ANNEX ISupplementary provisions
ANNEX I RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE EPA COMMITTEE set up by the Interim Agreement establishing a framework for an Economic Partnership Agreement between the Eastern and Southern Africa States, on the one part, and the European Community and its Member States, on the other part Article 1 Scope of application These Rules of Procedure shall apply to the proceedings of any of the meetings of the EPA Committee. Article 2 Composition and Chair 1. The EPA Committee is composed, on the one hand, of representatives of Signatory States from the Eastern and Southern Africa (‘Signatory ESA States’) ( 1 ) and, on the other of representatives ofthe EU Party, at ministerial or senior official level. 2. Reference to ‘the Parties’ in these Rules of Procedure is in accordance with the definition provided for in Article 61 of the Agreement. 3. The EPA Committee at ministerial level shall be co-chaired by a representative of the Signatory ESA States and by a representative of the European Union (‘EU’). The EPA Committee at senior official level shall be co-chaired by the representatives of the Signatory ESA States, normally at senior official level and by the senior officials of the European Commission, on behalf of the EU Party. The Signatory ESA States assume chairmanship on a yearly rotating basis. Article 3 Observers 1. Representatives of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and representatives of the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) shall be invited to participate in the EPA Committee meetings as observers. 2. The Secretary of the EPA Committee shall notify representatives of COMESA and the IOC of any meeting of the EPA Committee so that they may participate as observers. 3. The Parties may collectively decide to invite additional observers on an ad hoc basis. Such observers may participate at the meeting, upon invitation of a Co-chairman and approval of the EPA Committee. 4. The EPA Committee may determine that any part of meetings involving sensitive matters may be closed to observers. Article 4 Meetings 1. The EPA Committee shall meet once a year or when circumstances so require, if the Parties so agree. If both Parties agree, the meetings of the EPA Committee may be held by video- or tele-conference. In such a case each Party bears its respective cost associated with holding the meeting by such means, unless agreed otherwise. 2. Each session of the EPA Committee shall be held at a date and place agreed by both Parties. 3. The meetings of the EPA Committee shall be convened by the Secretary of the EPA Committee. Article 5 Delegations Before each meeting, the Co-chairs of the EPA Committee shall be informed of the intended composition of the delegations of the Signatory ESA States and of the EU Party. Article 6 Secretariat 1. Officials of the Signatory ESA States and of the European Commission shall act alternately for periods of 12 months as Secretary of the EPA Committee. The Signatory ESA State may be assisted by the COMESA Secretariat. 2. Notwithstanding paragraph 1, the first period shall begin on the date of the first meeting of the EPA Committee and end on 31 December of the year thereafter. The Secretariat of the EPA Committee shall be held first by a representative of the European Commission. The Signatory ESA States assume the Secretariat on a rotating basis. Article 7 Documents Where the deliberations of the EPA Committee are based on written supporting documents, such documents shall be numbered and circulated as documents of the EPA Committee by the Secretary at least 14 days before the beginning of the meeting. Article 8 Correspondence 1. All correspondence addressed to the EPA Committee shall be directed to the Secretary of the EPA Committee. 2. The Secretary shall ensure that correspondence addressed to the EPA Committee is forwarded to the Co-chairs of the Committee and circulated, where appropriate as documents referred to in Article 7. 3. Correspondence from the Co-chairs of the EPA Committee shall be sent to the Parties by the Secretary and circulated where appropriate as documents referred to in Article 7. Article 9 Agenda for the meetings 1. A provisional annotated agenda for each meeting shall be drawn up by the Secretary of the EPA Committee on the basis of proposals made by the Parties. It shall be forwarded by the Secretary of the EPA Committee to the Parties no later than three weeks before the beginning of the meeting. 2. The provisional annotated agenda shall include the items for which a request for inclusion in the agenda has been received by the Secretary no later than one month before the beginning of the meeting, although such items will not be included in the provisional agenda unless the relevant supporting documents have been received by the Secretary no later than the date of dispatch of the provisional agenda. 3. The agenda shall be adopted by the EPA Committee at the beginning of each meeting. An item other than those appearing on the provisional agenda may be placed on the agenda if the Parties so agree. 4. The Co-chairs of the EPA Committee, in agreement with the Parties, may invite experts to attend its meetings in order to provide information on specific subjects. 5. With the agreement of the Parties, the Secretary may abridge the time limit specified in paragraph 1 in order to take account of the requirements of a particular case. Article 10 Minutes 1. Draft minutes of each meeting shall be drawn up by the Secretary as soon as possible, normally within a month of the meeting. 2. The minutes shall, as a general rule, summarise each item on the agenda, specifying where applicable: (a) all documents submitted to the EPA Committee, (b) any statement that a member of the EPA Committee has asked to be entered, (c) the decisions taken, recommendations made, statements agreed upon and conclusions adopted on specific items. 3. The minutes shall also include a list of participants to the EPA Committee and a list of any observers to the meeting. 4. Approval of the minutes shall be confirmed in writing within two months of the date of the meeting by the Signatory ESA states and the EU Party. Once approved, the minutes shall be signed by the Secretary. Each Signatory ESA State and the EU Party shall receive one original of these authentic documents. Article 11 Decisions and Recommendations 1. The EPA Committee shall adopt decisions and recommendations by consensus. 2. The EPA Committee may decide to submit any general matter of an all ACP-EU interest arising under the Agreement to the ACP-EU Council of Ministers as defined in Article 15 of the Partnership Agreement between the Members of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States of the one part, and the EC and its Member States of the other part (the Cotonou Agreement). 3. In the period between meetings, the EPA Committee may adopt decisions and recommendations by written procedure if both Parties so agree. A written procedure shall consist of an exchange of notes between the Parties. 4. Decisions and recommendations of the EPA Committee shall be entitled ‘Decision’ or ‘Recommendation’ respectively, and followed by a serial number, the date of their adoption and a description of their subject. Each decision shall provide for the date of its entry into force. 5. Decisions and recommendations adopted by the EPA Committee shall be authenticated by a representative of the Signatory ESA States and by a representative of the European Commission on behalf of the EU Party. 6. Decisions and recommendations shall be forwarded to the Parties as documents of the EPA Committee. Article 12 Publicity 1. Unless otherwise decided, meetings of the EPA Committee shall not be public. 2. Each Party may decide on the publication of the decisions or recommendations of the EPA Committee in its respective official publication. Article 13 Languages 1. The working languages of the EPA Committee shall be the official languages common to the Parties, English and French. 2. The EPA Committee shall base its deliberations and adopt decisions on documentation and proposals prepared as far as possible in both languages referred to in paragraph 1. Decisions and recommendations are provided in both languages referred to in paragraph 1. Article 14 Expenses 1. Each Party shall meet any expenses it incurs as a result of participating in the meetings of the EPA Committee, both with regard to staff, travel and subsistence expenditure and with regard to postal and telecommunications expenditure. 2. Expenditure in connection with the organisation of meetings and reproduction of documents shall be borne by the Party hosting the meeting. 3. Expenditure in connection with the provision of interpretation services at meetings and translation of documents shall be borne by the Party hosting the meeting. Expenditure associated with the provision of interpretation services and translation of documents into or from other official languages of the European Union shall be borne by the EU Party. Article 15 Amendment of Rules of Procedure These Rules of Procedure may be amended in accordance with paragraph 1 of Article 11 hereof. ( 1 ) Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and Zimbabwe.