that in addition to the funds provided for this purpose, a budget line of EUR 50 million per year had been made available by the European Parliament.

Regarding the Common Fund for Commodities, the two sides welcomed the adoption of the new strategy introduced by the five-year action plan, which gave that organisation a new impetus, despite the crisis that was affecting all commodity organisations.

The two sides noted that the difficult question of using financial resources from the "first window" also seemed to have been resolved satisfactorily with a redistribution of members' shares, as long as a large proportion of those shares was paid back to the "second window", thus increasing its capacity to achieve specific objectives.

In this particular area, both sides said that some progress had been made towards Community harmonisation, not only in the direction sought by the European Parliament but also in that sought by the ACP partners. A final compromise formula seemed possible, but there was not as yet a true consensus on it among all the parties concerned.

Among other things, the compromise concerned:

However the ACP side said that the methods for detecting and quantifying vegetable fats other than cocoa butter were still not reliable (10% of such fats could not be reliably detected).

The EC noted this concern and said that it would provide the ACP Group with information on further developments in methods of analysis as soon as they became available.

The two sides noted that it was necessary to continue contributing actively to discussions in the various multilateral fora, endeavouring to safeguard the principles of constructive dialogue and international cooperation in the commodities field. They considered that UNCTAD X provided a framework that was conducive to close consultations for improving the integration of the ACP States' economies into the international economic system in the process of globalisation and liberalisation.

The two sides therefore agreed to hold further consultations ahead of the 10th session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development to be held in Thailand in February 2000.

Lastly, it should be noted that the Minister of Guyana, on behalf of his country and Suriname, voiced his concern regarding the arrangements applying to rice, and on behalf of Caribbean States, on rum. The Committee took note of these comments.

This, then, is the report on the meeting of the Commodities Committee at Ministerial level."

The Council took note of the oral report from the Development Finance Cooperation Committee which took place on 28 July 1999 at Ministerial level comprising the following elements:

The Council approved the report of the Committee and adopted the Resolution on development finance cooperation.

The President of the EU Council informed the ACP side on the state of play regarding the negotiations for accession to the Union in conformity with the provisions of Article 358 of the Lomé Convention.

"THE ACP-EC COUNCIL:

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