STRUCTURE

The convention of 1937 provides for periodic inter-American radio conferences to be held every three years. The secretariat of the InterAmerican Radio Office (OI) is supervised by the Cuban Government. An Inter-American Arrangements Concerning Radiocommunications concluded at the same time as the convention provided for the allocation of frequencies and established certain technical standards.

The 1945 Inter-American Telecommunications Convention proposed a somewhat more complex structure, including plenipotentiary conferences, general administrative conferences, and limited administrative conferences, as well as a revised secretariat, to be known as the Office of Inter-American Telecommunications (OIT) to be supervised by the Pan American Union rather than the Government of Cuba.

For purposes of meetings and discussion the languages of the OIR are those requested by the voting members. Documents are published in English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish.

Carlos Maristany is the present Director of the OIR.

FINANCES

Budget. The 1937 convention provides that the general expenses of the OIR shall not exceed $25,000 per annum. The budget for the calendar year 1949 is $23,000, the same amount as the 1948 budget.

Members' Quotas. As stipulated in the 1937 convention, in order to defray the expenses of the Office, each government agrees to contribute in proportion to a certain number of units corresponding to the category to which it belongs, according to the internal regulations of the OIR. For this purpose six categories are established, with the units assigned to each as shown below:

The number of units contributed by the States which support the OIR are as follows: 25 units, Canada and the United States; 15 units, Mexico; 10 units, Cuba; 5 units, Peru; 3 units, the Bahamas, Brazil, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Newfoundland, and Nicaragua.

UNITED STATES RELATIONS

Authorization.. The President ratified the Inter-American Radiocommunications Convention of 1937 on June 30, 1938 on the advice and consent of the Senate. The United States has signed but not yet ratified the Telecommunications Convention of 1945.

4 See Basic Texts and Publications, p. 270.

Payments. The contribution of the United States is paid from funds appropriated to the Department of State for this purpose. The United States quota presently is $5,682, or 25.51 percent of total assessments.

Agencies Chiefly Concerned. The Department of State is responsible for coordinating the interests with respect to the OIR of various other government agencies, including the Federal Communications Commission, Department of the Army, Department of the Navy, and Civil Aeronautics Administration.

Participation. The United States was one of the 15 original signatories of the Radiocommunications Convention and has actively supported the operations of the OIR. The United States Delegation played a prominent role at the Inter-American Radio Conference of 1945.

RELATIONS WITH OTHER INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

The Inter-American Radio Communications Convention of 1937 was concluded "in conformity with the provisions of the International Telecommunications Convention of Madrid, 1932." However, the OIR has not established formal relations with the Bureau of the ITU. The 1945 convention would call for a close relationship with the Pan American Union.

BASIC TEXTS AND PUBLICATIONS

U.S. Department of State. Inter-American Radio Communications: Convention Between the United States and Other Powers. Signed at Habana December 13, 1937. Treaty Series 938. Washington, Government Printing Office, 1939. (53 Stat. 1576.)

North American Regional Broadcasting: Agreement Between the United States, Canada, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Mexico. Signed at Habana December 13, 1937. Treaty Series 962. Washington, Government Printing Office, 1941. (55 Stat. 1005.)

Radiocommunications: Agreement Between the United States and Other American Republics. . . Signed at Santiago, Chile, January 26, 1940. Executive Agreement Series 231, Pub. 1716. (55 Stat. 1482.)

North American Regional Broadcasting: Interim Agreement Between the United States of America and Other Governments. Signed at Washington February 25, 1946. Pub. 2683. Treaties and Other International Acts Series 1553. Washington, Government Printing Office (60 Stat. 1862). The text of the Inter-American Telecommunication Convention of 1945 is contained in Canadian Treaty Series, 1949. King's Printer and Controller of Stationery, Ottawa 1948.

The OIR has never issued any regular publications, although it is charged with the issuance of such publications as may be established by conferences and the submission of an annual report. This annual report has been made to the Government of Cuba.

International Civil Aviation Organization

International Aviation Building, Montreal, Canada

ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) was established under the Convention on International Civil Aviation concluded at Chicago on December 7, 1944. The organization came into being on April 4, 1947, following ratification of the convention by the twenty-sixth state. For the preceding period of nearly 2 years, an interim organization, the Provisional International Civil Aviation Organization (PICAO), similar in structure to the International Civil Aviation Organization, carried out many of the functions of and prepared the way for the permanent organization.

Since the entry into force of the permanent convention, ICAO has developed rapidly, increasing its membership to more than 50 states, negotiating an agreement with the United Nations under which it assumes the status of a specialized agency under the United Nations, and making progress in the adoption of international safety and technical standards covering the operation of aircraft in international flight, in the initiation of projects for the "joint support" of international air navigation facilities, and in the conduct of economic and legal studies.

MEMBERSHIP

As of Sept. 15, 1949, there are 54 members of ICAO: Afghanistan, Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Burma, Canada, Ceylon, Chile, China, Colombia, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Greece, Guatemala, Haiti, Iceland, India, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Liberia, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Transjordan, Turkey, Union of South Africa, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Venezuela.

PURPOSES, POWERS, AND FUNCTIONS

The objectives of the organization as set forth in the convention are "to develop the principles and techniques of international air navigation and to foster the planning and development of international air

5 See Basic Texts and Publications, p. 276.

Although Spain is legally still a member of ICAO, it was debarred from active participation in the organization by action of the First ICAO Assembly in May 1947.

transport" in such a way as to insure the safe and orderly growth of international civil aviation, to encourage the design and operation of planes for peaceful purposes and the development of air navigation facilities, to guard against economic injustices in international air transport, to promote safety and in other ways to promote the development of international civil aeronautics. The contracting states agree, among other things, "to collaborate in securing the highest practical degree of uniformity in regulations, standards, procedures, and organization in relation to aircraft, personnel, airways and auxiliary services in all matters in which such uniformity will facilitate and improve air navigation."

To attain these objectives, ICAO was authorized to adopt and amend from time to time "Annexes" to the convention dealing with communications systems and air navigation aids, characteristics of airports, rules of the air and air traffic control, licensing of personnel and registration of aircraft, collection and exchange of meteorological information, log books, customs and immigration procedures, aircraft in distress and investigation of accidents. These annexes, five of which have already been adopted, set forth basic and vital rules governing international flights and are binding on all member states except those which find it impracticable to comply in all respects and which notify ICAO of their differences.

STRUCTURE

The organization functions through an Assembly, a Council, an Air Navigation Commission, and Air Transport Committee, a Legal Committee, a secretariat, and a number of divisions and such ad hoc technical and regional meetings as are determined essential. The Assembly, which meets annually, is composed of representatives of all the contracting states. A majority of the members constitute a quorum for meetings of the Assembly and with a few exceptions all decisions are taken by majority vote. Among the duties of the Assembly is the adoption of an annual budget.

The council is a permanent body composed of 21 states elected for 3-year terms. The present members are Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Czechoslovakia, Egypt, France, India, Iraq, Ireland, Mexico, the Netherlands, Peru, Portugal, Sweden, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The council elects its president, who for a term of 3 years or more is a permanent official of the organization entrusted with the duty of representing the council when not in session and carrying out those functions of the council assigned to him. Among the functions of the council are the definition of the duties of the Air Transport Committee, the es

tablishment of the Air Navigation Commission, the appointment of the Secretary General, and the adoption, in accordance with the convention, of technical annexes to the convention.

The Air Navigation Commission, which is the technical subsidiary body of the Council, has the specific duty of recommending to the council modifications of the technical annexes to the convention.

The Air Transport Committee, which now consists of representatives of 12 council member states, is especially charged with advising the council on matters having to do with the economics of international aviation, including recommendations for simplifying frontier formalities which hinder international flights.

The Legal Committee, which was established by the First Assembly of ICAO, is particularly charged with the responsibility of advising the organization on matters relating to international conventions and agreements affecting aviation. The Legal Committee also assumed the private air law functions of the International Technical Committee of Aerial Legal Experts (CITEJA) (q. v.) when that organization, at its final session in Montreal in May 1947, decided to disband and turn over its duties to ICAO.

The Secretary General, appointed by the council, has the responsibility for administering the organization which has headquarters in Montreal. The present Secretary General is Albert Roper.

FINANCES

Budget. Article 61 of the convention provides that the Council shall submit to the Assembly an annual budget and that the Assembly shall approve the budget with whatever modification it sees fit to prescribe. The Council's Finance Committee reviews and revises the Secretary General's preliminary budget estimates and prepares the budget for submission to the Assembly by the Council.

The approved assessment budgets of PICAO and ICAO have been as follows:

2 The Second Assembly of ICAO, in 1948, voted to change its budgetary period from a fiscal year to a calendar year. To cover the transition period, the Assembly adopted a budget for the six-month period July 1 to December 31, 1948.

* The total budget of ICAO for 1950 is $2,937,607, of which $2,610,607 is to be financed by assessments against members and the difference through casual revenue estimated at $127,000 and through an appropriation from the Working Capital Fund of $200,000.