Tunis — President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali chaired on Wednesday a cabinet meeting, which looked at a draft bill relative to the amendment to the law of August 3, 1973 on the organization of pharmaceutical professions.

The bill aims at broadening the scope of intervention of the mechanism for collecting donated medicines coming from associations, charities and institutions to extend it to the collecting of medicines from the public as part of the national solidarity drive; these medicines will be distributed to needy or low-income persons.

The meeting also looked at a draft bill on supplying the city of Gafsa and its mine basin with natural gas.

The bill consists of laying a 175-km-long steel pipeline connecting the gas metering station of Feriana to a number of areas in the Governorate of Gafsa.

The meeting also reviewed a draft bill providing for the approval of the additional protocol to the agreement on the creation of the subregional office of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) for North Africa in Tunis and the reinforcement of the human and material resources of this office, to help it expand its role and step up its activities in the region, particularly in the sectors of agricultural policies, forestry, fisheries, aquaculture and animal health.

The meeting also looked at a draft bill on the approval of the agreement establishing the African Mechanism of Legal Support coming under the African Development Bank (AfDB).

This mechanism aims at helping African countries benefit from legal services and advice to develop their negotiating skills, mainly in sectors related to investment agreements and complex trade operations.

The meeting also reviewed a bill related to the approval of the 2007 international agreement on coffee, which seeks, namely, to strengthen cooperation between all exporters or importers of coffee and define the modalities to ensure balance between supply and demand in this commodity according to internationally regulated prices.

The meeting was then briefed on the development of domestic and foreign trade indicators.

The presentation stressed the steady supply of the market in staples and the start of establishing buffer stocks ahead of periods of high consumption.

It also emphasized efforts made to control prices in order to preserve citizens' purchasing power.

The presentation also indicated that foreign exchanges have resumed their normal growth, posting an increase estimated at 7% for exports and 21.4% for imports which include, in particular, imports of raw materials dedicated to totally exporting companies and equipment imported to achieve new investments of companies and major projects.

Before closing its works, the meeting was briefed on organic farming.

The presentation reviewed structural aspects and regulatory measures that were decided in implementation of relevant instructions of the Head of State.

It reported on orientation and awareness campaigns planned for the celebration of National Agriculture and Fisheries Day next May to publicize the gains and prospects for investment in this sector, in line with the 2009-2014 presidential program and the developments of the world situation.

The presentation also noted the extension of areas dedicated to organic farming and the start of the signing of contracts with a number of individuals for the production and purchase of organic products.

In this context, President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali recommended to ensure sustained follow-up of the sector and organize it appropriately so that it would be attractive domestically and offer promising opportunities in terms of exports, in addition to its contribution to diversify and develop agricultural activities.