740.00112 Navicert/227: Telegram
The Consul General at Beirut (Palmer) to the Secretary of State
[Received December 5—7:52 a.m.]
140. The British Consulate General presented to the French High Commission on November 27 a “notice” that His Majesty’s Government had decided to extend the system of navicerts and certificates of [Page 669] origin to the French mandated territories of the Levant (Syria) as from November 18. According to it:
- (1)
- imports into Syria from a number of countries including the United States will be covered by cargo navicerts;
- (2)
- an exporter from Syria to any country may apply to the British Consulate General for a certificate of origin and interest;
- (3)
- any ship sailing from a port in Syria will require a ship’s navicert in order to avoid liability for seizure, which will not be issued to a ship carrying mails unless the master undertakes to drop the mails for examination at a specified British port and unless passenger list is submitted for consular approval;
- (4)
- no certificate will be issued for territories regarded as under enemy occupation or control; France occupied and unoccupied, French Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, French Somaliland, or any other territory deemed to be under enemy occupation or control.
My British colleague17 wrote me confidentially on November 28:
“I understand that the policy of His Majesty’s Government is to exercise as much economic pressure as possible on Syria and that in consequence they are most unfavorably disposed towards such trade (between the United States and Syria) and would in fact abstain from granting any navicerts in connection with it. I understand further that they have under review the question of tightening up the blockade on the Persian Gulf and it is likely that control in that area will be increased.”
He informed me verbally yesterday for [that?] he has received subsequent instructions to the effect that every application made to him must be referred to London for decision. He thinks that the decision will be uniformly negative unless London authorities are requested from an outside source to favor a particular item of trade or shipment of goods. While Syria has not been formally listed as territory under enemy control, Consul General Havard thinks that the measures taken amount to practically the same thing and that trade between the United States and Syria as well as Iraq will be made most difficult if not impossible. He said that from the instructions he has received he can only deduce that London’s policy is to asphyxiate economically this territory until “they decide to come around”.
Havard has informed the High Commission only in the sense of the first paragraph. He is purposely keeping it uninformed of further instructions; he says that it will find out soon enough. The Chief of the Political Section of the High Commission in conversation on November 28 did not appear to think the “notice” of outstanding importance, nor did he think that the territories could be deprived of essential goods to such an extent as to influence the political situation. [Page 670] However, the High Commissioner17a today expressed to me doubt as to whether the British would apply the navicert regulations fairly and envisages an increasingly difficult situation within this country in such an eventuality. In my estimation the ravitaillement organization is going from bad to worse and appears to be headed for a fiasco; supplies of essential goods such as coal, gasoline, kerosene, sugar, rice, automobile parts are obviously insufficient and irregular.
Inquirers at Beirut concerning the possibilities of Syrian-American trade will be answered with the above information in mind. While Havard wants it kept confidential in Beirut, he stated that he saw no objection to the information being disseminated in America.
This obviously puts an end to all the efforts made by the British Consul General and the French High Commissioner to work out some local economic arrangement between Syria and Palestine.
Copies of cabled text will be forwarded by pouch to Jerusalem, Cairo, Baghdad, Tehran and Ankara.