852.711/105
The Chargé at Tangier (Childs) to the
Secretary of State
No. 928
Tangier, July 29,
1942.
[Received August 4.]
Sir: I have the honor to refer to my despatch
no. 906 of July 20, 1942, transmitting a note addressed to the Spanish
authorities74 concerning their attempt
to open official packages addressed to the American Legation, and to
transmit herewith copy of a note dated July 24, 1942 together with
translation which I have received from my Spanish colleague in answer to
my note.
I likewise enclose a copy of my rejoinder in which I have renewed the
Legation’s objections to the inspection by the Customs authorities in
Tangier of the contents of packages addressed to the Legation.
My British colleague informs me that he has not yet replied to General
Uriarte’s note to him on the same general subject, which formed
enclosure no. 3 to my despatch no. 843 of June 18, 1942. My British
colleague states that he proposes to follow the same general lines in
his reply to General Uriarte as I have taken in my enclosed note of July
29, 1942 to the Spanish Consul.
Respectfully yours,
[Enclosure 1—Translation]
The Spanish Consul at Tangier (Soriano) to the American Chargé at Tangier (Childs)
No. 25
Tangier, July 24,
1942.
Mr. Chargé d’Affaires and Dear Colleague:
In reply to your kind communication of July 20, 1942 concerning
various cases lying in the Customs house addressed to the Legation
under your charge and which are subject to inspection, I have the
honor to inform you that such inspection is effected solely for
statistical purposes which imply absolutely no diminution of the
diplomatic privileges which our authorities are obliged to observe.
It is merely a measure of control now applied in the Customs house
following the assumption by Spain of the charge of that
administration under a special regime, and by analogy with the rules
established in Madrid in respect of any foreign representation,
according to which every Chief of Mission disposes of a fictitious
credit in pesetas, of a greater or lesser amount according to his
rank, against which duties that should otherwise have been applied,
are debited on each parcel of goods imported under franchise,
without involving the payment of any amount. All this
[Page 499]
procedure, as I have
stated above, is purely for statistical purposes, and parcels or
packets exclusively constituting the diplomatic pouch are alone
exempted from this measure of control.
I avail myself [etc.]
[Enclosure 2]
The American Chargé at Tangier (Childs) to the Spanish Consul at Tangier (Soriano)
Mr. Consul and Dear Colleague: I have the
honor to acknowledge the receipt of your kind communication of July
24, 1942 in reply to my note of July 20, 1942 which, on the grounds
of treaty, custom and usage, took exception to the intended
inspection by the Customs authorities in Tangier of the contents of
certain packages addressed to the American Legation.
You have been good enough to explain that such inspection measure now
adopted in respect of parcels imported into Tangier under diplomatic
franchise proceeds from the assumption by Spain of charge of the
Customs administration in Tangier, and follows the rules established
in Madrid for the Spanish Customs in this matter.
I note with pleasure your assurance that the inspection, which is
required solely for statistical purposes, implies no impairment of
the diplomatic privileges which the Spanish authorities are obliged
to observe. The Legation would recall, however, that in Morocco this
obligation on the part of the Spanish authorities implies observance
of the privileges under reference such as they are established by
treaty, custom, and usage, and as was pointed out in my note above
mentioned in reference to Article 3 of the British-Moroccan treaty
of 1856, and Article 3 of the Spanish-Moroccan treaty of 1861, have
invariably been construed as granting to foreign missions and
consulates, not only immunity from payment of customs duties, but
also from inspection of the packages imported by them.
In the circumstances the Legation has no alternative but to confirm
its position in the premises as set forth in its note of July 20,
1942, and consequently to renew its request that you will be good
enough to take such action as may be necessary to cause delivery to
be made to the Legation of the packages in question unexamined by
the Customs authorities.
As stated in the Legation’s note above mentioned, its position on the
point of inspection has never been questioned, and the franchise
passes issued by the Legation, in accordance with the treaty
provisions above cited, indicated merely the number, without
specification of their contents, of the packages to be passed.
However, a few years
[Page 500]
ago,
the Chief of the Statistics Division of the Tangier Customs made an
informal request that the Legation include in its franchise passes
indications as to the nature, value, and if possible the weight of
the articles imported by it. He explained that this would be a
personal favor to him inasmuch as it would save him the time and
trouble otherwise required to search for such data in ships’
manifests and in the parcel post returns of the various post offices
in Tangier. Needless to say the Legation gladly acceded to this
request and will be happy to continue this practice to facilitate
the statistical work of the Spanish administrators of the Moroccan
Customs.
Please accept [etc.]
