ACEA Tunisia recruits a Legal Counselor / Law firm Retour vers les opportunités

Period of Performance: January 1, 2020 – March 31, 2020 

Place of Performance: Consultant based in Tunis, Tunisia. Travel to 

Tunis and Northwest Tunisia will be required.

1-Program Background:

ACEA Tunisia (Action Collaborative pour les Exportations Artisanales, or “Collaborative Action for the Export of Handicraft products”) is a two-and-a-half-year project implemented by FHI 360, funded by the U.S. Department of State. Its goal is to help essential oil artisans in Northwest Tunisia market and commercialize their products, and hence encourage this local economy. The region has not yet achieved the economic potential of the aromatic and medicinal plant resources abundantly present, for a host of reasons. 

This project is helping to empower artisans and local communities, by guiding and advising them through Clustering. Members of the WIKI PAM Cluster have been meeting in workshops since the beginning of 2018 and are currently working on structuring the cluster in its content and form. 

2-Objective of Consultancy:

Within the framework of initiating and assisting the development of the “WIKI PAM” Cluster of natural extracts in northwest Tunisia, the legal counselors will be supporting the Wiki PAM Cluster in formalizing the cluster ‘s legal form and will be assisting a selection of producers of natural extracts benefiting from the ACEA project in the fields of business law and international trade law. 

3-Tasks description and Deliverables:

The Wiki PAM Cluster: 

Phase 1: Legal Registration of Wiki PAM 

• Identify and analyze the links between the different entities, members of the cluster, in order to determine the best legal status of the cluster, ensure its functioning with minimal costs and delimit these links in a legal and organized framework taking into account the following parameters:
• Compatibility with the most appropriate tax system, 
•  Compatibility with the most appropriate social status for the cluster, 
• Compatibility with the inherent characteristics of the project 
•  Compatibility with expected future prospects 

→ Deliverable: Analytical memo with recommendations approved by the Technical Monitor 

• Amendment and review of the proposal following the received feedback as advised by the Technical Monitor.

• Presentation of the results to the cluster members during a workshop session1. 

→ Deliverable: presentation with visual materials for a large group 

• Once the legal form(s) of the cluster is (are) selected, provide an action plan and a timeline to the legal registration

• Assist the Wiki PAM cluster in its formal structuring: based on the proposed action plan, the counselor will assist the cluster in the administrative procedures in submitting a complete file to the concerned authorities and facilitate the formal representation of the cluster with the moderator.

→ Deliverables: A detailed action plan and timeline + The cluster entity(ies) is (are) legally 

registered 

Phase 2: Technical Assistance to the Cluster 

• Accompany the cluster leaders of the “Technical and Economic Collaboration” (TEC) working group in the definition and drafting of the contracts that regulate the links between the different actors part of the Wiki PAM cluster including cooperatives (GDAs and SMSAs), private companies, research and/or higher education institutions, other stakeholders in the cluster.

→ Deliverable: Between 6 to 10 model contracts developed 

• Based in the selected legal form(s), define the key positions and roles to be created within the cluster to ensure its sustainability and propose the optimal organizational structure to adopt.

→ Deliverable: Proposed organizational structure(s) of the Cluster 

1 The workshop session date and location will be communicated on a later notice according to the project activity plan. 

• Ensure the training 2 of a group of cluster members on all the legal and tax aspects that are essential to the functioning of the cluster and its management in a legal framework.

An evaluation of the participants before and after the training will be required. 

→ Deliverable: At least 10 members trained with demonstrable/measurable improvement of 

knowledge/skills 

Cooperatives producing essential oils: 

• Study phase: assessment of legal aspects related to the export of essential oils and by- products to provide an action plan and a timeline intended to create the most optimal legal framework for the producers to export their products.

→ Deliverable: memo with recommendations and timelines approved by the Technical Monitor 

• Assist a selection of “Agricultural Development Groups – Groupement de Développement Agricole” (GDA) cooperatives benefiting from the project in the transition or merger to a Mutual Agricultural Services Company – Société Mutuelle de Services Agricoles” (SMSA).

→ Deliverable: Up to 4 transition and/or merger initiatives are to be completed by the counselor 

or the law firm 

• Based on the provided assistance and encountered constraints, the counselor or legal firm will summarize the lessons learned and present the results to the cluster during a workshop session.

→ Deliverable: a concise but comprehensive guidebook on practical process to create an SMSA 

• Assist up to 4 cooperatives in the field of the international trade law including international contracts and transactions, exports of their products and compliance rules.

→ Deliverable: a summary report on export requirements and processes including lessons learned 

and best practices