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Law Approving The Cooperation Agreement Of May 24, 2002, Between The Federal Authority And The Regions On The Establishment Of An Agency For Foreign Trade (1)

Original Language Title: Loi portant assentiment à l'accord de coopération du 24 mai 2002 entre l'autorité fédérale et les régions relatif à la création d'une Agence pour le Commerce extérieur (1)

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18 DECEMBER 2002. - Act to approve the cooperation agreement of May 24, 2002 between the federal authority and the regions relating to the establishment of an Agency for Foreign Trade (1)



ALBERT II, King of the Belgians,
To all, present and to come, Hi.
The Chambers adopted and We sanction the following:
Article 1er. This Act regulates a matter referred to in Article 77 of the Constitution.
Art. 2. Assent is given to the cooperation agreement of May 24, 2002 between the federal authority and the regions relating to the establishment of an Agency for Foreign Trade.
Promulgate this law, order that it be clothed with the seal of the State and published by the Belgian Monitor.
Given in Brussels on 18 December 2002.
ALBERT
By the King:
The Prime Minister,
G. VERHOFSTADT
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs,
L. MICHEL
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Budget, Social Integration and Social Economy,
J. VANDE LANOTTE
Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs,
Ms. A.-M. NEYTS-UYTTEBROECK
Seal of the state seal:
Minister of Justice,
Mr. VERWILGHEN
____
Note
(1) Session 2001-2002.
Senate
Parliamentary documents. - Bill, 2-1276 - No. 001. - Report, 2-1276 - No. 002.
Annales parliamentarians. - Discussion and adoption. Session of October 17, 2002.
Session 2002-2003.
House of Representatives
Parliamentary documents. - Project transmitted by the Senate, 50 2092 - No. 001. - Report, 50 2092 - no 002. - Text adopted in plenary and subject to Royal Assent, 50 2092 - No. 003.
Full report. - Discussion and adoption. Session of November 28, 2002.

Agreement between the Federal Authority and the Regions on the Establishment of an Agency for Foreign Trade
In view of articles 1er3, 33, 35, 39 and 134 of the Constitution;
Considering the special law of 8 August 1980 of institutional reforms, including Article 92bis, inserted by the law of 8 August 1988, amended by the law of 16 January 1989, by the special law of 16 July 1993 and by the special law of 13 July 2001,
The federal authority, represented by the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Budget, Social Integration and Social Economy and the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs;
The Flemish Region, represented by the Flemish Government in the person of the Minister-President and the Minister of Economy, Foreign Trade and Housing;
The Walloon Region, represented by the Walloon Government in the person of the Minister-President and the Minister of Economy, P.M.E., Research and New Technologies;
The Brussels-Capital Region, represented by the Government of the Brussels-Capital Region in the person of the Minister-President and the Minister of the Environment and the Policy of Water, the Conservation of Nature and Public Cleanliness and External Trade
The following agreed:
CHAPTER Ier. - Organic diet
Section Ire. - The Agency
Article 1er. It is created, under the name "Agency for Foreign Trade", a public institution with legal personality, as provided for in Article 92bis , § 3, d), of the special law of 8 August 1980 of institutional reforms, inserted by the special law of 13 July 2001.
The coordinated laws on the use of languages in administrative matters are applied.
Art. 2. The Agency's headquarters is located in one of the municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region and currently at 1000 Brussels, Boulevard du Roi Albert II 30.
Art. 3. The Agency is competent to:
- to decide and organize joint commercial missions at the initiative of one or more regions or at the request of the federal authority;
- to organize, develop and disseminate information, studies and documentation on external markets to the attention of regional foreign trade services, in accordance with Annex 1er;
- the tasks of common interest unanimously decided by the Board of Directors.
Art. 4. Diplomatic and consular agents and regional representatives abroad are working together to carry out the Agency's mission. They provide the Agency with all macroeconomic, legal, regulatory and other information for its proper operation. To this end, the Agency can correspond directly with them by all possible means of communication.
Art. 5. The regions and the federal authority have direct and free access to the Agency's data banks.
With respect to information and all aspects of foreign trade, any other natural person or legal entity shall address the regional foreign trade service, depending on the region in which it is established.
Section II. - The Board of Directors.
Art. 6. The Agency is administered by a Board of Directors composed of 16 members:
(a) two members appointed by the Flemish Government and two members appointed by that Government on the proposal of the economic actors of the region;
(b) two members appointed by the Walloon Government and two members appointed by that Government on the proposal of the economic actors of the region;
(c) two members appointed by the Government of the Brussels-Capital Region, one Francophone, the other Dutch-speaking and two members appointed by that government, one Francophone, the other Dutch-speaking, on the proposal of the economic actors of the region;
(d) two delegates from the federal authority representing the federal financial institutions responsible for foreign trade, one Francophone, the other Dutch-speaking and two members designated by that authority, one Francophone, the other Dutch-speaking, on the proposal of the economic actors at the federal level.
Art. 7. The regional governments each appoint a government commissioner and determine their remuneration. Government Commissioners are invited to all meetings of the Board of Directors and participate in them with an advisory voice. Each Government Commissioner may, at any time, take, on site, knowledge of books, letters, minutes and, in general, of all documents and writings of the Agency, and require any explanations and information and make any audits that he or she considers necessary to carry out his or her mandate.
Each Commissioner of the Government may, within four business days, appeal suspensively to his Government against any decision of the Board of Directors that he or she considers to be contrary to the special law of August 8, 1980, cooperation agreements relating to foreign trade or the general interest.
The regional government with which the appeal was made has a 20 working days deadline to approve or cancel the decision. If the regional government has not passed, the decision becomes final.
Art. 8. The Board of Directors shall elect from among its members a President and a Vice-President. If the President is elected from among the members representing public authorities, the Vice-President must be elected from among the members representing economic actors and vice-versa. The Chair and Vice-Chair must be of a different language regime.
Art. 9. The King may appoint, on the proposal of the Board of Directors, a Speaker of Honour.
Art. 10. Within three months after its first meeting, the Board of Directors shall establish its rules of procedure in accordance with the provisions of Annex 2 to this Cooperation Agreement.
CHAPTER II. - Personnel and Budget
Section Ire. - Staff
Art. 11. The number of Agency staff, including the Director General and the Deputy Director General, cannot exceed fifty members. They're under employment contract.
The framework, by-law and by-law of work are decided by the Board of Directors.
Section II. - Budget
Art. 12. The Board of Directors fixes the budget annually. It must be approved by the representatives of each regional authority.
The Agency's funding is provided by an annual federal allocation of EUR 2.478.935.25 for the year 2002 and is adapted to the rate of fluctuation in the average consumer price index for the following years.
The regions may intervene on the basis of the distribution key for the tax on natural persons referred to in section 35sexies of the special law of 16 January 1989 inserted by the special law of 13 July 2001 on refinancing of communities and extension of the tax powers of the regions.
Done in Brussels on 24 May 2002.
For the state:
The Prime Minister,
G. VERHOFSTADT
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs,
L. MICHEL
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Budget, Social Integration and Social Economy,
J. VANDE LANOTTE
Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs,
Ms. A.-M. NEYTS-UYTTEBROECK
For the Flemish Region:
The Minister-President,
P. DEWAEL
Minister of Economy, Foreign Trade and Housing,
J. GABRIELS
For the Walloon Region:
The Minister-President,
J-Cl. VAN CAUWENBERGHE
Minister of Economy, E.P., Research and New Technologies,
S. KUBLA
For the Brussels-Capital Region:
The Minister President,
F.-X. DONNEA
Minister of the Environment and the Water, Conservation of Nature and Public Trade Policy,
D. GOSUIN

Annex 1re the cooperation agreement of 18 December 2002 between the federal authority and the regions relating to the establishment of an Agency for Foreign Trade
The purpose of this annex is to define the areas of activity and the expertise of the Agency for Foreign Trade as provided for in Article 3 of this Cooperation Agreement.
1. The Agency decides and organizes joint missions at the initiative of one or more regions or at the request of the federal authority.
The Board of Directors of the Agency decides on joint missions under the chairmanship of the Honorary President. Such a mission involves the participation of all regions and the federal authority.
The Board of Directors may also make a majority decision, as stipulated in Article 7 of Schedule 2 to the Cooperation Agreement, on initiatives proposed by one or more regions or the federal authority. Such an initiative involves the participation of at least two regions.
In both cases, the Board of Directors sets out the terms and conditions of participation and the terms and conditions of the missions.
The joint missions will take place under the Belgian flag with the logo.be and below it, the three regional logos.
Registration of companies for joint missions is done via regional windows. Then, for administrative preparation and mission resolution, the Agency can contact companies directly.
2. The Agency organizes, develops and disseminates information, studies and documentation on external markets, to the attention of regional foreign trade services, for the following materials:
A. legal and regulatory requirements:
1. export (Belgian and European regulations);
2 sales plans and contractual obligations;
3. product control: sanitary requirements and standards;
4. tax obligations (duty and indirect taxes);
5. business practices;
6. sale and distribution;
7. transport and import in Belgium;
8. industrial property;
9. establishment abroad;
10. payment rules and commercial disputes.
B. Economic data and practical knowledge:
1. general information (geo-economic and economic analysis, market and sector developments, Belgian market share);
2. national and international comparative statistics;
3. information on foreign markets as a result of projects co-financed by international financial institutions.
The economic data of the Regions and the relevant federal institutions (e.g. National Bank, Ducroire, Finexpo) will be automatically made available to the Agency.
Regional export services make their data available to the public through the E-government system.
3. The Agency is competent for the tasks of common interest unanimously decided by the Board of Directors.
The following tasks of the Agency will be resolved by the Board of Directors:
- the award by the Royal Export Awards and Mercurius Awards Agency;
- the intervention as a window for foreign VIP missions that are visiting in Belgium (The Regions will be informed automatically. Contacts with Belgian companies are made via regional windows;
- the relationship with the Chambers of Commerce abroad and their role that must be specified at the first working meeting.

Annex 2 to the cooperation agreement of 18 December 2002 between the federal authority and the regions relating to the establishment of an Agency for Foreign Trade
This Annex sets out, pursuant to Article 10 of the Cooperation Agreement, the provisions that must be repeated in the Rules of Procedure.
Article 1er. § 1er. The term of office of members representing the federal and regional authorities is linked to the duration of their respective governments. The other members are appointed for a term of four years.
§ 2. Members continue to perform their duties until their successor is appointed.
§ 3. The functions of President, Vice-President and Administrator shall end by death, resignation, civil incapacity, expiry of the term for which such functions have been conferred.
§ 4. When a director leaves the position or loses the quality because of which he was appointed, he ceases to be a member of the Board of Directors from the appointment of his successor.
§ 5. It is filled with any vacancy by the government that has made the designation. If a vacancy occurs during a term of office, the new member shall complete the term of office of the new member.
§ 6. The terms of office of President, Vice-President and Administrator are renewable.
Art. 2. § 1er. At its first meeting, convened by the Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs and chaired by the oldest member, the Board of Directors reviews the terms of reference of the members and then proceeds to the elections under Article 8 of the Cooperation Agreement.
§ 2. The Board of Directors reviews the mandate of each new member.
§ 3. In the event of the absence of the President, his or her functions are performed by the Vice-President and, in the absence of the Vice-President, by the oldest administrator.
Art. 3. The Board of Directors has all the powers related to the management of the Agency. The Board of Directors represents the Agency.
Art. 4. The Board of Directors meets at least four times a year. In addition, it may be convened at the initiative of the President or at the request of three directors.
Art. 5. Each member may be represented by another member of the Board of Directors. However, a member may not be carrying more than one proxy.
Art. 6. The Board of Directors may not make decisions if the majority of members are not present or represented. When the majority of members are not present or represented, the President may, as long as it concerns an urgent matter, convene within three to fifteen days the Board of Directors in a special meeting that may deliberate and decide validly whatever the number of members present or represented.
Art. 7. The decisions of the Board of Directors shall be taken by a majority of the votes of the members present or represented, unless otherwise provided in this cooperation agreement and its annexes. In the event of a parity of votes, the meeting is suspended to allow members to consult their constituents. Then a new vote was taken. If there is a new parity of votes, the proposal shall be rejected, unless it is the budget or accounts that are approved in this case.
Art. 8. Minutes of meetings of the Board of Directors that reflect only the reasoned decisions of the Board are signed by the President and sent to members. Meeting schedules and minutes are also sent for information to regional ministers with foreign trade in their responsibilities as well as to the Federal Minister with Foreign Trade in their responsibilities. A record is kept.
Copies or extracts from the Board of Directors' deliberations to be filed in court or elsewhere are certified by the Director General.
Art. 9. The functions of President, Vice-President and Administrator are not paid. Attendance tokens and representation allowances set by the Board of Directors may be awarded to members of the Board of Directors.
Art. 10. § 1er. The Agency's current management is entrusted to a Director General assisted by a Deputy Director General, both appointed by the Board of Directors and with a different linguistic role.
The Director General and the Deputy Director General shall, with an advisory vote, attend the deliberations of the Board of Directors, except where the person is referred in any way.
§ 2. The Director General and the Deputy Director General shall serve as the secretariat of the Board of Directors. They prepare the files and submit them to the Board of Directors. They are responsible and responsible for the execution of the decisions of the Board of Directors. They represent the Agency in public and private acts.
The Board of Directors also delegated the authority of the Director General to represent the Agency in law in cases of day-to-day management and urgent matters, without having to show to third parties any particular power of attorney. He is responsible for the execution of the budget and directs the accounting of the Agency.
For the situations set out in this paragraph, the Director General shall, if no, be replaced by the Deputy Director General.
Art. 11. An accompanying committee coordinates the implementation of the decisions taken by the Board of Directors. It is chaired by the Director General of the Agency or, in the event of the Agency's absence, by the Deputy Director General.
It is composed of the executive officer of Export-Vlaanderen, the Walloon Export Agency and the Foreign Trade Directorate of the Brussels-Capital Region and the competent Director General for Bilateral Economic Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The accompanying committee meets at least once a month.
The Chair reports to the Board of Directors.
Art. 12. The Director General is assisted by a board of directors that he chairs. In the event of an incapacity, it is replaced by the Deputy Director General.
The executive board shall be composed according to the provisions of the Labour Rules.
The Board of Directors determines its own rules of procedure which are approved by the Board of Directors and published in the Belgian Monitor.
The Executive Board shall be competent in all matters attributed to it by the Labour Regulations.
Art. 13. The monitoring of the financial situation, annual accounts and the regularity of the transactions to be replicated in the annual accounts is entrusted to two Commissioners who must belong to a different linguistic role.
The Court of Accounts appoints a Commissioner among the members of the Court. The other Commissioner is appointed by the Board of Directors, apart from its members and among the members, natural persons or legal persons, of the Institute of Business Reviewers.
They are responsible for the oversight and control of the Agency's accounting.
They can read all the accounting records. They receive annual accounts one-and-a-half months before the session of the Board of Directors during which these accounts will be submitted.
They report on the accounts.
The appointment of a Commissioner is made for a period of three years and is renewable.
Art. 14. Before June 15 of each year, the Board of Directors shall prepare the budget for the following year, including all revenues and expenses. The budget year coincides with the calendar year.
Each year, before April 1, the Board of Directors approves the accounts for the past year and reports on its activities and financial situation.
The budget is, within two months of its approval by the Board of Directors, communicated to the Minister of Budget and to each Regional Minister with the budget in his or her responsibilities.
The accounts are, within two months of their approval by the Board of Directors, communicated to the Minister of Budget and to each Regional Minister with the budget in his or her responsibilities.