550.AD1/109
The British Embassy to the Department of State
It was suggested informally to the State Department that it was highly desirable to make clear to the United Nations that the Food Conference would be part of the discussions contemplated under Article VII of the Mutual Aid Agreement.14 His Majesty’s Government had in mind the possibility of introducing a reference to Article VII in the draft invitation, but the question of amending the draft was not formally raised.
- 2.
- His Majesty’s Government are still of the opinion, however, that the Food Conference should be considered from the standpoint of the Article VII discussions as a whole and that in convening the Conference some reference should be made to the connection with that Article.
- 3.
- The following views of His Majesty’s Government on procedure are not in a form appropriate for communication to other governments and they were therefore not incorporated in His Majesty’s Government’s formal written observations on the Food Conference.
- (i)
- In regard to the general programme of discussions under Article VII, His Majesty’s Government have always believed that the most satisfactory way of making progress would be by reaching preliminary agreement between the United States and the United Kingdom. The two Governments would then consult the Soviet and Chinese Governments and subsequently approach the other members of the United Nations.
- (ii)
- It seems, however, that there would be little time for preliminary discussions between the United States and the United Kingdom before the proposed Food Conference if it is to be convened on April 27th. Mr. Eden expressed his doubt to Mr. Matthews on March 10th whether the date for a meeting was not too early in view of the careful preparation beforehand that was necessary to give such a conference a fair chance of success. He was not sure that the exchange of views between the United States and the United Kingdom Governments could be described as having reached this point yet. In view of the shortness of the time now available, might the United States Government consider it advisable to postpone the date of the Conference for a sufficient length of time to allow adequate preparation, and especially to enable delegates who have [Page 827] a long way to come to be briefed by their governments? In any case it would be of great value to His Majesty’s Government if they could be kept informed in confidence of any detailed agenda or documents prepared for submission to the Conference by the United States Government.
- (iii)
- His Majesty’s Government would wish to have a clear understanding with the United States Government that the Food Conference will be a preliminary conference with limited objectives and that it will be only a first step in a general programme which will include all the necessary discussions on the methods of achieving the objectives contemplated in Article VII of the Mutual Aid Agreement of February 23.
- (iv)
- His Majesty’s Government wish to avoid the appointment by the Food Conference itself of committees to deal with wider questions of economic and financial policy, or the issue of invitations by it to other bodies to report on such questions to the Food Conference. They think that the Food Conference should confine itself to pointing out the need for these wider questions to be dealt with by appropriate experts.
- (v)
- His Majesty’s Government think it essential to avoid raising at this first United Nations conference controversial topics on which the ground has not been prepared by previous discussion.
There are, however, important matters in regard to nutrition and foodstuffs on which resolutions could be passed based on experience gained under war conditions, even if aspirations towards better nutrition must be of a long-range character. It is better to have rather vague resolutions than to embark on controversial topics.