IO files, SD/A/271
1Position Paper Prepared in the Department of State for the United States Delegation to the Seventh Regular Session of the General Assembly
Appointment of the Credentials Committee
the problem
The problem is to determine the position of the United States Delegation with respect to the composition of the Credentials Committee. This Committee is composed of nine members and is appointed by the General Assembly on the proposal of the Temporary President (Padilla Nervo—Mexico).
[Page 627]recommendation
The United States Delegation should accept any slate proposed by the Temporary President provided that (a) the geographic distribution of countries approximates that of the last regular session; and (b) the slate reflects Assembly sentiment on recognition of the Chinese Communist regime. As of September 4, only 17 of the 60 UN Members had recognized the Regime, including Byelorussia and the Ukraine.* On this basis the Committee should include not more than three states which have recognized the Chinese Communists.
comment
Rule 28 of the Assembly’s Rules of Procedure provides that “A Credentials Committee shall be appointed at the beginning of each session. It shall consist of nine members, who shall be appointed by the General Assembly on the proposal of the President.…” The appointment of the Credentials Committee is normally the fourth item on the Assembly’s agenda; it is preceded by the formal opening of the session, a minute of silent prayer or meditation and a statement by the Temporary President (the Chairman of the delegation from which the President of the previous session was elected, i.e., Padilla Nervo (Mexico)).
The Credentials Committee of the sixth session was composed of the following states: Bolivia, Byelorussia, Ethiopia, France, Haiti, Indonesia, Iraq, New Zealand and Norway.
The Temporary President, in proposing the Credentials Committee slate, acts on the recommendation of the Secretariat, and the Secretariat checks the slate in advance with major delegations, including the United States. In the past the Secretariat has always been amenable to changes suggested in the slate by the United States Delegation. In view of the Chinese representation issue, the Delegation should make every effort to ensure that the slate is drawn up by the Secretariat and proposed by the Temporary President in accordance with the above recommendation. In the unlikely event that such a slate is not proposed, the Delegation should move appropriate changes in the plenary session.
- Master flies of the Reference and Documents Section, Bureau of International Organization Affairs.↩
- UN Members which have recognized the Chinese Communist regime are as follows: UK, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Israel, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Burma, Netherlands, USSR, Byelorussia, Ukraine, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Yugoslavia, Pakistan and India. [Footnote in the source text.]↩