21997P2091

Joint Assembly of the Convention concluded between the African, Caribbean and Pacific States and the European Union (ACP-EU) - Resolutions adopted on beef exports to South Africa (ACP-EU/2091/97/fin.)

The ACP-EU Joint Assembly,

- meeting in Brussels from 17 to 20 March 1997,

A. having regard to the importance of rural development and the campaign against poverty to European development policy in southern Africa,

B. having regard to the prominent place of cattle breeding in the rural economy of southern Africa,

C. deeply concerned at the drastic fall in the earnings of cattle breeders in South Africa, which should be attributed to the sharp rise in subsidized beef exports from the EU to South Africa,

D. disturbed at the sudden decline in the marketing, promoted by EU development policy, of beef in northern Namibia,

E. whereas South Africa and Lesotho have been classified as part of the area for the highest export refunds (1),

F. having regard to the existing customs union and the associated free movement of goods between South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland (SACU), and to EU beef imports from Namibia and Botswana,

G. having regard to requests from South Africa and Namibia to scrap EU export refunds for beef exports to South Africa,

H. convinced that in the interests of stabilizing self-sufficiency in food and security of food supply throughout the world it must be permissible to construct effective external protection in the case of food imports,

1. Calls on the Commission and Council to scrap export refunds for beef exports to South Africa and Lesotho, since the target zone of such exports is in fact the SACU and not individual Member States of the SACU;

2. Calls on the Commission and Council to set up forthwith a common permanent forum for all those concerned, with the participation of the European Parliament, to guarantee close coordination between the institutions and prevent a lack of cohesion between EU development policy and the common agricultural policy;

3. Calls on the Commission and Council not to devolve the costs and risks that have arisen in the present crisis in the EU beef market to third countries and accordingly to exercise the utmost care when monitoring the origin of beef exported to third countries, in order to preclude any further spreading of BSE in third countries and imperilling those countries' consumers;

4. Calls on the Commission and Council totally to abolish export refunds at the next WTO negotiations and in the forthcoming review of the CAP, and to use the negotiating margin thus obtained to establish minimum cost prices and social/ecological criteria for the trade in foodstuffs;

5. Instructs its Co-Presidents to forward this resolution to the Commission, the ACP-EU Council and the parliaments and governments of the SACU States.(1) OJ L 282 , 1. 11. 1996, p. 4.