Mandate:   -   Resolution of the Council concerning the terms of reference of an ad hoc Working Party on Shipbuilding as amended [C(66)57; C(67)104(Final); C(70)165(Final); C(73)214(Final) and C(89)122(Final)]

-   Council Decision regarding a Sunset Clause for all Committees [C/M(2004)5, Item 75] entered into force on 22 April 2004 [C/M(2004)10, Item 143, IV, c)]

-   Mandate renewed as a non-consolidated Part II Programme [C/M(2006)7, Item 89, b)]

-   Mandate of the Working Party on Shipbuilding adopted by the Council at its 1180th session on 18 September 2008 [C(2008)121 and C/M(2008)16, item 194]

 

 

 

Resolution of the Council [C(2008)121 and C/M(2008)16, item 194]

 

   “THE COUNCIL,

 

   Having regard to the Convention on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development of 14 December 1960;

 

   Having regard to the Rules of Procedures of the Organisation;

 

   Having regard to the creation of the Council Working Party on Shipbuilding (WP6) by Council Resolution [C(66)57], as amended;

 

   Noting that the shipbuilding industry may continue the pattern of the past of severe cyclical downturns, and that unfair practices (subsidies and other support measures provided by governments to their industries, and other market distorting practices) prevent the market from functioning normally;

 

   Recognising that the Council Working Party on Shipbuilding remains the sole international forum which can bring OECD and non-OECD economies, as well as business/industry and trade union stakeholders, together to exchange views on economic and policy developments in the shipbuilding sector and act on these as appropriate;

 

   Noting the progress made in increasing transparency in the shipbuilding industry, the engagement in the work of the WP6 by non-OECD economies with significant shipbuilding industries and the paused negotiations on a multilateral agreement on shipbuilding;

 

   Noting that the participants to the Sector Understanding on Export Credits for Ships (which has been incorporated as an Annex to the OECD’s “Arrangement on Officially Supported Export Credits”) retain responsibility, through the WP6, for that Understanding, in co-operation with the Participants to the Arrangement on Officially Supported Export Credits;

 

   DECIDES:

 

A   The Council Working Party on Shipbuilding (WP6) has the following mandate:

 

I.   Objectives

 

•   To work towards the identification and progressive reduction of the factors that distort normal competitive conditions in the shipbuilding industry.

 

•   The Working Party will seek to meet this objective by:

 

   -   keeping the shipbuilding industry under review in order to increase transparency and improve the understanding of the shipbuilding market, including supply and demand;

   -   taking into account the economic, social and other relevant conditions in shipbuilding economies that impact on the industry;

   -   increasing the engagement – in accordance with the rules of the Organisation – of non-OECD economies with significant shipbuilding sectors, the shipbuilding industry and trade union stakeholders.

 

II.   Co-ordination arrangements

 

•   As appropriate, the Council Working Party on Shipbuilding shall work in conjunction with:

 

   -   other OECD bodies as appropriate, BIAC and TUAC;

   -   in accordance with the rules of the Organisation, non-OECD economies with significant shipbuilding sectors;

   -   other relevant international organisations such as the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO);

   -   the shipbuilding industry, including national and regional shipbuilder associations; and

   -   appropriate trade union stakeholders.

 

B.   The mandate of the Council Working Party on Shipbuilding shall remain in force until 31 December 2013, unless the Council decides otherwise.”