RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE IDA/W/4
14March 1995
ORGANIZATION(95-0557)
International Dairy Agreement
INTERNATIONAL DAIRY COUNCIL
DRAFT RULES OFPROCEDURE
Note bytheSecretariat
Thefollowing proposed Rules ofProcedure have been prepared bytheSecretariat for
consideration bytheInternational Dairy Council atitsfirstmeeting inMarch 1995. Theproposed
Rules arebased ontheRules ofProcedure oftheformer International Dairy Products Council (IDPC)
andinclude changes thatwere previously considered (DPC/W/142) aswellassome other proposed
modifications.
Substantive changes from theexisting IDPC rules havebeenhighlighted, andexplanatory
comments given. These "comment" sections arefordiscussion purposes onlyandwould notremain
inthefinaltext. Provisional numbers havebeenassigned toproposed newrules; therules willbe
numbered consecutively inthefinaltext.
* * *IDA/W/4
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INTERNATIONAL DAIRY AGREEMENT
DRAFT RULES OFPROCEDURE
Rule1
Each Party totheAgreement shall indicate totheSecretariat thename ofone(ormore)
representative(s) atGeneva towhom communications aretobeaddressed. AnyParty maymake other
arrangements forthispurpose.
Rule2
TheInternational Dairy Council (hereinafter referred toas"theCouncil") shallelectaChairman
person andaVice-Chairman. Theelection shalltakeplace atthebeginning ofthefirstregular session
oftheyearandshalltakeimmediate effect. TheChairperson andtheVice-Chairman shallbeelected
foraone-year termwhich mayberenewed once. Intheabsence oftheChairperson oftheCouncil,
theChairperson oftheCommittee onCertain Milk Products shall perform hisfunctions. Ifthe
Chairperson oftheCouncil cannolonger perform thefunctions oftheoffice, theCouncil shalldesignate
theChairperson oftheCommitte onCertain Milk Products toperform those functions pending the
election ofanewChairperson.
COMMENT: Chairman hereinafter referred toasChairperson. Itissuggested that
noVice-Chairperson beelected, toreflect thecurrent practice thattheCommittee
Chairperson stands infortheCouncil Chairperson when he/she isabsent. Theaddition
ofthelastsentence serves toharmonize theprocedure withRule13oftheRules of
Procedure oftheGeneral Council.
Rule3
TheCouncil shallnormally meetinMarch andinSeptember inthespring andautumn ofeach
year, atadatetobedetermined bytheChairperson inconsultation withtheParties. Theconvening
notice, together withadraftagenda prepared bytheSecretariat inconsultation withtheChairperson,
shallbedispatched [atleastthreeweeks] [notlessthan10calendar days] before thedateofthesession.
COMMENT: Thisistoprovide greater flexibility insetting actual meeting dates.
Tencalendar daysareprovided forinRule2oftheRules ofProcedure oftheGeneral
Council.
Rule4
TheChairperson maycallaspecial session oftheCouncil, either athisowninitiative orat
therequest ofanyParty, withlessthan[three weeks '][tendays] notice. Anyrequest bytheCommittee
onCertain Milk Products foraspecial session tobeconvened mustbemade bytheChairperson of
thatCommittee.
Rule5
Unless theCouncil decides otherwise, allitsmeetings shallbeprivate anditsrecords treated
accordingly.IDA/W/4
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Rule6
Atanytime, theCouncil maydecide toamend theagenda ortogivepriority tocertain matters.
Rule7
ThetextofCouncil decisions mustbeadopted inthecourse ofthesession atwhich thesaid
decisions aremade.
Rule8
After eachsession oftheCouncil, adraftreport shallbesenttotheParties. AnyParty wishing
tomake corrections tothedraftshallpresent themtotheSecretariat within thirty twenty working days
following thedateofdistribution ofthedraft. Ifwithin thatperiod theSecretariat receives no
corrections, thereport shallbedeemed tobeapproved. TheSecretariat shallcommunicate totheParties
anysubstantive corrections received byitwithin thatperiod. Ifnofurther remarks aremade byany
Party within fifteen working daysfollowing thedateofcirculation ofsuchcorrections, therevised
report shallbedeemed tobeapproved. Anynewamendment proposal shallbesubject tothesame
procedure.
COMMENT: Inpractice, theSecretariat receives veryfewcorrections toitsdraft
reports, andmostareeditorial rather thansubstantive. There isnojustification for
current longdelays intheissuing ofthefinalreport.
Rule9
TheCouncil andtheCommittee onCertain MilkProducts mayestablish anysubsidiary organs
thatmaybenecessary.
COMMENT: Itissuggested thatthisrulebedropped. Itisredundant because itadds
nothing insubstance tothetextoftheAgreement (Article VII:1(a).
Rule9bis
After eachsession oftheCouncil, asummary report oftheChairperson shallbesenttoall
Members andobservers oftheWorld Trade Organization.
COMMENT: Toreflect thecurrent practice ofdistributing anL-document tothe
Contracting Parties.
Rule10
Representatives ofMembers oftheWorld Trade Organization which arenotsignatories may
follow theproceedings oftheCouncil andtheCommittee onCertain Milk Products inanobserver
capacity.IDA/W/4
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Rule11
Representativesofnon-signatorycountriesnotMembersoftheWorldTradeOrganizationwhich
areinterested infollowing theproceedings oftheCouncil andtheCommittee onCertain MilkProducts
inanobserver capacity, should communicate arequest totheDirector-General oftheWorld Trade
Organization indicating theirdesire todoso.TheCouncil shalldecide oneachrequest.
Rule12
TheCouncilshalldecideontheconditionsofobservership,includingwithrespecttotheprovision
ofinformation byobservers. Observers mayparticipate inthediscussions butdecisions shallbetaken
onlybysignatories.
COMMENT: Ithasbeensuggested thatobservers totheAgreement should berequired
toalsocontributetotheexchangeofinformation,eitherthroughsubmissionofresponses
toquestionnaires, presentation ofreports atmeetings ontheirdomestic dairysituations,
or,ataminimum, byresponding toquestions posed bymembers.
Rule13
TheCouncilandtheCommitteeonCertainMilkProductsmaydeliberateonconfidentialmatters
inspecial restricted sessions.
Rule14
TheCouncil mayinvite, asappropriate, international organizations toparticipate insessions
follow particular issues oftheCouncil ortheCommittee onCertain Milk Products inanobserver
capacity. Inaddition, requests from international organizations toparticipate insessions offollow
particular issues within theCouncil ortheCommittee onCertain MilkProducts, inanobserver capacity,
shallbeconsidered onacase-by-case basis bytheCouncil.
COMMENT: Inpractice, international organizations arenotinvited onlytofollow
particular issues, buttoparticipate inallun-restricted meetings oftheCouncil and
Committees. Should theCouncil wishtolimittheirparticipation tosome particular
issues, theability toinvite them"asappropriate" would besufficient toprovide this
flexibility.
Rule15
TheCommittee onCertain Milk Products (hereinafter referred toas"theCommittee") shall
electaChairperson andaVice-Chairperson. Theelection shalltakeplace atthebeginning ofthefirst
regular session oftheyearandshalltakeimmediate effect. TheChairperson andtheVice-Chairperson
shallbeelected foraone-year termwhich mayberenewed once. Intheabsence oftheChairperson
oftheCommittee, theChairperson oftheCouncil shallperform his/her functions. IftheChairperson
oftheComittee cannolonger perform thefunctions oftheoffice, theCommittee shalldesignate the
Chairperson oftheCouncil toperform those functions pending theelection ofanewChairperson.
COMMENT: Itissuggested thatnoVice-Chairperson beelected. During theentire
lifeofthe"old" IDAnoCommittee Vice-Chairperson waselected. Theaddition ofthe
lastsentence serves toharmonize theprocedure withthatoftheGeneral Council.IDA/W/4
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Rule16
TheCommittee shallnormally meetinMarch, June, September andDecember onceduring
eachquarter ofeachyear,atadatetobedetermined bytheChairperson inconsultation withtheParties.
Theconvening notice, together withadraftagenda prepared bytheSecretariat inconsultation with
theChairperson, shallbedispatched atleast[fifteen] [ten]daysbefore thedateofthesession.
COMMENT: Thiswould provide greater flexibility while maintaining theobjective
ofquarterly meetings.
Rule17
TheChairperson maycallaspecial session oftheCommittee withnotlessthantwoworking
days'notice atshort notice.
Rule18
Unless theCommittee decides otherwise, allitsmeetings shallbeprivate anditsrecords treated
accordingly.
Rule19
Atanytime, theCommittee maydecide toamend theagenda ortogivepriority tocertain
matters.
Rule20
ThetextofCommittee decisions must beadopted inthecourse ofthesession atwhich the
saiddecisions aremade.
Rule21
After eachsession oftheCommittee, adraftreport shallbeprepared bytheSecretariat. The
report shallbeapproved bytheCommittee atitsnextsession.
Rule22
Atitssecond andfourth regular sessions oftheyear, Ateachofitssessions, theCommittee
shalladopt asummary report tobesubmitted thereport itmust make totheCouncil under Article
VII:2(a) oftheAgreement. Thesummary report maybesubmitted either orally orinwriting, and
maybesupplemented orally atthesession oftheCouncil.
COMMENT: Thismodification would reflect current practice, inwhich theChairperson
oftheCommittees makes anoralreport totheCouncil when theCouncil session
immediately follows thatoftheCommittee (March andSeptember). When noCouncil
meeting follows theCommittee session (June andDecember), asummary written report
issubmitted instead (seeDPC/PTL/43 forexample).IDA/W/4
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Rule23
(a) TheParties areagreed thatTheinformation tobefurnished provided under Article IIIofthe
Agreementwillbecommunicatedonthebasisofquestionnaires.Thesequestionnaireshavebeenadopted
onatrialbasisandmayberevised inthelightofthedataprovided orasnecessary tofulfiltheobjectives
ofthisAgreement.
Replies tothese questionnaires aretobefurnished asfollows:
-Questionnaires 1,2and3andmilkdeliveries/production -quarterly, i.e.:
dataforJanuary-March -15Juneatthelatest
April-June -15September atthelatest
July-September -15December atthelatest
October-December -15March atthelatest
Quarterly datashallinclude estimates forthecurrent yearandforecasts forthecoming
12months period.
-Questionnaire 4(other dairy products): annual datashallbefurnished twoandahalfmonths
atthelatest aftertheendoftheperiod concerned. Sixmonths afterthese datahavebeen
furnished, information ondevelopments therein shallbecommunicated.
-Questionnaire 5:within fourmonths following theentry intoforce oftheAgreement or,
fornewParties, within fourmonths following theiracceptance. Anychanges indomestic
policies andtrade measures likely toaffect international trade indairy products shall be
communicated asearly aspossible, andinanycaseinJulyofeachyear.
(b) Information notfurnished within thecontext ofthesequestionnaires canbeexchanged between
Parties.
COMMENT: Itissuggested thatforthepurpose ofobtaining amorecomplete picture
ofdevelopments ontheworld dairy market, annual databefurnished. Annual estimates
aswellasforecast dataare,forinstance, provided totheInternational Bovine Meat
Agreement.
Rule24
Inaccordance withtheprovisions ofArticle V:1(b) oftheAgreement, theParties agree to
furnish assoonaspossible information regarding theirproposed contributions offoodaidandlikewise
anyproposed amendments tofood-aid programmes. TheSecretariat shalldistribute thisinformation
toallParties totheAgreement.
COMMENT: Itissuggested todistribute thenotifications received fromParties and
dropRule30(seeComment under Rule30).
Rule25
IntheeventthatanyPartyhasrecoursetothepossibilityprovidedunderArticleV:3ofrequesting
information onthetransactions defined inthatparagraph, theParty concerned bysuchrequest shall
furnish totheSecretariat, within fifteen days, detailed information regarding those transactions.IDA/W/4
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Rule26
Inaccordance withtheprovisions ofArticle 4oftheAnnex onCertain Milk Products, i.e.
incaseswhere prices ininternational tradeoftheproducts covered areapproaching theminimum prices,
Parties shallnotify, within notmore thantwenty days, alltherelevant elements forevaluating their
ownmarket situation and,inparticular, those listed inthesaidArticle.
Rule27
TheCommittee shalldetermine anyadditional information thatitmayneed, inparticular to
takeaccount oftheevolution ofprices ininternational tradeinother products ofthedairy sector having
implications forthetrade inproducts covered bytheAnnex onCertain Milk Products.
Rule28
TheCommittee shallestablish asummary tableoftheinformation initspossession. Thetable
shallbedistributed every three months toalltheParties totheAgreement.
Rule29
Thestatus report ontheworld market fordairy products, tobeprepared bytheSecretariat
every sixmonths inpursuance ofTheSecretariat shall, inaccordance withArticle IV:1(a) ofthe
Agreement, shallbedistributed notlaterthan1March and1September ofeachyearprovide half-yearly
reports onthesituation intheworld dairy market. These status reports shallbedistributed notless
thantwoweeks inadvance oftheregularly scheduled meetings oftheCouncil.
COMMENT: Toprovide more flexibility inscheduling thework load.
Rule29bis
Onthebasisofinformation submitted byParties totheAgreement, theSecretariat shalllikewise
drawup,andkeepuptodate,aninventory ofallmeasures affecting tradeindairy products, including
commitments resulting from bilateral, plurilateral andmultilateral negotiations. Thefulltextofthe
inventory shallbedistributed toParties atthebeginning ofeachthree-year period andpartially revised
meanwhile totakeaccount ofanychanges, asandwhen made.
Rule30
TheSecretariat shalllikewise keepup-to-date information regarding foodaidandtransactions
other thannormal commercial transactions, andshallinform theCouncil thereof.
COMMENT: Available information onfoodaidandother thannormal commercial
transactions isextremely limited and/or dated. Itistherefore suggested thatthisRule
bedropped andfoodaidsubmissions byParties distributed toallParties (seeRule
24).