624.11241/7
The Secretary of State to the Minister in Bolivia (Feely)
Sir: The receipt is acknowledged of your despatch No. 428, September 8, 1932,11 stating that you have been advised informally by the Bolivian Ministry of Foreign Affairs that a consular officer accredited to Bolivia may request the Ministry for liberations covering importations of personal effects but that such a request must be countersigned by the Chief of Mission of the officer’s country, such countersignature meaning that Bolivian consular officers enjoy free entry in the country of the signer.
You are informed in reply that the Department has been advised by the Treasury that the Department perceives no objection to according reciprocally to Bolivian consular officers assigned to the United States who are Bolivian nationals and not engaged in any private occupation for gain, and their families, in addition to free entry upon arrival and return to this country after leave of absence spent abroad which they now enjoy, the privilege of importing articles for their personal use free of duty at any time during their official residence in [Page 10] the United States, on the understanding that no article the importation of which is prohibited by the laws of this country shall be imported by them.
You are therefore requested to take the matter up with the Bolivian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stating that, reciprocally and upon the request of the Bolivian Legation in Washington in each instance, the Department of State will arrange for the free entry of articles imported by Bolivian consular officers in the United States and their families as provided in the foregoing paragraph.
Should your report to the Department be favorable, the Bolivian Legation at Washington and the Treasury Department will be advised that the arrangement may be considered effective immediately.
Very truly yours,
- Not printed.↩