2. Programmes projects or schemes undertaken in the field of energy cooperation and involving Community financing shall be implemented in accordance with Title VIl.
In relation to research and experimental projects as well as exploration and development projects of mutual interest, the resources provided for under Title VII may be supplemented by:
(a) other Community financial and technical resources;
(b) actions aimed at the moblization of public and private capital, notably co-financing.
Article 77.
1. Industrial information and promotion activities will be undertaken so as to ensure and intensify regular information exchanges and the organization of the necessary contacts in the industrial field between the Community and the ACP States.
2. These industrial information and promotion activi- ties could have in particular the following aims:
(a) to gather and disseminate all relevant information concerning trends in industrial policies in the Community, the ACP States and the world at large, and on the conditions of and possibilities for industrial development in the ACP States;
(b) to organize at the request of the Community or of the ACP States meetings to review the subjects men- tioned under (a);
(c) to organize and facilitate all other forms of contacts and meetings between industrial policy-makers, promoters and economic operators from the Community and the ACP States;
(d) to carry out studies and appraisals aimed at pinpointing practical opportunities for industrial cooperation with the Community in order to promote the industrial development of the ACP States, and at facilitating the implementation of such schemes;
(e) to contribute, through appropriate technical cooperation schemes, to the setting up, launching and running of the ACP States' industrial promotion bodies;
(f) to facilitate access to and use of documentary and other data sources available in the Community.
Article 78.
1. A Committee on Industrial Cooperation supervised by the Committee of Ambassadors shall:
(a) review progress in the implementation of the overall programme of industrial cooperation resulting from this Convention and, where appropriate, submit recommendations to the Committee of Ambassadors;
(b) examine problems and policy issues in the field of industrial cooperation submitted to it by the ACP States or by the Community, and undertake where necessary its own evaluations of these matters with a view to suggesting appropriate solutions;
(c) organize, at the request of the Community or of the ACP States, a review of trends in industrial policies of the ACP States, and of the Member States as well as developments in the world industrial situation with a view to exchanging information necessary for improving industrial cooperation and facilitating the industrial development of the ACP States;
(d) guide, supervise and control the activities of the Centre for Industrial Development referred to in Article 79, and report to the Committee of Ambassadors and, through it, to the Council of Ministers;
(e) perform such other functions as may be assigned to it by the Committee of Ambassadors.
2. The composition of the Committee on Industrial Cooperation and the detailed rules for its operation shall be determined by the Council of Ministers.
Article 79.
The Centre for Industrial Development, set up under Article 36 of the ACP-EEC Convention of Lomé, shall help within the framework of the provisions and principles of this Title to establish and strengthen industrial undertakings in the ACP States, particularly by encouraging initiatives by economic operators of the Community and the ACP States.
As a practical operational instrument, the Centre for this purpose shall assist in the promotion of viable industrial projects that meet the needs of ACP States and take special account of the importance of internal and external market opportunities, the processing of raw materials and the use of local materials for manufacturing. Such activity will be undertaken in close cooperation with the ACP States, the Member States, as well as the Commission and the Bank within their respective powers.
In its programme on industrial promotion, special emphasis shall be placed on the identification and exploitation of the possibilities of joint ventures and subcontracting as well as of the potential of small- and medium-sized industries. Adequate attention shall also be paid to the development and consolidation of regional industrial projects.
In its effort to help in establishing and strengthening industrial undertakings in the ACP States the Centre shall adopt appropriate measures within the limits of its resources and its functions in the field of transfer and development of technology, industrial training and information.
Article 80.
In order to attain its objective, the Centre shall:
(a) gather and disseminate all relevant information on the conditions and opportunities for industrial cooperation as well as organize and facilitate contacts and meetings of all kinds between Community and ACP States' industrial policy-makers, promoters and economic and financial operators;
(b) supply information as well as specific advisory services and expertise, including feasibility studies, for the purpose of accelerating the establishment of industrial undertakings required by the ACP States and ensuring viability of existing undertakings; the Centre will, if necessary, assist in the follow-up and. implementation;
(c} identify and evaluate, on the basis of needs indicated by ACP States, opportunities for industrial training to meet requirements of already existing as well as projected industrial undertakings in ACP States, taking into account the various facilities available for conducting and financing such training schemes and, where appropriate, assist in their implementation;
(d) identify, evaluate and supply information and advice on the acquisition, the adaptation and development of appropriate industrial technology, including technological infrastructure, relating to concrete projects of interest to the ACP States;
(e) identify and provide information where necessary on possible sources of finance.
2. In the implementation of its functions, the Centre will pay attention to the special problems of least-developed, land-locked and island ACP States.
Article 81.
1. The Committee on Industrial Cooperation shall be the supervisory authority of the Centre.
2. The Centre shall be headed by a director assisted by a deputy director both of whom shall be appointed by the Committee. The Committee shall adopt the arrangements applicable to the staff of the Centre.
3. An Advisory Council shall have the task of advising and assisting the Centre in the programming and development of its industrial activities. The Advisory Council shall be consulted by the director, when appropriate, on any proposed operations and on important matters arising from the activities of the Centre. It may also, on its own initiative, make any suggestion or submit to the director any question that it deems useful. It shall give its opinion on the annual programme of work, budget and general report.
4. The Advisory Council of the Centre shall be composed of persons with experience in the industrial field especially in the manufacturing sector. They shall be chosen on a personal basis on the grounds of their qualifications from nationals of the States which are party to this Convention and shall be appointed by the Committee under the conditions laid down by it.
5, The budget of the Centre, together with the opinion of the Advisory Council, shall be examined and adopted by the Committee on Industrial Cooperation. The Committee shall adopt the financial regulation of the Centre. The Community shall contribute to the financing of this budget by means of a separate allocation up to a ceiling of 25 million EUA taken from the resources earmarked under Article 133 for the financing of regional cooperation projects.
6. Two auditors shall check the financial mangement of the Centre.
7. The statutes and rules of the procedure of the Centre shall be adopted by the Council of Ministers on a proposal by the Committee of Ambassadors after the entry into force of this Convention.
Article 82.
Within the framework of the implementation of the provisions of this Title, the Community shall meet the special needs and problems of the least-developed, land-locked and island ACP States, according to the priorities which these States establish inter alia for the processing of their raw materials, the development, transfer and adaptation of technology, the development of small- and medium-sized industries, the development of their infrastructure and energy and mineral resources, and adequate training in the scientific, technological and technical fields.
Title VI. AGRICULTURAL COOPERATION
Article 83.
1. The basic objective of agricultural cooperation between the Community and the ACP States must be to assist the latter in their efforts to resolve problems relating to rural development and the improvement and expansion of agricultural production for domestic consumption and export and problems they may encounter with regard to security of food supplies for their populations.
2. Accordingly, cooperation in rural development shall contribute in particular, within the general objectives of financial and technical cooperation:
(a) to a higher standard of living for the rural population, in particular by raising incomes and creating jobs, by means of increasing agricultural production generally;
(b) to reinforcing the security of the food supplies of the ACP States and to satisfying their nutritional requirements, particularly by improving the quantity and quality of food production;
{c) to improving the productivity of and diversifying rural activities, in particular through the transfer of appropriate technology and rational use of crop and livestock resources while protecting the environment;
(d) to local exploitation of agricultural produce, in particular through the processing of crops and livestock products in the countries concerned;
(e) to the social and cultural development of the rural community, in particular through integrated health and educational schemes;
(f) to increasing the populations' capacity for self-development, notably, through greater control over their technical and economic environment.
Article 84.
In order to help attain the objectives referred to in Article 83, cooperation schemes in the field of rural development shall take the form inter alia of:
(a) integrated rural development projects involving in particular peasant family holdings and cooperatives and also fostering craft and trading activities in rural areas;
(b) different kinds of hydro-agricultural improvement schemes using available water resources; village water-engineering microprojects, stabilization of water courses and land development involving partial or total water control;
(c) projects for crop protection, preservation and storage and for marketing agricultural products designed to bring about conditions giving farmers an incentive to produce;
(d) the establishment of agro-industrial units combining primary agricultural production, processing, and the preparation, packaging and marketing of the finished product; :
(e) stock-farming projects; protection, exploitation and improvement of livestock and the development of livestock products;
(f) fishery and fish farming projects: exploitation of natural resources and development of new products; preservation and marketing of products;
(g) exploitation and development of forestry resources for production or environmental protection purposes;
(h) the implementation of measures to raise the standard of living in rural areas, for example by improving the social infrastructure, drinking water supply and communication networks;
(i) such applied agronomic and livestock research projects as prove necessary prior to or in the course of the implementation of agricultural cooperation schemes;
(j) training schemes at all levels for national supervisory staff who will have to take over responsibility for the planning, execution and management of rural development operations and applied agronomic and livestock research projects.
Article 85.
Rural cooperation schemes as defined in Article 84 shall form part of the development policy of the ACP States in accordance with the options and priorities to be determined by the ACP States themselves. The financial and technical resources from the Community required for the execution of such schemes as stated in indicative programmes shall be additional to the ACP States' own resources and shall be put to use in accordance with the provisions of Title VII.
Article 86.
For the purpose of implementing the cooperation schemes referred to in Article 84 and in order to improve the efficiency of the different departments of the ACP States, both national and inter-State, that deal with rural development, the latter may call on technical assistance in the form of individual experts or consultancy teams, in particular for the following tasks:
- the formulation of rural development policies,
- the identification and preparation of projects in that field,
- project execution, management and evaluation,
- applied research activities,
- the training of national personnel.
Technical assistance shall be provided within the framework of terms of reference specifying the tasks to be accomplished for a period determined in accordance with the provisions of Title VII. Assistance schemes must form part of national indicative programmes or of regional programmes.
Article 87.
1. In order to enable the ACP States to derive greater advantage from the opportunities for inter-State action and cooperation in rural development, the Community is ready to contribute from regional cooperation appropriations to initiatives devised and put into effect by two or more ACP States, involving production, research or training projects.
2. Assistance for cooperation in this field shall be provided preferably through existing national or inter-State organizations, in accordance with the provisions and procedures relating to regional cooperation.
Article 88.
1. A Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation shall be established.
The Centre shall be at the disposal of the ACP States' authorities responsible for agricultural development in order to provide them with better access to information, research, training and innovations in the agricultural and rural field. In matters within its powers it shall act in close cooperation with the institutions and bodies referred to in this Convention or in the declarations annexed hereto.
2. The functions of the Centre shall be:
(a) to ensure, in particular when requested by the ACP States, the dissemination of scientific and technical information relating to particular questions of agricultural development raised by those States;
(b) to direct to the bodies qualified to deal with them the ACP States' requests in respect of specific techniques or their adaptation in the field of agriculture;
(c) to help make scientific publications on agricultural matters available to the ACP States' agronomic research institutions and provide them with access to data banks;
(d) to facilitate the flow of information on the programming of agronomic research in accordance with priority development requirements;
(e) to bring about meetings between research workers, planners and development personnel so as to improve the exchange of experience gained on matters relating to specific ecological zones and particular topics;
(f) to foster the exchange of information and the results of field work between the bodies specializing in the various aspects of tropical agriculture and the rural community;
(g) to help facilitate the adaptation of available information to the needs of extension work and development;
(h) to facilitate access by the ACP States' training and extension personnel to the information they need to carry out their tasks;
(i) to direct requests for specific training to the relevant existing bodies;
(j) in general, to help facilitate access by the ACP States to the results of work by the national, regional and international bodies, particularly those located in the Community and in the ACP States, technically qualified in agricultural and rural development matters and to maintain contact with those bodies.
3. In order to determine appropriate solutions to the problems encountered by the ACP States, in particular for the purpose of improving their access to information, technical innovations and research in the field of rural development, the Centre shall arrange meetings of delegates from the ACP States' and Member States' organizations specializing in applied agronomic research relating in particular to tropical agriculture and/or questions of rural development, such organizations having been approved by the Committee of Ambassadors or the bodies which it has delegated.
4. (a) The Committee of Ambassadors shall be the supervising authority for the Centre.
(b) The Centre shall be headed by a director appointed by the Committee of Ambassadors as from the entry into force of this Convention.
(c) The director of the Centre shall report om its activities to the Committee of Ambassadors.
(d) The detailed rules of operation and procedures for the adoption of the Centre's budget shall be laid down by the Committee of Ambassadors. The budget shall be financed in accordance with the procedures laid down in the Convention in respect of financial and technical cooperation. The director of the Centre shall be aided by a staff recruited within the limits of the budgetary establishment adopted by the Committee of Ambassadors.
Article 89.
Food aid is a temporary measure and the ultimate aim of ACP States is to become self-sufficient in food production.
The Community and the ACP States will seek better ways of combining, as far as possible, any food-aid measures on behalf of any ACP State that are decided upon unilaterally by the Community in accordance with the specific rules and criteria for the allocation of this type of aid, with schemes carried out using the resources provided for in this Convention.
Article 90.
In the implementation of the provisions of this Title special priority shall be accorded to the specific problems and difficulties of the least-developed ACP States, particularly in the areas of production, processing, training, research, transport, marketing, packaging and the establishment of storage infrastructure.
Title VII. FINANCIAL AND TECHNICAL COOPERATION
Chapter 1. General Provisions
Article 91.
1. The objective of financial and technical cooperation shall be to promote the economic and social development of the ACP States on the basis of the priorities laid down by those States and in the mutual interest of the parties.
2. This cooperation shall complement the efforts of the ACP States and shall be in keeping with them. It shall relate to the preparation, financing and implementation of projects and programmes that contribute to the economic and social development of the ACP States and whose nature is adapted to the needs and characteristics of each of those States.
3. It should help the least-developed, land-locked and island ACP States to overcome the specific obstacles which hamper their development efforts.
4. It should encourage the regional cooperation of the ACP States.
Article 92.
1. Financial and technical cooperation shall take account of the need to comply with the conditions specific to each State, especially as regards its development policy, the strategies to be followed, the priorities it has set itself, its potential and its own resources.
2. In this context, projects and programmes shall help achieve some or all of the following effects:
(a) to give the ACP States the means of improving and gaining more control over the conditions of their economic and social development;
(b) to contribute to the sustained and harmonious growth of the ACP States' economies by raising the quantity and quality of their production and, hence, their national income, and by correcting structural imbalances, through the diversification and integration of their economies;
(c) to raise the standard of living of the ACP States' population;
(d) to enable the ACP States faced with serious economic and social difficulties of an exceptional nature resulting from natural disasters or extraordinary circumstances having comparable effects to benefit from emergency aid;
(e) to enable thus the establishment of more balanced economic relations between the ACP States and the rest of the world and greater participation by those States in international trade.
3. The implementation of financial and technical cooperation calls for real and effective participation by the ACP States and the Community, at all levels, in the management and operation of the instruments of financial and technical cooperation and the concurrent and ex-post evaluation of the projects and programmes of such cooperation, as laid down in Article 108.
Article 93.
1. Projects and programmes may involve:
- capital projects, including the support costs and running costs defined in Articles 152 and 153,
- technical cooperation.
2. The projects and programmes may, within the framework of the priorities adopted at the programming level as well as within the framework of regional cooperation, apply inter alia to:
(a) rural development, industrialization, craft development, energy, mining, tourism and economic and social infrastructure;
(b) structural improvement of the productive sectors of the economy;
(c) protection of the environment;
(d) prospecting and exploration and exploitation of natural resources;
(e) training, applied scientific research and applied technology, technological adaptation or innovation and the transfer of technology;
(f) industrial promotion and information;
(g) marketing and sales promotion;
(h) promotion of small- and medium-sized national undertakings;
(i) micro-projects for grassroots development.
3. The funds provided may be used to cover external costs and local expenditure required for the execution of projects and programmes.
4. Financial and technical cooperation may cover current administrative, maintenance and operating expenses which are the responsibility of the ACP States or any other recipients only on the conditions laid down in Articles 152 and 153.
5. In order to take account of the specific problems facing the land-locked ACP States because of their geographical position, the Community shall accord priority to:
(a) such studies, projects, programmes and training and technical assistance schemes presented by the land-locked States as make it possible to reduce the particular difficulties resulting from their land-locked situation, notably transport, communication and energy supply problems;
(b) the research needed for the development of energy and mining resources and, where necessary, for carrying out relevant capital projects.
6. The Community, recognizing the special problems of island ACP States and in particular their transport and communication difficulties, within their territories, among themselves, and with the Community, shall give priority attention to appropriate measures aimed at:
(a) promoting, in the field of air and sea transport, the movement of goods and persons;
(b) developing sea fishing activities;
(c) contributing, if necessary, towards exploration for and development of energy resources;
(d) reducing the adverse effects of the special difficulties of those States which are further handicapped by reason of their distant location from their overseas markets, internal fragmented physical character, and their particular susceptibility to natural disasters.
Article 94.
1. The following shall be eligible for financial and technical cooperation:
(a) ACP States;
(b) regional or inter-state bodies to which one or more ACP States belong and which are authorized by the said States;
(c) joint bodies set up by the Community and the ACP States and authorized by the latter to attain certain specific objectives, notably in the spheres of agricultural, industrial and trade cooperation.
2. The following shall also be eligible for financial and technical cooperation, subject to the agreement of the ACP State or States concerned, in respect of projects or programmes approved by the latter:
(a) public-or semi-public development agencies of the ACP States, and in particular their development banks;