1. A Court of Justice of the Community is hereby established.
2. The Court of Justice shall ensure that the law is observed in the interpretation and application of this Treaty and shall decide disputes submitted to it under this Treaty.
3. The Court of Justice shall accordingly:
a) ensure the legality of the decisions, directives and regulations of Community institutions;
b) decide on actions brought by a Member State or the Conference on the grounds of lack of competence, misuse of powers or infringement of an essential procedural requirement of this Treaty;
c) give preliminary rulings on:
- The interpretation of this Treaty;
- The validity of the decisions, directives and regulations formulated by Community institutions.
d) give advisory opinions on any legal matter at the request of the Conference or Council.
4. Powers to deal with other disputes may be granted to the Court by decisions taken by the Conference by virtue of this Treaty.
Article 17. Decisions of the Court
The decisions of the Court of Justice shall be binding on Member States and institutions of the Community.
Article 18. Organization
The membership, procedure and statutes of the Court and other matters concerning it shall be determined by the Conference.
General Secretariat
Article 19. Establishment and Composition
1. A General Secretariat of the Community is hereby established.
2. The General Secretariat shall comprise a Secretary-General, Deputy Secretaries-General, a Financial Controller, an Accountant and the staff required for the functioning of the Community.
Article 20. Powers
1. The Secretary-General shall be the chief executive official of the Community.
2. Accordingly, his duties shall be:
a) to prepare and carry out the decisions and directives of the Conference and the regulations of the Council;
b) to promote development programmes and Community projects;
c) to prepare the draft budget of the Community and have it implemented;
d) to prepare annually the Communitys programme of action;
e) to submit a report on Community activities to all Conference and Council meetings;
f) to prepare Conference and Council meetings and provide the secretariat for them
g) to carry out studies with a view to achieving the aims of the Community and to make proposals likely to enhance the functioning and harmonious development of the Community; to this end, he may request a Member State to supply him wit all the necessary information;
h) to recruit the staff of the General Secretariat and make appointments to all posts except those specified in Article 9, paragraph 2(f) of this Treaty.
Article 21. Appointments
1. The Secretary-General and the Deputy Secretaries-General shall be appointed by the Conference for a four-year term which can be renewed once.
2. Nationals of the State where the Community headquarters are situated may not be appointed to the post of Secretary-General.
3. The Financial Controller and the Accountant shall be appointed by the Conference for a renewable term of three years.
4. In the appointment of General Secretariat staff, consideration shall be given not only to moral integrity and competence but also to equitable geographic distribution of posts among all Member States.
Article 22. Relationship between the Staff of the General Secretariat and Member States
1. In the performance of their duties the Secretary-General, the Deputy Secretaries-General, the Financial Controller, the Accountant and the staff of the General Secretariat shall be responsible only to the Community.
Accordingly they may neither seek nor accept instructions from any Government or any national or international authority outside the Community.
They shall refrain from any conduct incompatible with the nature of their duties as international officials.
2. Every Member State undertakes not to influence the staff of the General Secretariat in the performance of its duties and to respect the international
Character of the duties of Secretary-General, Deputy Secretary-General, Financial Controller, Accountant and any other official of the General Secretariat.
3. Member States shall cooperate with the General Secretariat and assist it in the discharge of its responsibilities under this Treaty.
Consultative Commission
Article 23. Establishment and Composition
1. A Consultative Commission of the Community is hereby established.
2. The Consultative Commission shall consist of experts appointed by Member States.
Article 24. Powers
1. The Consultative Commission shall be responsible for studying or investigating, under the Councils responsibility, questions and projects submitted to it by the other Community institutions.
2. Accordingly, it shall:
a) assist the Council in the performance of its duties;
b) study the reports of the specialized technical committees and make recommendations to the Council;
c) carry out any other duties assigned to it in pursuance of this Treaty.
Article 25. Organization
1. Subject to Council regulations the Commission shall meet as often as necessary for the proper performance of its duties.
2. It shall prepare its rules of procedure and submit them to the Council for approval.
Specialized Technical Committees
Article 26.
1. The specialized technical committees shall be established in pursuance of the Protocols attached hereto or may be established by the Conference on the Councils recommendation.
2. They shall act within the context of the duties assigned to them.
3. Subject to Council regulations, the specialized technical committees shall meet as often as necessary for the proper performance of their duties.
4. They shall prepare their rules of procedure and submit them to the Council for approval.
Chapter IV. Liberalization of Trade
Article 27. Customs Union
Member States agree to progressively establish between them during a transitional period, as specified in Article 6 of this Treaty, a Customs Union involving:
a) the elimination between Member States of customs duties, quota restrictions, other restrictions and prohibitions and administrative trade barriers;
b) the adoption by Member States of an external common customs tariff.
Article 28. Elimination of Customs Duties between Member States
1. During the first stage, Member States shall refrain from the establishment of any new customs duties between them and from increasing those they apply in their mutual trade relations. They shall regularly transmit to the Secretary-General all information concerning customs duties, for study.
2. At the end of the first stage and during the second stage, Member States shall progressively reduce and ultimately eliminate customs duties between them in accordance with a schedule to be determined by the Conference on a proposal by the Council.
3. The Conference may, at any time, on the Councils recommendation, decide that any customs duty be reduced more rapidly or eliminated earlier. However, the Council shall study the question at least twelve months before the date on which such a reduction or elimination is to apply to some or all of the goods and to some or all the Member States and shall submit the result of this study to the Conference for a decision.
Article 29. Establishment of an External Common Customs Tariff
1. Member States agree to the progressive establishment of an external common customs tariff applicable to goods imported into Member States from third countries.
2. At the end of the first stage and during the second stage, Member States shall, in accordance with a programme to be proposed by the Council, eliminate differences between customs duties in their respective customs tariffs.
3. At the end of the second stage and during the third stage the Council shall propose to the Conference the adoption of a common customs and statistical nomenclature for all Member States.
Article 30. Treatment of Intra-Community Trade
1. At the end of the second stage no Member State shall levy customs duties on goods originating in one Member State and transferred to another Member State. The same shall apply to goods coming from third countries which are in free circulation in Member States and are transferred from one Member State to another.
2. The definition of the concept of products originating in Member States and the rules governing the application of this article appear in the protocol attached hereto as Annex I.
3. Goods coming from third countries shall be considered to be in free circulation in a Member State if the import formalities have been complied with and customs duties paid in that Member State and if they have not benefited from a partial or total drawback of such duties.
4. Member States shall not adopt legislation implying direct or indirect discrimination against identical or similar products of another Member State.
Article 31. Imbalance of Trade
1. For the purposes of this article, trade is imbalanced if:
a) imports of any particular product by a Member State from another Member State increase significantly;
b) this increase in imports causes or would cause serious damage to production which is carried on in the territory of the importing Member State.
2. If a Member State suffers from trade imbalance resulting from the abusive reduction or elimination of duties and charges levied by another Member State as a result of unrecorded trade or for any other reason, the Member State shall submit a report to the Secretary-General who shall refer the matter to the Council. The Council shall propose to the Conference the measures to be taken.
Article 32. Internal Taxes
1. Member States shall not levy directly or indirectly on goods originating in Member States and imported into any Member State internal taxes in excess of those levied on similar domestic products nor levy such taxes for the effective protection of such products.
2. Member States shall progressively eliminate any internal taxes levied for the protection of similar domestic products under the same conditions as specified in Article 28 of this Treaty. Where by virtue of obligations under an agreement signed by a Member State such State is unable to comply with this article, the Member State shall notify the Council of Ministers of this fact and shall not, subject to Article 31, extend or renew the agreement when it expires.
Article 33. Non-tariff Barriers to Intra-Community Trade
1. Subject to the provisions of this article, each Member State shall, upon the entry into force of this Treaty, progressively relax and ultimately remove, at the latest by the end of the second stage and in accordance with paragraph 2 of this article, quota restrictions, other restrictions and prohibitions in force which apply to the transfer to that State of goods originating in the other Member States and, except as may be provided or permitted by this Treaty, to refrain thereafter from imposing any further restrictions or prohibitions on such goods.
2. Subject to the provisions of this article, the Commission shall, after considering the proposals submitted to it by the Secretary-General, recommend to the Council for its approval a programme for the progressive relaxation and ultimate elimination, at the latest by the end of the second stage, of all the quota restrictions and prohibitions which apply in a Member State to imports originating in the other Member States, provided that the council may subsequently decide that all the quota restrictions, other restrictions and prohibitions be relaxed more rapidly or removed earlier than laid down in this paragraph.
3. The special provisions on restrictions, prohibitions, quota restrictions, dumping, subsidies and discriminatory practices shall be the subject of a protocol on non-tariff trade barriers attached hereto as Annex II.
Article 34. Exceptions
1. Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 33, any Member State, after having made its intention known to the other Member States, shall be free to impose or continue to impose restrictions or prohibitions affecting:
a) the application of security laws and regulations;
b) the control of arms, ammunition and other war equipment and military items;
c) the protection of human, animal or plant health or life or the protection of public morality;
d) the transfer of gold, silver, platinum and precious stones;
e) the protection of national treasures of artistic or archaeological value or the protection of industrial and commercial property;
f) the control of nuclear materials, radio-active products or any other equipment used in the development or exploitation of nuclear energy;
g) the control of strategic products.
2. However, such prohibitions or restrictions shall in no case be a means of arbitrary discrimination nor a disguised restriction on trade between Member States.
3. If a Member State encounters balance-of-payments difficulties arising from the application of the provisions of this Chapter, that Member State may, provided that it has taken all reasonable steps to overcome the difficulties, impose for the purpose only of overcoming such difficulties, quantitative or similar restrictions or prohibitions on goods originating in the other Member States.
4. For the purpose of protecting an infant or strategic industry, a Member State may, provided that it has taken all reasonable and necessary steps to protect such industry, impose for the purpose only of protecting such industry for a specified period to be determined by the Council, quantitative or similar restrictions or prohibitions, on similar goods originating in the other Member States.
5. A Member State imposing quantitative or similar restrictions or prohibitions under paragraphs 1, 3, and 4 of this article shall send a report to the Secretary-General who shall refer the matter to the Council in order to determine for how long such measures shall be applied.
6. The Council shall keep under review the operation of any quantitative or similar restrictions or prohibitions imposed under paragraphs 1, 3 and 4 of this article and take appropriate action.
Article 35. Most-favoured-nation Treatment
1. Member States shall accord to one another in relation to intra-Community trade the most-favoured-nation treatment. In no case shall tariff concessions granted to a third country in pursuance of an agreement with a Member State be more favourable than those applicable in pursuance of this Treaty.
2. The text of agreements referred to in paragraph 1 of this article shall be sent to the Secretary-General by the States parties to it.
3. No agreement between a Member State and a third country under which tariff concessions are granted shall be incompatible with the obligations assumed in pursuance of this Treaty.
4. No Member State may conclude with any third country an agreement whereby the latter would grant such Member State tariff concessions not granted to the other Member States.
Article 36. Re-export of Goods and Intra-Community Transit
In accordance with this article, Member States shall:
a) facilitate the re-export of goods among them in accordance with the Protocol on the Re-export of Goods attached hereto as Annex III while awaiting the stage of establishment of the customs union;
b) grant freedom of transit through their territories to goods proceeding to or coming from another Member State in accordance with the Protocol on IntraCommunity Transit attached hereto as Annex IV.
Article 37. Customs Administration
Member States shall in accordance with the Protocol on Customs Cooperation attached hereto as Annex V, take all necessary measures to harmonize and standardize their customs regulations and procedures to ensure the effective application of this Chapter and to facilitate the movement of goods and services across their frontiers.
Article 38. Deflection of Trade Arising from Barter Agreements
1. If, as a result of a barter agreement dealing with a specific category of articles between a Member State, or a natural or legal person of the said State and a third country, or a natural or legal person of the said country there is a substantial deflection of trade in such a category to the detriment of articles imported from and manufactured in any other Member State but in favour of articles imported under the barter agreement, the Member State importing such articles shall take effective steps to correct the deflection.
2. To determine whether a deflection of trade has occurred in a specific category of articles within the meaning of this article, consideration shall be given to all the relevant trade statistics and other data on the category of articles available for the six months prior to a complaint from a Member State affected concerning deflection of trade and to the average of two comparable six-month periods during the 24 months prior to the first importation of goods under the barter agreement.
3. The Secretary-General shall refer the matter to the Council which shall consider it and submit it to the Conference for a decision.
Article 39. Establishment of the Fund for Compensation for Loss of Revenue
1. A Fund of Compensation for Loss of Revenue is hereby established.
2. A Protocol concerning the resources and use of the Fund is attached hereto as Annex VI.
Chapter V. Freedom of Movement, Residence and Right of Establishment
Article 40.
1. Citizens of Member States shall be deemed to be nationals of the Community. Accordingly, Member States agree, in accordance with the Protocol on Freedom of Movement and Right of Establishment attached hereto as Annex VII, to progressively facilitate procedures for the freedom of movement and right of establishment within the Community.
2. For the implementation of Protocol VII, legal persons established in accordance with the legislation in force in a Member State shall be deemed to be natural persons.
Chapter VI. Cooperation In the Monetary, Financial and Payments Fields
Article 41. Currency, Finance and Payments
1. Member States shall harmonize their monetary, financial and payments policies in order to create confidence in their respective currencies, to ensure the proper functioning of the Community, to further the achievement of the aims and to improve monetary and financial cooperation between them and the other African countries.
2. For the purposes of paragraph 1 of this article, the Secretary-General acting in liaison with the sub-regional committees concerned of the Association of African Central Banks shall:
a) make recommendations to the Council on the harmonization of the economic and financial policies of Member States;
b) give continuous attention to the balance-of-payments problems of Member States and undertake any studies relating thereto;
c) study the development of the economies of Member States;
d) make recommendations to the Council on the establishment, in the short term, of bilateral systems for the settlement of payments between Member States and, in the long term, of a multilateral system for the settlement of such payments and the establishment of a monetary union.
3. In accordance with the Protocol on the Clearing House attached hereto as Annex VIII, Member States shall boost intra-Community trade in goods and services through a clearing house.
Article 42. Movement of Capital
Upon the entry into force of this Treaty the Conference shall, on the proposal of the Council and subject to the approval of the Consultative Commission, take steps for the progressive coordination of national exchange control policies with regard to the movement of capital between Member States and third States.
Chapter VII. Cooperation In Agriculture and Food
Article 43.
1. Member States shall cooperate in agriculture, forestry, stockfarming and fishing. The aims of the cooperation are as follows:
a) raising the standard of living of rural populations, more particularly by raising incomes through increased agricultural, forestry and fishery production and by creating job opportunities;
b) satisfying the food requirements of populations and enhancing food security, inter alia by the quantitative and qualitative improvement of foodstuffs and the definition of a food reserves and trade policy;
c) improving rural living and working conditions;
d) local upgrading of agricultural production by the processing of vegetable and animal products;
e) promotion of the capacity of the populations to carry out their own development, in particular through greater mastery of their technical and economic environment.
2. Accordingly, Member States shall:
a) take concerted action to harmonize their agricultural policies;
b) have regular exchanges of information on their experiences and the results of the research being carried out in their respective countries and on rural development programmes;
c) prepare, as required, joint training and retraining programmes for cadres in existing or future institutions;
d) take any necessary action for the progressive preparation of a joint policy, inter alia in the research and training, production, processing and marketing of agricultural, forest, livestock and fishery products.