823.24/1065: Airgram
The Chargé in Peru (Patterson) to the Secretary of State
[Received December 6—3 p.m.]
A–1586. For Foreign Economic Administration.78 Reference circular airgrams of November 13, 1943, 12:10,79 12:20, 12:30, and 12:40 p.m., and circular airgram of November 16, 7:10 [7] p.m.,80 in connection with the continued modification of the Decentralization Plan. [Page 281] These airgrams were discussed with the Special Representative of the Lima office of Foreign Economic Administration and the subject matter was then thoroughly gone into with the Peruvian Country Agency.
Following the expressed wish of the Finance Minister to accept any plan or suggestion which will lead toward a simplification of export control from the United States and toward free and normal channels of trade, the Peruvian Government is willing to accept the modification as set forth in the above airgrams. It is therefore understood that farm machinery; chemicals (with few specified exceptions); food, fats, and oils; and telegraph equipment and certain communication apparatus included in Schedule B81 numbers 7082, 7083 and 7087, will not require Import Recommendations after January 1st. It is understood that the above items are not in free supply, but that applications for export licenses will be acted upon in Washington without reference to the Mission or the Country Agency. It is understood also that applications for export licenses for secondhand machines (with certain exceptions, such as typewriters) will not require Import Recommendation, but that telegraphic approval will be required of the Mission and Country Agency in the case of each individual application.
In reply to the request made in the airgrams, the following observations of the Country Agency are given:
Every change toward the simplification of export control is appreciated, and it is realized that the elimination of certain formalities here with regard to the commodities mentioned above constitutes a definite step in that direction. It was hoped, however, that it would be found possible to follow the procedure apparently contemplated in the original simplification plan; namely, simply to transfer items from the controlled to the free list, without introducing any other modifications.
The Country Agency’s main reason for expressing this wish is the difficulty in explaining the various shades of control to the importers, particularly those of the type exemplified by the conflict between Export Control Bulletins 132 and 125, which although discussed in a telephone conversation with Washington on November 23, still is not entirely clear to the Embassy in view of the contents of the Department’s circular airgram of November 16, 1943, 7:00 p.m.
- The Foreign Economic Administration assumed the functions of the Office of Economic Warfare on September 25, 1943.↩
- Ante, p. 131.↩
- None printed.↩
- A statistical classification of domestic and foreign commodities exported from the United States; issued by the Bureau of the Census, Department of Commerce.↩