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decreased considerably, meetings are still held whenever any matters within its purview require attention.

The Far Eastern Commission secretariat provides the necessary service for the Board. Each participating government pays its own representative, who is in Washington in an official capacity on behalf of his government. The present secretary of the Board is David K. Eichler.

Reparations Technical Advisory Committee (Tokyo). By an interim directive dated April 4, 1947, which provided for initiation of a program of advance transfers of reparations facilities, the United States Government instructed the Supreme Commander to organize a Reparations Technical Advisory Committee, composed of the heads of the Reparations Technical Missions in Japan of each of the countries represented on the Far Eastern Commission. The function of this Committee is to assist the Supreme Commander, in an advisory capacity, "in the development of technical and administrative procedures to assure an orderly removal of reparations goods from Japan, and in the settlement of conflicts between claimant countries arising over claims for particular facilities." The Committee held its first meeting in Tokyo, its permanent headquarters, on June 2, 1947. The nonvoting chairman, Brig. Gen. John F. Conklin, is the representative of SCAP. The secretariat for the Committee is furnished by SCAP. Members of the Committee are in Japan in other capacities on behalf of their governments and their salaries are paid by their respective governments.

Restitution Advisory Committee (Tokyo). The United States Government interim directive of March 17, 1948, authorized the Supreme Commander to create a Restitution Advisory Committee, made up of "one representative, from each of the restitution and reparations teams in Japan, of the eleven member countries of the Far Eastern Commission." Subsequently, on July 29, 1948, the Commission approved a policy decision entitled "Restitution of Looted Property", which contained a similar authorization. The function of the Committee is to advise the Supreme Commander on restitution matters, particularly on doubtful cases of identification of ownership. The first meeting of the Committee was held in Tokyo on April 29, 1948. The nonvoting chairman, Brig. Gen. John F. Conklin, is the representative of SCAP. The secretariat for the Committee is furnished by SCAP. Members of the Committee are in Japan in other capacities on behalf of their governments and their salaries are paid by their respective governments.

11 See Basic Texts and Publications, p. 165.

BASIC TEXTS AND PUBLICATIONS

U. S. Department of State. Moscow Agreement, 1945, Between the United States of America, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and the United Kingdom. Signed at Moscow December 27, 1945. Treaties and Other International Acts Series 1555. Pub. 2653. Washington, Government Printing Office, 1946. (60 Stat. 1899.)

"Proclamation Defining Terms for Japanese Surrender (Potsdam Declaration), July 26, 1945." Pub. 2423. The Axis in Defeat: A Collection of Documents on American Policy Toward Germany and Japan. Washington, Government Printing Office, 1945. pp. 27-29.

Surrender by Japan: Terms Between the United States of America and the Other Allied Powers and Japan. Signed at Tokyo Bay September 2, 1945. Effective September 2, 1945. Together with Proclamation by the Emperor of Japan. Executive Agreement Series 493. Pub. 2504. Washington, Government Printing Office, 1946.

Occupation of Japan: Policy and Progress. Pub. 2671. Far Eastern Series 17. Washington, Government Printing Office, 1946. 173 pp. (Contains proclamation for the establishment of an International Military Tribunal for the Far East and Charter for the Tribunal, pp. 146-153.)

Activities of the Far Eastern Commission: Report by the Secretary General, February 26, 1946–July 10, 1947. Pub. 2888. Far Eastern Series 24. Washington, Government Printing Office, 1947. 109 pp. Contains terms of reference of the Far Eastern Commission, pp. 36–39, and of the Inter-Allied Trade Board for Japan, pp. 85-87.

The Far Eastern Commission: Second Report by the Secretary General, July 10, 1947-December 23, 1948. Pub. 3420. Far Eastern Series 29. Washington, Government Printing Office, 1949. 65 pp. Contains Terms of Reference of the Restitution Advisory Committee, p. 40.

General Headquarters, Far East Command. Public Information Press Release, June 3, 1947. Pub. 1330. Contains data concerning the Reparations Technical Advisory Committee.

Inter-Allied Reparation Agency

Shell Building, Brussels, Belgium

ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT

The question of German reparations was among the problems considered by the heads of government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union at Yalta in February, 1945. It was the subject of discussion by representatives of the same three nations, meeting as the Allied Reparations Commission at Moscow from June 21 to July 14, 1945.12 The Potsdam Agreement, signed on August 2,

12 See Basic Texts and Publication, p. 169.

1945, by the heads of Government of the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union, established certain bases on which claims of countries entitled to German reparations would be met.

Representatives of all nations eligible to receive reparations from the three Western zones of Germany (other than the Soviet Union and Poland), drew up and signed, at Paris on December 21, 1945, an agreement which outlined the principle of the division of reparations among those 18 countries and which provided for the establishment of the Inter-Allied Reparation Agency (IARA) to carry out the allocation functions.13 IARA came into existence on January 24, 1946, when this agreement entered into force. It held its first meeting on February 28, 1946.

MEMBERSHIP

Membership in IARA is limited to the 18 governments which signed the Paris Reparations Agreement, and Pakistan. Since one signatory, India, later became two countries (India and Pakistan), a protocol was signed at Brussels on March 15, 1948, apportioning shares between the two coutries.13 Members are the United States, Albania, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Egypt, France, Greece, India, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, the Union of South Africa, the United Kingdom, and Yugoslavia.

PURPOSES, POWERS, AND FUNCTIONS

The Potsdam Agreement contained the provision that the claims of all nations entitled to German reparations, other than the Soviet Union and Poland, should be met from 75 percent of available reparations in the United States, United Kingdom, and French zones of Germany and from appropriate German external assets. It also provided that claims of the Soviet Union and Poland should be met from the Eastern Zone, from 25 percent of available reparations in the Western zones and from appropriate German external assets.

IARA's basic purpose is to allocate reparations among the 19 countries eligible to receive the 75 percent of available reparations from the Western zones of Germany, in accordance with the terms of the Paris Agreement. That agreement divided German reparations into two major categories. Category A consists of all forms of reparation except those included in category B, which consists of industrial and other capital equipment to be removed from Germany, merchant ships, and inland-water transport. The agreement also established the percentage which each recipient nation should receive from categories A and B.

13 See Basic Texts and Publications, p. 169.

IARA works in close relationship with the occupation authorities of of the Western zones and makes allocations on the basis of items which they declare available for reparation. The authorities are later notified of the allocations which IARA has made. Allocated plants are dismantled, crated, and transported by the occupation authorities of the zones in which they are located.

IARA also is responsible for charging to the reparation share of every member government the value of all German external assets received by that government as reparations.

STRUCTURE

The principal organs of IARA are the Assembly and the secretariat. The Assembly has one delegate from each of the 19 member nations and is the body in which the final power of decision lies.

Under the Assembly are a number of standing committees, appointed to deal with the various special problems that come before IARA. These include the committees on external assets, merchant shipping, inland water transport, current production, industrial property rights, finance and accounts, and credentials. Every delegate is a member of one or more of the standing committees, although the individual committees do not have members from all 19 countries.

The office of president of IARA is always held by the delegate of France. A Secretary General and two deputy Secretaries General are appointed by the United States, the United Kingdom, and France. The Secretary General is N. E. P. Sutton.

The Assembly meets as often as is necessary. Meetings are convened in three ways: (a) on dates fixed at previous meetings; (b) on request of the President; or (c) whenever one-third or more of the delegates request the Secretary General to call a meeting. The secretariat operates continuously. The headquarters of the Agency are in Brussels, where all meetings of the Assembly are held and the duties of the secretariat are performed.

The official languages of IARA are English and French. There is no distinction between official and working languages.

FINANCES

Budget. The estimated budget of IARA for the calendar year 1949 is 35,155,900 Belgian francs, equivalent to approximately $800,000. Members' Quotas. The common expenses of the Agency are paid by the member governments in proportion to their reparation shares, as specified in the Paris agreement. The agreement provides that contributions during the first two years should correspond to the percentage of category B reparations which the countries receive, while after

the first two years, contributions should correspond to the percentage of category A reparations which are received.

The percentage scale of contributions for 1949 is as follows:

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Authorization. The Paris Agreement on Reparations, providing for the establishment of IARA, was signed on January 14, 1946, by the U.S. Representative, acting under the authority vested in the Executive to conduct the foreign affairs of the United States.14

Payments. United States contributions to the annual budget since the establishment of IARA have been paid from funds appropriated to thhe Department of State in the following amounts.

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1 This amount is less than 28 percent of the estimated total budget for IARA since part of each member's contribution for the calendar year 1949 is being paid out of an operating surplus of the Agency.

Agencies Chiefly Concerned. The Department of State is the United States agency chiefly concerned with formulation of American policy toward IARA. The Department of the Army, also has had important responsibilities with respect to the reparations program. 14 See Basic Texts and Publications, p. 169.

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