Editorial Note

The Seventh Session of the Contracting Parties to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade convened in Geneva, Switzerland, on October 2, 1952, and remained in session until November 10, 1952. In a memorandum dated September 29, 1952, Harold G. Kissick, Acting Assistant Chief of the Division of International Conferences, indicated that the principal items of importance on the agenda of the session were: (1) discussion among the Contracting Parties of discriminatory import restrictions applied for balance-of-payments reasons, (2) Japan’s application for membership in the GATT, and (3) the question of granting a waiver to six European governments enabling them to participate in the Schuman Plan consistent with their obligations under the GATT. Assistant Secretary Thorp was chairman of the United States Delegation; Deputy Director of the Office of Economic Defense and Trade Policy [Page 120] Vernon was vice chairman. For a complete listing of the United States members, see the Department of State Bulletin, October 13, 1952, page 582.