With regard to the terms of the Draft Agreement, the Canadian Government does
not desire to propose any substantial changes in the general scheme put
forward. There are, however, several points of detail which might, in the
view of the Canadian Government, be clarified with advantage. In the
attached memorandum a number of suggestions, mainly of a drafting character,
are put forward for consideration.
A more general comment relates to the possibilities of collaboration of
neutral governments in the work of the Administration. It is considered that
the Agreement should be framed both so as to encourage full participation by
neutral countries as members of the Administration in some cases and so as
to permit neutral countries in other cases to contribute supplies and
resources to the work of relief without becoming signatories of the
Agreement. Article II of the draft should be expanded, in the view of the
Canadian Government, to make it clear that the collaboration of acceptable
neutral countries will be both expected and welcomed.
[Enclosure]
Memorandum on Draft Convention for United Nations
Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
The Canadian Government desire to make the following observations on the
Draft Convention referred to above.
Article III, paragraphs 1 and 2.
No mention is made in the Draft Agreement of the normal method of
reaching decisions in the Council and its Committees. In Article III (2)
it is provided that special meetings of the Council may be convened on
the request of the majority of its members. In Article
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VIII it is provided that the Agreement may
be amended by a unanimous vote of the Central Committee and two-thirds
of the Council. Presumably the Council and its Committees (except the
Central Committee) will normally take decisions by majority vote. Later
difficulties might be avoided if this were to be stated explicitly in
the Agreement.
Article III, paragraph 3.
- (a)
- If it is the intention that unanimity is to be required in the
Central Committee on all occasions, it might be desirable that this
should be stated explicitly in this paragraph. Reference to the
requirement of unanimity in certain circumstances is made in Article
IV (1) and in Article VIII.
- (b)
- The relationship of the Director General to the Central Committee
is not altogether clear. It is provided that he is to be its
presiding officer. It is also provided in Article IV (1) that he is
to be appointed on the nomination by unanimous vote of the Central
Committee and that he can only be removed by a similar unanimous
vote. It is assumed that it is intended that the Director General
should not be a voting member of the Central Committee, but it is
considered that this should be stated in the Agreement.
- (c)
- This paragraph authorizes the Central Committee to exercise all
the powers and functions of the Council between sessions of the
Council. So that the prerogatives of the Council as the “policy
making body of the Administration” (Article III, paragraph 1) may be
protected when it is not in session, it appears desirable to provide
that decisions of the Central Committee on matters of policy should
be submitted for approval by the Council at its next session.
- (d)
- In the last sentence of this paragraph it is provided that the
Chairman of the Committee on Supplies shall be invited to
participate in the Central Committee at those of its meetings at
which policies affecting the provision of supplies are discussed. It
is assumed that it is intended that participation carries with it
the full rights and duties of membership of the Central Committee at
those of its meetings which he attends.
Article III, paragraph 4.
This paragraph provides that the members of the Committee on Supplies
shall be appointed by the Central Committee with the approval or
ratification of the Council. It might be preferable to have the
appointments to this Committee made by the Council on the nomination of
the Central Committee. It is also suggested that in the next to last
sentence of this paragraph reference should be made to “the Council and
the Central Committee” rather than in the reverse order.
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Article III, paragraph 5.
It is suggested that the Regional Committees should also be appointed by
the Council on the nomination of the Central Committee.
Article IV, paragraph 3.
It is considered that the Director General’s authority under this
paragraph should be qualified by adding at its end: “Within the limits
of the broad policies determined by the Council or its Central
Committee”.
Article IV, paragraph 4.
By this paragraph the Director General is given authority to appoint the
staff of the Administration without any limit except that imposed by the
annual budget required under Article VI. It is considered that some
provision should be inserted requiring the approval of the Central
Committee for the executive establishment desired by the Director
General.
Article V, paragraph 2.
This paragraph authorizes the Director General to initiate action with
member governments in order to secure additional supplies and resources.
Without some requirement that, in initiating such action, the Director
General should act within the limits of the policies already approved by
the Committee on Supplies, it would appear that the responsibilities of
that Committee as defined in Article III (4) could in practice be
ignored by the Director General.
Article V, paragraph 3.
It is understood that the purpose of this paragraph is to avoid
competitive foreign buying of relief supplies, especially by governments
which will have large relief requirements to meet in their own
territories. The language of the paragraph, however, could be construed
as restricting supplying governments from making on their own account
incidental foreign purchases which might be necessary to complete the
relief supplies that they have promised to furnish. For example, the
paragraph would seem to cover the purchase in other countries of textile
fibres or textiles needed for the manufacture of clothing for relief,
and also of sundry medicines and medical equipment needed to furnish
complete medical outfits for relief purposes.
Article VI.
This article would leave to the Council the responsibility of determining
the allocation to member governments of the administrative expenses of
the Administration. As this is likely to be a matter of considerable
difficulty, it is suggested that concrete proposals should be formulated
for consideration by governments before the first meeting of the
Council; if it is not considered feasible to specify the principle of
allocation in the Agreement itself.
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Article VII.
It may be considered that the phrase “other military necessities” used in
this article is too vague. Its meaning might be extended to cover areas
in friendly countries along the lines of communication of armies of
occupation long after hostilities have ceased. It is felt that in such
circumstances the decision should not be left wholly to the Military
Commander of the area. Consideration might therefore be given to
narrowing the scope of the article by a more exact definition of the
circumstances in which it would apply, once hostilities have ended in an
area of relief.
Article IX.
It is open to question whether the final phrase is necessary, as it
appears to invite delay. Reservations are likely to be appended by
certain signatories, in any event.
