158.429/213

The Secretary of State to the Canadian Minister (Massey)

Sir: I have the honor to refer to your notes Nos. 78 and 98 of April 8 and 21, 1927,77 respectively, submitting information with respect to the typhoid situation in Canada and requesting a modification of the embargo on the importation into the United States of milk and cream originating within a 200 mile radius of Montreal. The request is addressed particularly on behalf of the eastern counties of the Province of Ontario, lying between the Ottawa and St. [Page 112] Lawrence Rivers, and also of the counties of Vaudreuil and Soulanges, in the southwestern section of the Province of Quebec.

In reply I have the honor to advise you that the Department is in receipt of a communication dated April 27, 1927, from the Department of Agriculture,79 stating that the latest advices received by this Government are to the effect that the health authorities in Canada are making substantial progress in checking the spread of the epidemic, and that inasmuch as the United States Public Health Service, after careful investigation by its representatives on the ground, has expressed the opinion that the health of the citizens of the United States would in no way be jeopardized if the existing embargo with respect to milk and cream produced in the Province of Ontario were raised, the Department of Agriculture has accordingly notified its representatives, and has requested the Treasury Department to notify collectors of customs at border ports to permit the entry of importations of milk and cream produced in the Province of Ontario, thereby lifting, effective April 27, 1927, the embargo in so far as the Province of Ontario is concerned.

With respect to the counties of Vaudreuil and Soulanges in the Province of Quebec, the United States Public Health Service is of the opinion that conditions are such that this Government cannot be fully assured that all danger of transmission of the disease has been actually removed in connection with the introduction of milk and cream from the counties named. The Department of Agriculture states that when conditions existing in this territory, which is in the proximity of the city of Montreal, are considered entirely safe, prompt steps will be taken to lift the embargo with regard to the output of the counties of Vaudreuil and Soulanges.

Accept [etc.]

For the Secretary of State:
W. R. Castle, Jr.
  1. Latter not printed.
  2. Not printed.