ANNEX IIISupplementary provisions
ANNEX III RULES OF PROCEDURE OF THE JOINT DEVELOPMENT 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 Joint Development Committee. Article 2 Role of the Joint Development Committee The Joint Development Committee is established as a sub-committee of the EPA Committee. In accordance with Article 52 of the Agreement, it shall discuss development cooperation issues linked to the implementation of that Agreement. Article 3 Composition and Chair 1. The Joint Development 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 of the EU Party. 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 Joint Development Committee shall be co-chaired by a representative of the Signatory ESA States and by a representative of the European Commission, on behalf of the EU Party. The Signatory ESA States assume the chairmanship on a yearly rotating basis. Article 4 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 Joint Development Committee meetings as observers. 2. The Secretary of the Joint Development Committee shall notify representatives of COMESA and the IOC of any meeting of the Joint Development 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 Joint Development Committee. 4. The Joint Development Committee may determine that any part of meetings involving sensitive matters may be closed to observers. Article 5 Meetings 1. Unless otherwise specified in the Agreement, the Joint Development Committee shall meet upon request of either Party. If both Parties agree, the meetings of the Joint Development 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 Joint Development Committee shall be held at a date and place agreed by both Parties. 3. The meetings of the Joint Development Committee shall be convened by the Secretary of the Joint Development Committee. Article 6 Delegations Before each meeting, the Co-chairs of the Joint Development Committee shall be informed of the intended composition of the delegations of the Signatory ESA States and of the EU Party. Article 7 Secretariat Officials of the Signatory ESA States and of the European Commission shall act alternately for periods of 12 months as Secretary of the Joint Development Committee. The Signatory ESA State may be assisted by the COMESA Secretariat. Those periods shall coincide with the holding of the Secretariat of the EPA Committee by respectively the Signatory ESA States and the European Commission. The Signatory ESA States assume the Secretariat on a rotating basis. Article 8 Documents Where the deliberations of the Joint Development Committee are based on written supporting documents, such documents shall be numbered and circulated as documents of the Joint Development Committee by the Secretary at least 14 days before the beginning of the meeting. Article 9 Correspondence 1. All correspondence addressed to the Joint Development Committee shall be directed to the Secretary of the Joint Development Committee. 2. The Secretary shall ensure that correspondence addressed to the Joint Development Committee is forwarded to the Co-chairs of the Committee and circulated, where appropriate as documents referred to in Article 8. 3. Correspondence from the Co-chairs of the Joint Development Committee shall be sent to the Parties by the Secretary and circulated where appropriate as documents referred to in Article 8. Article 10 Agenda for the meetings 1. A provisional agenda for each meeting shall be drawn up by the Secretary of the Joint Development Committee on the basis of proposals made by the Parties. It shall be forwarded by the Secretary of the Joint Development Committee to the Parties no later than three weeks before the beginning of the meeting. 2. The provisional 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 Joint Development 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 Joint Development 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 11 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 Joint Development Committee, (b) any statement that a member of the Joint Development 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 Joint Development 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 12 Recommendations 1. The Joint Development Committee shall adopt recommendations by consensus. 2. In the period between meetings, the Joint Development Committee may adopt recommendations by written procedure if both Parties so agree. A written procedure shall consist of an exchange of notes between the Parties. 3. Recommendations of the Joint Development Committee shall be entitled ‘Recommendation’ and followed by a serial number, the date of their adoption and a description of their subject. 4. Recommendations adopted by the Joint Development 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. 5. Recommendations shall be forwarded to the Parties as documents of the Joint Development Committee and shall be submitted to the EPA Committee for consideration. Article 13 Publicity Unless otherwise decided, meetings of the Joint Development Committee shall not be public. Article 14 Languages 1. The working languages of the Joint Development Committee shall be the official languages common to the Parties, English and French. 2. The Joint Development Committee shall base its deliberations and make recommendations on documentation and proposals prepared as far as possible in both languages referred to in paragraph 1. Recommendations are provided in both languages referred to in paragraph 1. Article 15 Expenses 1. Each Party shall meet any expenses it incurs as a result of participating in the meetings of the Joint Development 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 16 Reporting The Joint Development Committee shall report to the EPA Committee. Article 17 Amendment of Rules of Procedure These Rules of Procedure may be amended by the EPA Committee. The Joint Development Committee may submit recommendations to the EPA Committee proposing changes to the Rules of Procedure. ( 1 ) Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and Zimbabwe