This is according to Minister of Foreign Trade and International Cooperation, Hon. Clement Rohee who yesterday addressed a Press Conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Building, Takuba Lodge.

Minister Rohee was at the time reporting on decisions taken at the 76th Meeting of the ACP Council of Ministers held in Brussels, Belgium, from December 10-11, 2002.

Other disclosures made by the Minister, coming out of the ACP meeting were:

** That Guyana proposed a resolution calling on the European Union (EU) to give consideration to Cuba's request for accession to the ACP-EU Cotonou Agreement without any conditionalities. The Resolution was unanimously adopted by the ACP Council of Ministers.

** The ACP Trade Ministers are expected to meet in July 2003 to plan a strategy for the upcoming WTO Ministerial Meeting to be held next year in Cancun, Mexico.

** That ACP countries have agreed to press their sugar lobbying to prevent the Brazil/Australia challenge to European Union (EU) sugar regime from escalating to the panel stage at the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

** A legal firm is to be contracted to assist the ACP at the panel stage in the eventuality.

** The ACP is to press the European Union for an early disbursement of 24 million Euros to assist Cariforum Rice Industry and to ensure that compensatory measures are put in place to cushion losses in export earnings for ACP rice producers, as a result of the proposed 50 per cent slash in support price for Caribbean rice exports to the European Union. A resolution to this effect was adopted by the ACP Council of Ministers.

** The ACP has agreed in principle to proceed with intra-ACP and ACP-EU political dialogue. Guidelines in respect of peer reviews, in respect of the former, were being adopted by the Council of Ministers.

** The meeting held between the ACP and representatives of the incoming Greek Presidency of the European Union, the ACP requested the incoming President to keep a watching brief on behalf of the ACP countries, as regards the Australia/Brazil challenge to the EU sugar regime. The incoming Greek Presidency was also requested to ensure that the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) reform, EU expansion and the agriculture negotiations at the WTO do not disadvantage the ACP countries.

Minister Rohee said that the ACP is also to hold three other important meetings in 2003, namely:

** The Meeting of the ACP Sugar Supplying Countries in the Fiji

** The Meeting of the ACP Ministers of Culture in Senegal