IO Files: US/A/1953
United States Delegation Position Paper
Scale of Assessments: Report of the Committee on Contributions: Report of the Fifth Committee (A/1025)
1. United States Position
The United States should vote in favor of the draft resolution recommended by the Fifth Committee which would continue the present scale of assessments for the coming year with the exception of the assessment of Sweden, which would be reduced by .02 percent to a figure of 1.98 percent, and the assessment of the United States, which would be reduced by .10 percent, to a figure of 39.79 percent. Israel, a new member, would be assessed .12 percent for 1950 and, for 1949, would be assessed a pro-rated share at this same rate for the seven months of that year during which she was a member. The resolution calls upon the Committee on Contributions to review the scale of assessments in 1950 and report to the next regular session of the General Assembly. The resolution continues for 1950 the existing rate of Switzerland’s contribution to the International Court of Justice. It also permits the Secretary General to accept, at his discretion, and after consultation with the Chairman of the Committee on Contributions, a portion of UN contributions in 1950 in currencies other than United States dollars.1
It will not be necessary for the United States to make a statement on this subject.
2. History in Committee
There was general agreement in the Committee that the report of the Committee on Contributions should be accepted. Certain aspects of the report, however, led to special comment. The United States expressed its regret that the Contributions Committee had recommended adjustments only to the extent of the .12 percent assessment of a new member, Israel. The United States noted with favor that the proposed reduction of .10 percent represented a first step in the reduction of the [Page 338] U.S. assessment toward an ultimate figure of 33⅓ percent, but pointed out that the amount was a small one when seen in relation to the disparity between the present United States assessment of 39.89 percent and the ultimate ceiling of 33⅓ percent. It was a matter of regret, the United States Representative stated, that the Contributions Committee had found it impossible to effect a general revision of the scale of assessments which would reflect the economic improvements which had been reported in the general debate by the representatives of a number of Member States. The United States urged the Contributions Committee, in 1950, to strive to give full effect to the resolution of the 1948 General Assembly which had stated the principle of a ceiling for the largest contribution and had instructed the Contributions Committee to seek adjustments not only on account of the assessment of new members but because of the relative improvement in the economic conditions of some Members.
Several delegations expressed the opinion that normal times had not yet returned and that therefore the Organization should not be precipitate in giving effect to the ceiling principle. It was further pointed out that as the U.S. assessment was reduced, an increasing number of states with high per capita assessments would have their assessments fixed at the per capita rate for the United States and further adjustments would have to be shouldered by states less able to pay.
The United States, along with a number of other Member Governments, took note of the statement of the Contributions Committee that the provision of statistical information by Member states was still inadequate and appealed to all Member states to correct this lack in the coming year.
Some delegations made note of the fact that the recent currency devaluations in certain Member states would make the dollar contributions of these states more expensive in terms of their domestic currencies. However, the Chairman of the Contributions Committee pointed out that the dollar burden remained unchanged and that the ultimate effect of devaluation might be to improve economic conditions generally and thus facilitate payment by these states.
Israel considered that the Contributions Committee had had inadequate information before it when it established the proposed assessment for that country and expressed its hope that the Committee would make a sympathetic review of its rate of contribution in the coming year.
3. Possible Developments in Plenary
It is not likely that this item will lead to debate in the plenary.2
- For the report of the Fifth Committee on the scale of assessments for apportionment of expenses of the United Nations and accompanying resolution recommended for adoption by the General Assembly, see United Nations, Official Records of the General Assembly, Fourth Session, Fifth Committee, pp. 163 and 164.↩
- The resolution was adopted by the General Assembly with no debate and without objection on October 20 (United Nations, Official Records of the General Assembly, Fourth Session, Plenary Meetings, pp. 105 and 106).↩