ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH EAST ASIAN NATIONS
A. J. Sisingamangaraja Kebayoran Baru, Jakartra Selatan, PO Box
The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) was formed in
1967 with the aims of fostering economic growth, social progress and
cultural development, and ensuring regional stability.
The heads of government meeting, which convenes every three years,
is ASEAN’s highest authority. Its main policy making body is the annual
meeting of foreign ministers of the member countries, which appoints the
Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Brunei and Vietnam joined in 1984
secretary general. The founding members are Indonesia, Malaysia, the
and 1995 respectively, and Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar are expected to
accede by 2000.
The heads of government summit in 1992 agreed to set up to ASEAN
Free Trade Area (AFTA) in 2008 progress towards which began in 1993
with the introduction of a common preferential tariff. In 1994 it was
decided to bring forward the date for AFTA implementation to 2003, with
Vietnam likely to join by 2006.
At the 1995 annual summit, a South East Asia nuclear weapon – free
zone was declared by ASEAN, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar.
Secretary General, Dato Ajit Singh (Malaysia)
BANK FOR INTERNATIONAL SETTLEMENTS
Centralbahnplatz 2,4002 Basle, Switzerland Tel: Basle 280-8702
The objectives of the Bank for International Settlements (founded in 1930)
are to promote cooperation between central banks; to provide facilities for
international financial operations; and to act as trustee or agent in
international financial settlements entrusted to it. The London agent is the the Board of Directors, in which administrative control is vested.
Bank of England, and the Governor of the Bank of England is member
Chairman of the Board of Directors and President of the Bank for
International Settlements, Dr. W. F. Duisenberg (Netherlands)
CAB INTERNATIONAL
Wallingford,Oxon Oxio DE
Tel 01491-832111
was founded in 1929. It generates, disseminates and applies scientific
CAB International (formerly the Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux)
its 40 member governments, each represented on an Executive Council. A
needs of developing countries. The organization is owned and governed by
knowledge in support of sustainable development, with an emphasis on the
Governing Board provides guidance to management on
policy issues.
biological control and information science. These undertake taxonomic
CABI has five institutes: mycology, entomology, parasitology,
research, offer pest and disease diagnostic services, characterize
biodiversity, develop sustainable crop protection practices, test new drugs
bibliographic databases on agriculture, forestry, allied disciplines and
The organization publishes books, journals and newsletters and produces
against human diseases, and provide training and information services.
and provides. constancy services and information support to developing
aspects of human health. It also undertakes contracted scientific research
countries.
Director General, J. Gilmore.
CARIBBEAN COMMUNITY AND COMMON MARKET
PO Box 10827, Georgetown, Guyana
Tel: Georgetown 692809
The Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM)
established in 1973 with three objectives; economic cooperation through
the Caribbean Common Market, the coordination of foreign policy among
he member states, and the provision of common services and cooperation
in matters such as health, education, culture, communications and
industrial relations. The supreme organ is the Conference of Heads of Government, which
conflicts and all matters relating to the founding treaty. The Caribbean
determines policy, takes strategic decisions and is responsible for resolving
planning, resource allocation, development and smooth running of the
responsibility for CARICOM affairs and is responsible for the operational
Community council consists of ministers of government with special
Common Market and for the settlement of any problems arising out of its
functioning. The principal administrative arms are the Secretariat, based in
Guyana, and the Bureau of the Conference.
The 14 member states are Antigua and Barbuda. The Bahamas (which
Grenada, Gyana, Jamaica, Montserrat, St Christopher and Nevis, St
is not a member of the Common Market), Barbados, Belize, Dominica
Lucia, ST Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and
associate members. The Communicant Republic, Haiti, Mexico, Puerto
Tobago. The British Virgin Island and the Turks and Caicos Island are
Rico and Venezuela have observer status.
Secretary General, Edwin W. Carrington
COMMONWEALTH OF INDEPENDENT STATES
The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a multilateral grouping
of 12 sovereign states which were formerly constituent republics of the
USSR. It was formed by Russia, Ukraine and Belorussia on 8 December
1991, the remaining republics, apart from the Baltic states and Georgia,
joining on 21 December. Georgia joined in December 1993. The CIS
charter, signed in 1993, formally established the functions of the
organization and the obligations of its members states.
The CIS acts as a coordinating mechanism for foreign, defence and
economic policies, and is a forum for addressing those problems which
have specifically arisen from the break up of the USSR. These matters are
addressed in more than 50 inter state, intergovernmental coordinating and
consultative statutory bodies. The two supreme CIS bodies are the Council
of Heads of State and the Council of Heads of Government. The Council
of Heads of State is the highest organ of the CIS and meets not less than
twice yearly; it is chaired by the heads of state of the members in
(Russian) alphabetical order. The Council of Heads of Government meets
not less than once every three months to coordinate military and economic
activity. Other important bodies are the Council of Heads of Collective
Security (defence ministers), the Joint Staff for coordinating military cooperation, the CIS Inter Parliamentary Assembly, the Economi
Administrative support is provided by the Executive Secretariat based in
Arbitration Court and the Coordinating Consultative Committee,
Minsk.
DEFENCE COOPERATION
On becoming member states of the CIS, the II original states agreed to
disputes between them. Agreement was also reached on fulfilling all the
an reject the use of military force or other forms of coercion to settle
international treaty obligations of the former USSR, and on a unified
recognize their existing borders, respect one another’s territorial integrity
central control for nuclear weapons and other strategic forces, together
with the establishment of CIS joint armed forces.
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The members agreed on a central CIS command for all nuclear
Marshal Shaposhnikov in December 1991. All tactical nuclear weapons
weapons, the control over which was passed to CIS commander in Chief
was reached with the USA in May 1992 by the four republics with
had been transferred to the Russian republic by May 1992. An agreement
implementing the strategic arms reduction talks (START) treaty previously
strategic nuclear weapons (Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan)
signed by the USA and USSR, and the START I treaty was ratified by the
five parties between October 1992 and February 1994. Under this
agreement Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan agreed to eliminate all their
strategic nuclear weapons over a seven year period and Russia has agreed
to reduce its strategic nuclear weapons over the same period to such an
extent that there will be a 38 per cent reduction in the overall former
Soviet arsenal. In June 1996, Ukraine completed the transferal of its
nuclear weapons to Russia for disposal and reprocessing. In December
1994 Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus signed the nuclear Non
Proliferation Treaty.
A CIS high command and a joint conventional force were created in
1992 to operate in parallel with member states own armed forces. In the
same year, a Treaty on Collective Security was signed by six states and a
joint peacemaking force, to intervene in CIS conflicts, was agreed upon by
nine states. Deployment of these forces was made conditional on
consensus in the Council of Head of State. Fear of Russian domination by
some states (Ukraine, Moldova,Turkmenistan) hampered defence
cooperation and led to the downgrading of the high command into a joint
staff for military cooperation in 1993. Russia responded by concluding
supervision of the Council of Heads of Collective Security (established
bilateral and multilateral agreements with other CIS states under the
umbrella of the Treaty on Collective Security, enabling Russia to station
1993). These have been gradually upgraded into CIS agreements under the
borders. Only Ukraine and Moldova remain outside the defence
forces defacto control of virtually all of the former USSR’s external
troops in ten of the other II CIS stets (not Ukraine), and giving Russian
cooperation frame work and have not signed the Treaty on Collective
Security. In November 1995, the ten agreed to recreate a joint air defence
system which Russia will, in effect, control and take financial
responsibility for. In March 1996, a Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee,
established to formulate a plan on the creation of a military security
comprising the chess of staff of the member states armed forces, was
ECONOMIC COOPERATION
1991, nine republics signed a treaty forming an economic community, and
As it became clear that the Soviet union was disintegrating in October
e joined by two other republics in November 1991. The principles of
the treaty were embodied within the CIS and formed the basis of its
economic cooperation in 1992 and the first half of 1993. Members agreed
to refrain from economic actions that would damage each other and to
coordinate economic and monetary policies. A coordinating Consultative
Committee, an economic arbitration court and an inter state bank were
established. A single monetary unit,, the rouble, was originally agreed
upon by all member states, and the members recognized that the basis of
recovery for their economies was private ownership, free enterprise and
competition. Throughout 1992 and early 1993 economiccooperation failed
to function effectively because of the differing pace of economic reform
and the introduction of separate currencies by member states.
Russia effectively forced the collapse of the rouble zone in July 1993
by withdrawing all pre 1993 roubles and forcing the remaining states using
troubles to accept Russian monetary control or introduce their own
currencies, which all did apart from Tajikistan. The resulting economic
collapse of the non Russian economies led to renewed interest in economic
cooperation and the signing of a Treaty on Economic Union in September
1993. The 11 CIS members who have signed the Treaty (Ukraine is an
associate member of the economic union) are committed to a common market without internal barriers to trade, common fiscal policies and an
eventual currency union with currencies semi fixed against the rouble. In
order to facilitate faster economic integration 11 states (not Turkmenistan)
agreed in October 1994 to establish an Interstate Economic Committee,
and in May 1995 a monetary committee to facilitate payments in different
currencies was agreed. Belarus has withdrawn its currency and rejoined
Russia and Tajikistan in the rouble zone. A treaty creating a common
market was signed by Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Belarus in
march 1996, with other CIS states excluded from membership.
Originally the main advantage of economic coordination by the CIS
members was the granting of large amounts of aid by Western countries
and international organizations, which made it clear that economic aid was
dependent on CIS coordination in accepting responsibility for the former
USSR’s debt, abiding by all the former USSR’s international obligations
(such as nuclear and conventional arms reductions), and having a secure,
central control and command of nuclear weapons. As a result of CIS
coordination members have gained extensive grants, loans, credits, trade
agreements and technological, business and planning expertise and
guidance.
THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE
67075 Strasbourg, France
Tel: Strasbourg 8841 – 2576
The Council of Europe was founded in 1949. Its aim is to achieve greater
unity between its members, to safeguard their European heritage and to
facilitate their progress in economic social, cultural, educational,
scientific, legal and administrative matters, and in the furtherance of
pluralist democracy, human rights and fundamental freedoms.
The 39 members are Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria,
Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany.
Greece, Hungary, Iceland, the Republic of Ireland, Italy, Latvia,
Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macednia (Former Yugoslav
Republic of), Malta, Moldova, the Netherlands, Norway, Polaned,
Portugal, Romania, Russia, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain,
Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the UK and Ukraine. Special guest status
has been granted to Belarus and Bosnia Herzegovina. Turkey’s
membership was suspended from April 1995 to September 1996 over its offensive against Kurdish guerrillas in northem Iraq. The Council
voted in May 1996 to block Croatia’s accession until its human rights
record improved.
The organs are the Committee of Ministers, consisting of the foreign
ministers of member countries, who meet twice yearly, and the
Parliamentary Assembly of 281 members, elected or chosen by the
national parliaments of member countries in proportion to the relative
srength of political parties. There is also a joint Commitee of ministers
and Representatives of the parliamentary Assembly.
The Committee of Ministers is the executive organ. The majority of
its conclusions take the form of international agreements (known as
European Conventions) or recommendations to governments. Decisions of
the Ministers may also be embodied in partial agreements to which a
limited number of member governments are party. Member governments
accredit Permanent Representatives to the Council in Strasbourg, who are
also the Ministers Deputies. The Committee of Deputies meets every
month to transact business and to take decisions on behalf of Ministers.
The Parliamentary Assembly holds three week-long sessions a year.
Its 13 permanent committees meet once or twice between each public
plenary session of the Assembly. The Congress of Local and Regional
Authorities of Europe each year brings together mayors and municipal
councilors in the same numbers as the members of the Parliamentary
Assembly.
One of the principal achievements of the Council of Europe is the
European Convention on Human Rights (1950) under which was
established the European Commission and the European Court of Human
Rights, which were merged in 1993. The reorganized European Court of
Human Rights sits in chambers of seven judges or exceptionally as a grand
chamber of 17 judges. Litigants must exhaust legal processes in their own
Country before bringing cases before the court.
Charter, the European Cultural Convention, the European Code of Social
Among other conventions and agreements are the European Social
Minorities, and conventions on extradition, the legal status of migrant
Security, the European Convention on the protection of National
prisoners. Most recently, the specialized bodies of the Venice Commission
Workers, torture prevention, conservation, and the transfer of sentenced and Demosthenes have been set up to assist in developing legislative,
administrative and constitutional reforms in central and eastern Europe.
Non-member states take part in certain Council of Europe activities on
a regular or adhoc basis, thus the Holy See participates in all the
educational, cultural and sports activities. The European Youth Centre is
an educational residential centre for young people. The European Youth
Foundation provides youth organizations with funds for their international
activities.
Secretary General, Daniel Tarschys (Sweden)
Permanent UK Representative, HE Roger Beetham, CMG, LVO, apptd
1993.
THE ECONOMIC COMMUNITY OF WEST AFRICAN STATES
Secretariat Building, Asokoro, Abuja, Nigeria
Tel: Abuja 523 1858
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was
founded in 1975 and came into operation in 1977. It aims to promote the
cultural economic and social development of west Africa through mutual
cooperation. A revised ECOWAS Treaty was signed in 1993 which also
makes the prevention and control of regional conflicts an aim of
ECOWAS. The Treaty also provides for the establishment of a regional
parliament, an economic and social council, and a court of justice.
Measures undertaken by ECOWAS include the gradual elimination of
barriers to the movement of goods, people and services between member
states and the improvement of regional telecommunications and transport.
The supreme authority of ECOWAS is vested in the annual summit of
heads of government of all 16 member states. A Council of ministers, two
from each member state, meets biannually to monitor the organization and
make recommendations to the summit. ECOWAS operates through a
financial controller, an external auditor, the Disputes Tribunal and the
Secretariat, headed by the Executive Secretary,. In addition there is a
A Fund for Cooperation, Compensation and Development, situated at Lome, Togo, finances development projects and provides compensation member sates who have buffered losses as a result of ECOWAS’s policies,
particularly trade liberalization.
In 1989-90 ECOWAS attempted to mediate in the Liberian civil war
and sent an ECOWAS Monitoring Group (ECOMOG) peacekeeping force
to the country in 1990. The force succeeded in establishing an interim
government and preventing further conflict in 1991 but fighting broke out
again in late 1992. ECOMOG forces remained in the country charged with
maintaining the buffer zones provided for in the 1994 cease fire. When
fighting resumed in December 1995 ECOMOG soldiers were unable to
maintain control and became embroiled in the factional rivalry, suffering
several fatalities.
Executive Secretary, Edouard Benjamin
THE EUROPEAN BANK FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND
DEVELOPMENT
One Exchange Square, London EC2A 2EH
Tel: 0171-338 6000
The charter of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
(EBRD) was
signed by 40 countries, the European Commission and the
European Investment Bank in May 1990 and was inaugurated in April
1991.
The aim of the EBRD is to facilitate the transformation of the states of
central and eastern Europe (Albania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia,
Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, the republics of
the former USSR and former Yugoslavia) from centrally planned to free
market economies, and to promote Multiparty democracy, entrepreneurial
initiative, and respect for human rights and the environment,
The EBRD provides technical assistance, training and investment in
system; gaining foreign direct investment, the creation of modern financial
upgrading of infrastructure; privatization; the strengthening of legal
Systems; nuclear safety; tourism; the exploitation of natural resources;
and the restructuring of state industries. The EBRD’s assistance is
Weighted toward the private sector; no more than 40 per cent of its
with its members, private companies, and international organizations such
vestment can be made in state owned concerns, It works in cooperation
as the OECD, the IMF, the World Bank and the UN specialized agencies, its shareholders agreed to double at their annual meeting in April 1996, t
The EBRD has an initial subscribed capital of 10 billion ECU, which
capital markets. Its major subscribers are the USA’s 10 per cent: Britain,
which 30 per cent is paid in. The EBRDis also able to borrow on world
France, Germany, Italy and Japan, 8.5 per cent each; Central and Easters
European states, 11.9 per cent. The EBRD offers a range of financing
instruments including loans, equity investments and guarantees. In 1995
the EBRD approved 134 projects, totaling ECU 2855 million; the total
number of projects approved since its establishment is 382, involving ECU
6,300 million of EBRD funds.
The EBRD has 59 members. The highest authority is the Board of
Governors; each member appoints one Governor and one Alternate. The
Governors delegate most powers to a 23 member Board of Directors; the
Directors are responsible for the EBRD’s operations and budget, and are
appointed by the Governors for three year terms. The Governors also elect
the President of the Board of Directors, who acts as the Bank’s president,
for a four year term. A secretary General liaises between the Directors
and EBRD staff.
President of the Board of Directors, Jacques de larosiere (France)
UK Executive Director, Robert Graham Harrison
Secretary General, Antonio Maria Costa (Italy)
EUROPEAN FREE TRADE ASSOCIATION
9-11 rue de Varembe, 1211 Geneva 20, Switzerland
Tel: Geneva 749 1111
74 rue de Treves, 1040 Brussels, Belgium
The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) was established in 1960, by
Austria, Denmark, Norway, Portugal, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.
and was subsequently joined by Finland, Iceland and Liechtenstein. Six
members have left to join the European Union Denmark and the UK
(1972), Portugal (1985), Austria, Finland and Sweden (1994). The
remaining member Iceland, Liechtenstein,Norway and
Switzerland(not a European Economic Area (EEA) member).
The first objective of EFTA was to established free trade in industrial
goods between members; this was achieved in 1966. Its second objective
was the creation of a single market in western Europe and in 1972 EFTA
signed a free trade agreement with the EC covering trade in industrial
goods; the remaining tariffs on industrial products were abolished in 1984.
Exploratory talks on the free movement of goods, services, capital
and labor throughout the EC-EFTA
area led to negotiations on the
establishment of the EEA encompassing all 19 EC and EFTA countries.
These concluded with the signing of the EEA Agreement in 1992. The
FEA was intended to enter into force at the same time as the EC single
market in 1993 but this proved impossible when the Swiss electorate
rejected ratification of the EEA Agreement in a referendum in December
1992. The other EFTA states and the EC negotiated a protocol to the EEA
agreement which was signed in March 1993 and the EEA Agreement
entered into force on 1 January 1994 for the remaining countries (except
Liechtenstein, which joined on 1 may 1995 after adapting its customs
union with Switzerland) after its ratification by all 18 states.
EFTA has expanded its relations with other non-EUstates in recent
years and free trade agreements have been signed with Turkey (1991)
Israel, Poland and Romania (1992) Bulgaria, Hungary, the Czech Republic
and Slovakia (1993), and Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Slovenia (1995).
In addition, EFTA has signed declarations of economic cooperation with
Albania (1992), and Egypt, Morocco and Tunisia (1995).
The EFTA Council is the principle organ of the Association. It
generally meets twice a month at the level of heads of the permanent
national delegations to the EFTA Secretariat in Geneva and twice a year at
ministerial level. The chairmanship of the Council rotates every six
months. Each state has a single vote and recommendations must normally
be unanimous; decisions of the Council are binding on member countries.
Secretary General, kjartan Johannsson (Iceland)
EUROPEAN ORGANIZATION FOR NUCLEAR RESEARCH
(CERN)
CH-1211 Geneva 23, Switzerland
Tel: Geneva 767 4101
The Convention establishing the European Organization for Nuclear
Research (CERNN) came into force in 1954. CERN promotes European collaboration in high energy physics of a scientific, rather than a m
The member countries are Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic,
Denmark, Finland and, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the
Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland and the UK. Israel, Russia, Turkey, the EU Commission and
UNESCO have observer status
The Council is the highest policy making body and comprises two
delegates from each member state. There is also a Committee of the
Council comprising a single delegare from each member state (who is also
a Council member) and the chairmen of the scientific policy and finance
advisory comminees. The Council is Chaired by the President who is
elected by the Council in Session. The Council also elects the Director
General, who is responsible for the internal organization of CERN. The
Director General heads a workfoce of approximately 3,000 including
physicists, craftsmen, technicians and administrative staff. At present over
6,000 physicists use CERN’s facilities.
The member countries contribute to the budget in proporation to their
net national revenue. The 1996 budget was Sfr 938 million.
President of the Council, Prof. Hubert Curien (France)
Director General (1994-9), Prof. Christopher Llewelln Smith (UK)