740.00112A European War, 1939/30570
The Chargé in Ecuador ( Nester ) to the Secretary of State
[Received May 14.]
Sir: I have the honor to refer to the Department’s Circular Airgram of April 23, 6:30 p.m.,91 regarding the procedure to be followed in screening Import Recommendations involving firms included in the “Confidential List of Unsatisfactory Consignees.”92
In discussing Import Recommendations with the local Office of Priorities which involve those listed on the Confidential List, every effort has been made not to reveal the existence of any Confidential List. The procedure outlined in the Airgram has been followed insofar as possible and when necessary it has been pointed out that a given firm or individual is under investigation in Washington and that pending the conclusion of the investigations we have been requested to deny the Import Recommendations. Up to the present, these denials have been accepted by the Director General of Priorities with relatively few questions.
Despite the efforts made to avoid admitting the existence of a Confidential List, there is little doubt in the mind of Ecuadoran officials as to the existence of such a list. When the Decentralization Plan was inaugurated, the local Office of Priorities received from the Ecuadoran Commercial Attaché in Washington93 a copy of “Decentralization Plan ‘A’ “, which outlined the operation and purpose of the plan. At the bottom of page 1 of this Circular, item 3 states that copies of [Page 206] Import Recommendations will be referred to the Mission to be screened:
“a Against Proclaimed and Confidential Lists; and,”
It is possible that other Governments likewise received the Circular and are similarly aware of a list other than the Proclaimed List.
Respectfully yours,
Commercial Attaché
- Not printed.↩
- To keep the Confidential List secret it was the Department’s wish that Import Recommendations be rejected on grounds other than the appearance of the importers’ names on the List wherever possible. For inclusiveness of the Confidential List, see footnote 44, p. 188.↩
- Esteban F. Carbo.↩