The South African co-ordinator travelled to Norway in January to help draft new Guidelines for the second phase of the Programme, in anticipation of the signing of the new Business Plan (BP). During this period, what was believed to be the final version of the new Business Plan was written, incorporating some clarifications following a scrutiny of the document by legal experts. 

During February, the finishing touches were made to the BP and everything seemed ready for the announced signing of the document on February 27th. Unfortunately, some last minute inputs from the South African authorities seem to require some additional revisions of the BP and have led to a postponing of the final signing. It is not clear at the moment how substantial the revision might have to be and hence when the final-final version of the BP can be expected, but indications are that it may not take too much extra time. 

The signing of the document is a precondition to call for a meeting of the new Joint Programme Committee which, among other things has the responsibility for approving the Guidelines for the Programme and the content of the application forms. 

The Secretariat still hopes it will be possible to make a call for proposals at the end of March so applicants can meet the previously indicated 8 June deadline. However, potential applicants must be prepared for the possibility that the proposed revisions of the BP are substantial enough to require yet another round of consultations between the signatory parties. In that case, a postponement of the announcement cannot be avoided, with the consequence that the application deadline may have to be forwarded to after the northern summer vacation, i.e. to September.