Composition of the International Cocoa Council
Article 6
1. The International Cocoa Council shall consist of all the Members of the Organization. 2. In the meetings of the Council, Members shall be represented by duly accredited delegates.
Council Decision of 17 May 2011 on the signing, on behalf… CHAPTER IV — THE INTERNATIONAL COCOA COUNCIL
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Powers and functions of the Council
Article 7
1. The Council shall exercise all such powers and perform or arrange for the performance of all such functions as are necessary to carry out the express provisions of this Agreement. 2. The Council shall not have the power, and shall not be taken to have been authorised by the Members, to incur any obligation outside the scope of this Agreement; in particular, it shall not have the capacity to borrow money. In exercising its capacity to contract, the Council shall incorporate in its contracts the terms of this provision and of Article 23 in such a way as to bring them to the notice of the other parties entering into contracts with the Council, but any failure to incorporate such terms shall not invalidate such a contract or render it ultra vires the Council. 3. The Council shall adopt such rules and regulations as are necessary to carry out the provisions of this Agreement and are consistent therewith, including its rules of procedure and those of its committees, and the financial and staff regulations of the Organization. The Council may, in its rules of procedure, provide for a procedure whereby it may, without meeting, decide specific questions. 4. The Council shall keep such records as are required for the performance of its functions under this Agreement, and such other records as it considers appropriate. 5. The Council may set up any working group(s) as appropriate to assist it in carrying out its task.
Chairman and Vice-Chairman of the Council
Article 8
1. The Council shall elect a Chairman and a Vice-Chairman for each cocoa year, who shall not be paid by the Organization. 2. Both the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman shall be elected from among the representatives of the exporting Members or from among the representatives of the importing Members. These offices shall alternate each cocoa year between the two categories. 3. In the temporary absence of both the Chairman and the Vice-Chairman or the permanent absence of one or both of them, the Council may elect new officers from among the representatives of the exporting Members or from among the representatives of the importing Members, as appropriate, on a temporary or permanent basis as may be required. 4. Neither the Chairman nor any other officer presiding at meetings of the Council shall vote. A member of his/her delegation may exercise the voting rights of the Member which he or she represents.
Sessions of the Council
Article 9
1. As a general rule, the Council shall hold one regular session in each half of the cocoa year. 2. The Council shall meet in special session whenever it so decides or at the request of: (a) Any five Members; (b) At least two Members having at least 200 votes; (c) The Executive Director, for the purposes of Articles 22 and 59. 3. Notice of sessions shall be given at least 30 calendar days in advance, except in case of emergency, where notice shall be at least 15 days. 4. Sessions shall normally be held at the headquarters of the Organization unless the Council decides otherwise. If, on the invitation of any Member, the Council decides to meet elsewhere than at the headquarters of the Organization, that Member shall pay the additional costs involved, as defined in the administrative rules of the Organization.
Votes
Article 10
1. The exporting Members shall together hold 1 000 votes and the importing Members shall together hold 1 000 votes, distributed within each category of Members — that is, exporting and importing Members, respectively — in accordance with the following paragraphs of this Article. 2. For each cocoa year, the votes of exporting Members shall be distributed as follows: each exporting Member shall have five basic votes. The remaining votes shall be divided among all the exporting Members in proportion to the average volume of their respective exports of cocoa in the preceding 3 cocoa years for which data have been published by the Organization in its latest issue of the Quarterly Bulletin of Cocoa Statistics . For this purpose, exports shall be calculated as net exports of cocoa beans plus net exports of cocoa products, converted to beans equivalent using the conversion factors as specified in Article 34. 3. For each cocoa year, the votes of importing Members shall be distributed among all importing Members in proportion to the average volume of their respective imports of cocoa in the preceding three cocoa years for which data have been published by the Organization in its latest issue of the Quarterly Bulletin of Cocoa Statistics . For this purpose, imports shall be calculated as net imports of cocoa beans plus gross imports of cocoa products, converted to beans equivalent using the conversion factors as specified in Article 34. No Member country shall have less than five votes. Hence voting rights of Member countries with above the minimum number of votes shall be redistributed among Members with below the minimum number of votes. 4. If, for any reason, difficulties should arise in the determination or the updating of the statistical basis for the calculation of votes in accordance with the provisions of paragraphs 2 and 3 of this Article, the Council may decide on a different statistical basis for the calculation of votes. 5. No Member except those mentioned in paragraphs 4 and 5 of Article 4 shall have more than 400 votes. Any votes above this figure arising from the calculations in paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 of this Article shall be redistributed among the other Members on the basis of those paragraphs. 6. When the membership in the Organization changes or when the voting rights of a Member are suspended or restored under any provision of this Agreement, the Council shall provide for the redistribution of votes in accordance with this Article. The European Union or any intergovernmental Organization as defined in Article 4 shall hold votes as a single Member according to the procedure set out in paragraphs 2 or 3 of this Article. 7. There shall be no fractional votes.
Voting procedure of the Council
Article 11
1. Each Member shall be entitled to cast the number of votes it holds and no Member shall be entitled to divide its votes. A Member may, however, cast differently from such votes any votes which it is authorised to cast under paragraph 2 of this Article. 2. By written notification to the Chairman of the Council, any exporting Member may authorise any other exporting Member, and any importing Member may authorise any other importing Member, to represent its interests and to cast its votes at any meeting of the Council. In this case the limitation provided for in paragraph 5 of Article 10 shall not apply. 3. A Member authorised by another Member to cast the votes held by the authorising Member under Article 10 shall cast such votes in accordance with the instructions of the authorising Member.
Decisions of the Council
Article 12
1. The Council shall endeavour to take all decisions and to make all recommendations by consensus. If consensus cannot be reached, the Council shall take decisions and make recommendations by a special vote, according to the following procedures: (a) If the majority required by the special vote is not obtained because of the negative vote of more than three exporting or more than three importing Members, the proposal shall be considered as rejected; (b) If the majority required by the special vote is not obtained because of the negative vote of three or less exporting or three or less importing Members, the proposal shall be put to a vote again within 48 hours; and (c) If the majority required by the special vote is again not obtained, the proposal shall be considered as rejected. 2. In arriving at the number of votes necessary for any of the decisions or recommendations of the Council, votes of Members abstaining shall not be taken into consideration. 3. Members are committed to accept as binding all decisions of the Council under the provisions of this Agreement.
Cooperation with other organisations
Article 13
1. The Council shall make whatever arrangements are appropriate for consultation or cooperation with the United Nations and its organs, in particular the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and with the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations and such other specialised agencies of the United Nations and intergovernmental organisations as may be appropriate. 2. The Council, bearing in mind the particular role of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development in international commodity trade, shall, as appropriate, keep that organisation informed of its activities and programmes of work. 3. The Council may also make whatever arrangements are appropriate for maintaining effective contact with international organisations of cocoa producers, traders and manufacturers. 4. The Council shall seek to involve the international financial agencies and other parties with an interest in the world cocoa economy in its work on cocoa production and consumption policy. 5. The Council may seek to cooperate with other relevant experts in cocoa matters.
Invitation and admission of observers
Article 14
1. The Council may invite any non-Member State to attend any of its meetings as an observer. 2. The Council may also invite any of the organisations referred to in Article 13 to attend any of its meetings as an observer. 3. The Council may also invite non-governmental organisations having relevant expertise in aspects of the cocoa sector, as observers. 4. For each of its sessions, the Council shall decide on the attendance of observers, including, on an ad hoc basis, non-governmental organisations having relevant expertise in aspects of the cocoa sector, in conformity with the conditions set out in the administrative rules of the Organization.
Quorum
Article 15
1. The quorum for the opening meeting of any session of the Council shall be constituted by the presence of at least five exporting Members and a majority of importing Members, provided that such Members together hold in each category at least two thirds of the total votes of the Members in that category. 2. If there is no quorum in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article on the day appointed for the opening meeting of any session, on the second day, and throughout the remainder of the session, the quorum for the opening session shall be constituted by the presence of exporting and importing Members holding a simple majority of the votes in each category. 3. The quorum for meetings subsequent to the opening meeting of any session pursuant to paragraph 1 of this Article shall be that prescribed in paragraph 2 of this Article. 4. Representation in accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 11 shall be considered as presence.
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