Decision

19 January 2023: Decision No 1/2023 of the UK-Jordan Association Council on Adopting Rules of Procedure

Published 15 February 2023

The UK-Jordan Association Committee

Having regard to the Agreement establishing an Association between the   Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (“Jordan”) (together, “the Parties”) and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (“the United Kingdom”), done at Amman on 5 November 2019 (“the Agreement”), and in particular incorporated Articles 89 to 96 thereof,

Whereas:

1. The Agreement entered into force on 1 May 2021.

2. Incorporated Article 93(2) of the Agreement provides that the Association Committee shall establish its rules of procedure.

3. Noting that incorporated Article 92(2) of the Agreement provides that the Association Council may delegate to the Association Committee, in full or in part, any of its powers, the Parties consider it appropriate that the Association Council delegate to the Association Committee its power to set up any working group or body necessary for the implementation of the Agreement and to define the terms of reference of any such working group or body that shall be subordinated to it, as provided under incorporated Article 95 of the Agreement.

Has adopted the Decision:

Article 1

The Rules of Procedure of the Association Committee, as set out in the Annex to this Decision, are hereby adopted.

Article 2

This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.

Done in Amman on 19 January 2023.

For the Association Committee:

On behalf of the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Simon Penney, HMTC for the Middle East and Pakistan and Consul General to Dubai and the Northern Emirates

On behalf of the Government of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

Dana Al Zoubi, Secretary General of Industry, Trade and Supply

Annex: Rules of procedure of the Association Committee

Article 1: Chairing

The Association Committee shall be chaired, in turn, by a representative of the Government of the United Kingdom and a representative of the Government of Jordan (hereinafter referred to as “the Chair”).

Article 2: Meetings

1. The Association Committee shall meet, at official level consisting of representatives of the Government of Jordan on the one hand and of representatives of the Government the United Kingdom on the other, when circumstances require, with the agreement of both Parties.

2. Each meeting of the Association Committee shall be held at a time and place agreed by both Parties.

3. Notwithstanding paragraph 2, the Parties may agree that a meeting of the Association Committee be held by technological means, such as video conference. Where a meeting of the Association Committee is held in accordance with this paragraph, the Party chairing the meeting shall be considered the host of the meeting, for the purposes of these Rules of Procedure.

4. The meetings of the Association Committee shall be convened by the Secretariat at a date, location and in the format agreed by the Parties.

5. When out of session the Association Committee may address issues by written correspondence.

Article 3: Delegations

Before each meeting, the Parties shall notify each other, through the Secretariat, of the intended composition of their respective delegations before each meeting of the Association Committee.

Article 4: Secretariat

1. Officials of the Government of Jordan and officials of the Government of the United Kingdom shall act jointly as the Secretariat of the Association Committee.

2. All communications to or from the Chair of the Association Committee in the framework of these Rules of Procedure shall be addressed to the Secretariat of the Association Committee and the Secretariat of the Association Council.

Article 5: Publicity

1. Unless otherwise decided, the meetings of the Association Committee shall not be public.

2. When a Party submits information designated as confidential to the Association Committee, the other Party shall treat that information as confidential and shall not otherwise use or disclose that information without the specific permission of the Party providing the information, except where this is necessary to comply with legal requirements.

Article 6: Agenda for meetings

1. The Secretariat shall jointly draw up a draft agenda for each meeting. It shall be forwarded by the Secretariat to the members of the Association Committee within  10 calendar days of the beginning of the meeting.

2. The draft agenda shall include the items which the Secretariat has received a request for inclusion in the agenda at least 5 calendar days before the beginning of the meeting.

3. The Association Committee may ask experts to attend its meetings in order to provide information on particular subjects.

4. The agenda shall be adopted by the Association Committee at the beginning of each meeting. An item other than those appearing on the provisional agenda may be placed on the agenda, on an exceptional basis, if the 2 Parties so agree.

5. The Secretariat may, in agreement with the 2 Parties, shorten the periods specified in paragraphs 1 and 2 in order to take account of the requirements of a particular or urgent case.

Article 7: Minutes

1. Draft minutes of each meeting shall be drawn up by the officials acting as members of the Secretariat of the Party hosting the meeting within 14 calendar days of the end of the meeting unless the Parties otherwise agree.

2. The minutes shall include as an annex a list of participants of the Association Committee meeting setting out for each of the delegations the names and functions of all individuals who attended the meeting, in addition to any non-members who also attended.

3. The draft minutes shall be submitted to the officials acting as members of the Secretariat of the other Party for comments. The other Party shall return comments within 14 calendar days of receiving the draft minutes, unless the Parties agree otherwise.

4. The Secretariat shall revise the draft minutes on the basis of comments. The minutes shall be approved within 4 weeks following a meeting of the Association Committee unless the Parties agree otherwise.

5. Once signed by the Association Committee, the minutes shall be filed by each of the Parties. A copy of the minutes shall be forwarded to each member of the Association Committee. Unless otherwise agreed by the Parties, the minutes of the meeting shall not be published by either Party.

Article 8: Decisions and recommendations

1. Where the Association Committee or any working group or body established under the auspices of the Association Council pursuant to incorporated Article 95 adopts a decision or recommendation, Articles 10 and 11 of the Rules of Procedure of the Jordan - UK Association Council shall be applied mutatis mutandis.

2. Article 92(2) permits the Association Council to delegate to the Association Committee, in full or in part, any of its powers. The Association Committee is able to set-up working groups and sub committees to facilitate implementation of the Agreement, applying Mutatis Mutandis.

3. Decisions and recommendations of the Association Committee shall be forwarded to all members of the Association Committee

Article 9: Expenses

1. Each Party shall meet its respective expenses it incurs by reason of its participation in the meetings of the Association Committee, with regard to staff, travel and subsistence expenditure, unless otherwise agreed by the Parties.

2. Where meetings are held in person, other expenditure relating to the material organisation of meetings shall be borne by the Party which hosts the meeting.

3. Where meetings are held by video or teleconference, each Party shall bear its respective cost associated with holding the meeting by such means, unless otherwise agreed.

4. Expenditure in connection with interpretation in meetings, or translation of documents, shall be borne directly by the Party requesting such interpretation or translation, unless the Parties agree otherwise.