834.24/383a: Airgram
The Secretary of State to the Ambassador in Paraguay (Frost)
A–220. The Board of Economic Warfare has requested the Department to inform the Mission as follows:
Reference is made to “Statement for Special Missions on Cargo Backlog Problem,”41 page 2, line 13: “As of the date that the Decentralization Plan is to go into effect in the country, an inventory will have to be made in Washington and sent to the field.” In pursuance of this statement, BEW has examined the backlog situation as of the effective date of the decentralization program planned in your country.
We are mostly concerned with the danger of having insufficient cargo to take care of normal and unexpected shipping opportunities and to provide tonnage to replace unexpected delays in manufacture caused by the war situation. Therefore, we cannot too strongly urge the immediate issuance of Import Recommendations for the entire second quarter without regard to target tonnage as previously instructed because all indications point to an excess of shipping space available. It is most urgent that Import Recommendations be issued without delay and be forwarded promptly to the exporter in order to prevent delays in licensing and in order to mark cargo available considering that today’s situation requires a longer time to prepare and fabricate materials.
- Not found in Department files.↩