FICT Council Meeting of April 4, 2012 (original)

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The following is the original version of the page "FICT Council Meeting of April 4, 2012". It was replaced a few weeks after the Council Meeting when it turned out that differences of opinion between FICT participants were too large to continue FICT without change. To facilitate that change, history with regards to the Council Meeting was rewritten.


On April 4, 2012, a Council Meeting of the Forum for International Cooperation and Trade (FICT) was held in Dhram Ɖú. It wass the first Council Meeting since the organization's establishment in 2011.

The Council decided on:


agenda

The agenda consisted of the proposals in the same order with two additions (both requested by Khusqaikama):

  • FACET (in between C1.3 and C1.4);
  • enlargement (at the end of the agenda).

On these two additions, see: #informal proposals.

proposals

C1.1: admission of Chimor

  1. Admission of Chimor as a new member.

discussion and decision

In the Conference, through their ambassadors, all member states expressed to be in favor of admission. In the Council, the proposal was accepted with 7 votes in favor and 1 abstaining (Tarmorya).

C1.2: 2012 program budget

  1. See FICT Budget#2012 Program Budget for the full proposal.
  2. Acceptance of the Program Budget implies acceptance of the underlying proposals with regards to the allocation of funds and establishment of institutes and organizations.

discussion and decision

The Program budget has been discussed extensively in the Conference and at the time of the Council, there were still some minor disagreements. These minor disagreements proved to be more 'major' than expected and the Budget proposals and budgeting system were fiercely debated in the Council. In the end a compromise was reached, which was unanimously accepted.

C1.3: 2013 program budget

  1. See FICT Budget#2013 Program Budget and budgeting system for the full proposal.
  2. Acceptance of the Program Budget implies acceptance of the underlying proposals with regards to the allocation of funds and establishment of institutes and organizations.
  3. If members change, the necessary changes to the budget will be made. This does not require further Council approval.
  4. Any other change in the 2013 Program Budget will require separate Council approval.
  5. If no Program Budget for 2014 and afterwards will be agreed upon, then the 2013 Program Budget will apply to those years as well, provided that the necessary changes to accommodate changes in membership are made.

discussion and decision

The discussion of C1.3 and C1.2 was a single discussion, and the compromise reached was about both, and about the budgeting system. The final version of C.13 was unanimously accepted.

C1.4: observer status

  1. The 'observer status' can be granted by the Conference to countries that either apply for this status or for full membership.
  2. If a membership application is approved by the majority of the Conference, that country automatically gets observer status.
  3. The observer status gives countries the right to send a representative to attend the Conference meetings. This representative has no voting rights and can only speak when asked.
  4. The observer status gives countries the right to participate in FICT activities that are opened to observers by the Council.

discussion and decision

This proposal was was unanimously accepted without further discussion.

C1.5: short term visa agreement

  1. No FICT member shall require short term (3 months) visas for citizens of other FICT countries.
  2. Observers can participate in the visa agreement, in which case "FICT countries" in the preceding sentence should be understood as including those participating observers.
  3. This agreement shall be known as "FSTVA" (FICT Short Term Visa Agreement).

discussion and decision

In the Conference, through their ambassadors, all member states expressed to be in favor of this proposal. This proposal was was unanimously accepted without further discussion.

As this is an additional treaty, some member states may still have to ratify it. It will automatically apply to new members.

See further: FICT Short Term Visa Agreement (FSTVA).

C1.6: free trade agreement

  1. No FICT member shall raise import taxes or tariffs on imports from other FICT countries, with an exception for unprocessed agricultural and fishery products.
  2. Observers can participate in the free trade agreement, in which case "FICT countries" in the preceding sentence should be understood as including those participating observers.
  3. This agreement shall be known as "FFTA" (FICT Free Trade Agreement).
  4. For further details, exact text of the agreement, and exceptions, see: FICT Free Trade Agreement (FFTA).

discussion and decision

This proposal has been discussed extensively in the Conference and there were many disagreements. In the Council it was was unanimously accepted without further discussion.

As this is an additional treaty, some member states may still have to ratify it. It will automatically apply to new members.

See further: FICT Free Trade Agreement (FFTA).

C1.7: exhibitions

  1. Every year or every other year, to be decided by the Conference, an important city in a FICT country will organize an exhibition. The Conference decides which city shall organize the next exhibition.
  2. Purpose of the exhibitions is the promotion of tourism, the exchange of industrial information, the fostering of industrial cooperation, and the improvement of trade relations.
  3. Any FICT member can participate in any exhibition in any way considered suitable by the Conference.
  4. Any FICT member shall finance its own participation in an exhibition.
  5. Observers can participate in an exhibition at additional cost, to be determined by the host country.
  6. All costs for the organization of an exhibition (that is anything besides the individual countries' contributions) shall be paid by the host country. If the host country is unable to completely finance the exhibition, it can apply to the Conference for financial support from the FICT Special Projects Fund (FSPF).

discussion and decision

After a minor amendment in article 1 proposed by Khusqaikama this proposal was was unanimously accepted.

C1.8: games

  1. Every year or every other year, to be decided by the Conference, a FICT member will organize FICT Games. The Conference decides which country shall organize the next Games.
  2. The FICT Games shall focus on team sports and/or individual sports scored by country teams.
  3. The Conference decides on what sports are to be included in the Games.
  4. Any FICT member shall finance its own participation in the Games.
  5. Observers can participate in the Games at additional cost, to be determined by the host country.
  6. All costs for the organization of the Games (that is anything besides the individual countries' contributions) shall be paid by the host country. If the host country is unable to completely finance the Games, it can apply to the Conference for financial support from the FICT Special Projects Fund (FSPF).

discussion and decision

After a minor amendment in article 1 proposed by Khusqaikama this proposal was was unanimously accepted.

informal proposals

Many informal proposals were discussed, most related to the Program Budget. Both the items that were added to the agenda during the meeting also involved informal proposals. D9 was a proposal for a diplomatic initiative towards enlargement. No formal agreement was reached before the end of the meeting, but a draft proposal was supported by a majority of member states.

D8 was a proposal concerning FACET, proposed by Khusqaikama, with the following content:

FACET does not promote tourism to member states that:

  • do not allow their own citizens to travel freely to other member states; and/or
  • do not allow FACET to promote tourism to other member states among its own citizens, or unreasonably restrict such promotion; and/or
  • impose severe restrictions on tourism and/or on the rights of tourists to freely travel within the country (notwithstanding the obligation of those tourists to conform to local law).

It was removed from the agenda by vice-chairperson Lilja Merkinðor after a number of member states stated that they did not want to decide on the proposal yet.

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