On the 27th of November 1999, late Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud opened the 20th session of the Supreme Council of the GCC held at Al-Dareya palace in Riyadh whereas he welcomed the leaders of the group. He cited the impact of accelerating pace of international developments on the GCC region in its capacity as an integral part of the world of today, urging the leaders of the GCC to work together to conduct studies on the circumstances engulfing their region to determine the reasons and prescribe the remedies for every negative phenomenon or action to evade always being affected and not otherwise. Referring to the vast capabilities bestowed by Allah Almighty on the GCC region and its strategic location, King Fahd called for the formation of a GCC military force, although voicing the aspiration of reaching the dream of forming an Arab unity one, to defend the security of the GCC member countries and their peoples against potential international interests and plots. Following the summit, late Prince Saud Al-Faisal, the Foreign Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, announced the new GCC customs fees (exempted and basic goods) at a rate of %5.5 and other goods at a rate of %7.5, effective the beginning of March 2005. He also reported that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has presented four working papers to reform the GCC statute. --More 14:33 LOCAL TIME 11:33 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w