841.24/85
Memorandum of Conversation, by the Chief of the Division of Controls (Green)
Sir Owen Chalkley, Commercial Counselor of the British Embassy, called at my office this afternoon by appointment, bringing Lord Riverdale with him.
Lord Riverdale talked in general terms of his mission to investigate and report to his Government on the most efficient means to establish a centralized British purchasing agency in this country. The only specific question which he raised was the question of the registration of such a purchasing agency under the provisions of section 5 of the Neutrality Act, requiring the registration of exporters of arms, ammunition and implements of war. He said that the purchasing agency would probably take the form of a corporation and would function very much as Amtorg35 functions. When I informed him that Amtorg was registered as an exporter of arms and obtained export licenses from the Department he stated that the purchasing [Page 564] agency which he expected eventually to set up would undoubtedly apply for a certificate of registration.
After a brief conversation I took Sir Owen Chalkley and Lord Riverdale to the office of the Assistant Secretary of War. I presented them to Colonel Johnson and left them in his office.
- Amtorg Trading Corporation, official purchasing agency in the United States of the Soviet Union, New York, N. Y.↩