420.119/4–1652: Circular airgram
The Secretary of State to Certain Diplomatic Offices 2
The Export Control of Certain Strategic Commodities 3
The Department desires that negotiations be started immediately with the government to which you are accredited for the adoption and implementation of the “Import Certificate and Delivery Verification System” to a selected list of commodities that are, or may be, exported, re-exported or transshipped to a selected list of countries from that country.
The governments of Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, France, Italy, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States have extended the Import Certificate and Delivery Verification System to cover exports, re-exports and transshipments from Latin America to these countries of copper, tungsten, lead, nickel, bismuth, molybdenum, vanadium, and mica.
The purpose of extending the ICDV system to the Latin American countries is to assist them in controlling unauthorized diversions of strategic exports to the Soviet Bloc. The system is designed to assure that commodities approved for export to a country are received by that country. The ICDV operates generally as follows:
- 1.
- The exporting government requires, prior to releasing the export, that the exporter present an “Import Certificate” furnished by the consignee in the importing country. This certificate is issued by the government of the importing country to the importer and states that the goods concerned are for importation or for re-export or for transshipment only with the approval of the importing country.
- 2.
- The Department desires to emphasize the importance of the exporting country requiring “Delivery Verification” for all exports that are covered by an “Import Certificate” since the “Verification” is assurance that the export has been received by the importing country. This verification, which states that the goods have been brought under the control of the importing country, is issued to the importer by Customs officials at the time the goods are landed and must be transmitted to the exporting government. If the export is not received within a stipulated period of time, an investigation is made by the importing country to determine the reason for the delay. Penalties are imposed against those who are found guilty of violating the terms of the certificate.
The purpose of the system is thus not to prevent legitimate transshipments and re-exports but rather to assure that these transactions take place only with the approval of the consignee country.
For the Embassy’s information, the COCOM 4 countries (previously listed) do not propose, in the immediate future at least, to require ICDV’s for strategic commodities that they approve for export to Latin American countries. (COCOM is an informal secret organization and its existence should not be divulged to the Foreign Office.)
The Department would appreciate being informed promptly of the local government’s reaction to this proposal.5
- Drafted by Thomas S. Strong of the Office of Economic Defense and Trade Policy; cleared with the Offices of Regional American Affairs and European Regional Affairs. Sent to Asunción, Bogotá, Buenos Aires, Caracas, Ciudad Trujillo, Habana, Lima, Managua, Mexico City, Montevideo, Panamá, Port-au-Prince, Quito, Rio de Janeiro, Santiago, San José, San Salvador, Tegucigalpa, and Guatemala City; sent to La Paz for information only.↩
- For documentation on this subject, see volume i .↩
- Reference is to the Coordinating Committee of the Paris Consultative Group (COCOM), an informal international organization established in 1950 by a group of non-Communist nations for the purpose of controlling the export of strategic commodities to Communist countries; the senior body within the committee was known as the Consultative Group (CG). For documentation concerning the formation of COCOM, see Foreign Relations, 1950, vol. iv, pp. 67 ff.↩
- The Department’s circular airgram, dated May 9, 1952, drafted by Mr. Strong and cleared with the Bureau of Inter-American Affairs, reads in part as follows: “It was not the Department’s intention in its Circular Airgram of April 16 that the Embassy should attempt to negotiate a formal agreement with the local government for the adoption of the limited Import Certificate and Delivery Verification system. The intention was that the Embassy should inform the local government that the countries listed are prepared to issue ICDV’s for their imports of the commodities listed. You should also strongly urge that the local government take advantage of the system.” (420.119/5–952) It was sent to Asunción, Bogotá, Caracas, Guatemala City, Habana, Managua, Mexico City, Montevideo, Panamá, Port-au-Prince, Rio de Janeiro, Santiago; and Tegucigalpa; it was sent to La Paz for information only.↩