During his tenure as Jamaica's foreign minister he served as president of the ACP/EU Ministerial Council and led negotiations for the ACP group of countries with the European Community. As chairman of the ACP/EEC Ministerial Conference, he played a pivotal role in forging an agreement on the basic framework for the original Lomé Convention, which influenced the outcome of subsequent negotiations that led to the Convention signed in 1975. He has served as president and spokesman of the ACP Ministerial Council on a number of occasions.