Editorial Note
During January and February 1951 a working group of the North Atlantic Council Deputies prepared a draft agreement between the parties of the North Atlantic Treaty regarding the status of their [Page 187] armed forces. Acting Assistant Legal Adviser Conrad E. Snow represented the United States in the working group. The draft agreement was considered by the United States and other NATO governments during March and April after which the draft agreement was revised and perfected in further meetings of the working group as well as in meetings of the Council Deputies. The agreed draft was completed by the working group on May 31, was approved by the Council Deputies on June 6, and was signed at the Council Deputies meeting of June 19. For the text of the agreement as signed in London on June 19, 1951, by the representatives of Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, the United Kingdom, and the United States; as ratified by the United States on July 24, 1953; and as entered into force on August 23, 1953, see TIAS No. 2846, printed in 4 UST (part 2) 1792, or Ismay, NATO, page 204. At the time of the signing of the agreement, the Portuguese representative entered a reservation to the effect that the agreement was only applicable to the territory of continental Portugal. On the occasion of the signing of the NATO status-of-forces agreement, Ambassador Spofford issued a public statement in London briefly reviewing the content and significance of the agreement. Spofford’s statement with a brief accompanying explanation was issued to the press by the Department of State on June 19; for the text, see the Department of State Bulletin, July 2, 1951, page 16. A statement on the agreement was also issued to the press by SHAPE headquarters in Paris on June 19; for text, see telegram 7774, June 14, from Paris (740.5/6–1451). Regarding the approval and signing of the draft agreement on the status of armed forces, see telegrams Depto 1075, June 6, and Depto 1152, June 20, both from London, pages 176 and 187. See also telegram Depto 1046, June 2, from London, page 173, regarding the concern of Iceland over aspects of the agreement. The voluminous documentation on the drafting and signing of the agreement on the status of NATO armed forces, particularly the extensive exchange of messages between Washington and London, is included in file 740.5.