Economic and Financial Interim Commission for the International Trade Organization Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT By resolution of February 18, 1946, taken on the initiative of the United States, the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations undertook to convene the United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment and established a Preparatory Committee, composed of representatives of 18 countries, to prepare the preliminary draft of a charter for an international trade organization. The Preparatory Committee took as a basis for discussion a draft charter prepared by the United States Government and, after three meetings, agreed upon and presented a revised draft charter to the United Nations Conference, which was held in Havana from November through March 1947-48. That Conference drafted the Havana Charter for an International Trade Organization.1 The charter is now in the process of submission to the legislatures of the various interested countries. It will come into effect after 20 countries have accepted it, except that if, by September 30, 1949, 20 governments shall not have accepted, then consultation will be held among those governments which have accepted to determine whether, and under what conditions, they desire to bring the charter into force. It is contemplated that the ITO will be brought into relationship with the United Nations as a specialized agency. The Interim Commission for the International Trade Organization was created, pursuant to a resolution of the United Nations Conference in March 1948, to do the necessary administrative and organizational work in preparation for the establishment of the proposed Interna 1 See Basic Texts and Publications, p. 81. 79 tional Trade Organization (Iro). The Interim Commission held its first meeting at Havana directly after the end of the United Nations Conference and elected an Executive Committee which it authorized to perform all of its functions. This Committee, on which 18 member countries are represented, has met on three occasions and probably will not meet again until shortly before the first conference of the ITO itself. MEMBERSHIP Membership in the Interim Commission consists of those of the countries which participated in the United Nations Conference at Havana which agreed to the establishment of the Interim Commission and which are eligible for original membership in the Iro under the terms of article 71 of the charter. There are 52 such countries. Membership in the Commission does not carry with it membership in the proposed Ito, which must be obtained by acceptance of the Havana Charter. The 18 members of the Executive Committee of the Interim Commission are representatives of Australia, Benelux,2 Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Czechoslovakia, Egypt, El Salvador, France, Greece, India, Italy, Mexico, Norway, Republic of the Philippines, the United Kingdom, and the United States. PURPOSES, POWERS, AND FUNCTIONS The sole purpose of the Interim Commission is to prepare for the establishment of the proposed Iro. Its functions, all of which are incidental to that objective, include (a) the convoking of the first regular session of the Conference; (b) the submission of a provisional agenda for the first regular session of the Conference together with documents and regulations relating to all the matters included in the agenda (these matters will include proposals for a program and budget for the Iro's first year; studies regarding selection of a headquarters; and a draft of financial and staff regulations); (c) the preparation of the draft agreements of relationship between the Iro and the United Nations and other intergovernmental organizations with which the ITO will be in close contact, including agreements to terminate older organizations within the Iro's field or to bring them under the latter's supervision or authority; (d) and the preparation of recommendations regarding the relationship of the Iro with nongovernmental organizations in the ITo's field, and (e) the preparation of recommendations with respect to the privileges and immunities which the Iro will require for the carrying out of its functions. The Interim Commission is also authorized to study and make recommendations to the Conference of the Iro regarding certain 2 The Benelux Customs Union, including Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. limited matters which were left unsettled at the Havana Conference. These include consultation with the International Court of Justice on certain technical matters; consultation with the Swiss Government with respect to the relationship of Switzerland to the organization; consultation with the Secretary General of the United Nations regarding expenses incurred by the Preparatory Committee and by the United Nations Conference; and preparation and clearance of the final Spanish text of the charter itself. STRUCTURE The Interim Commission operates through its Executive Committee (see paragraphs on Origin and Development and Membership) and a small secretariat of about 10 officers with Eric Wyndham-White as Executive Secretary. FINANCES The expenses of the Interim Commission are covered by sums of money loaned to the Commission by the United Nations. For the calendar year 1949, the General Assembly of the United Nations authorized an advance to the Interim Commission of $344,843. UNITED STATES RELATIONS Authorization. The United States is a member of the Interim Commission by virtue of its having approved, under executive authority, the resolution adopted at Havana which established the Commission. Payments. There are no member contributions to the Commission. Agencies Chiefly Concerned. The Departments of State and Commerce are the United States agencies primarily concerned with the work of the Commission. Participation. The United States was a member of the Preparatory Committee for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment and is one of the 18 countries elected to membership on the Executive Committee. The United States was represented at the Havana Conference and at the meetings of the Interim Commission and the Executive Committee. BASIC TEXTS AND PUBLICATIONS U.S. Department of State. The Havana Charter for an International Trade Organization, March 24, 1948. Pub. 3206. Commercial Policy Series 114. Contains as an annex, the resolution of the United Nations Conference establishing the Interim Commission. International Bank for Reconstruction and Development 1818 H Street, NW., Washington, D.C. ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT On the invitation of the United States, representatives of 44 states met at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, in July 1944 in a United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference to consider proposals for the stabilization of exchanges and for the financing of reconstruction and development. The Final Act of the Conference, which was signed by representatives of all the states present, had attached, as annex B, the Articles of Agreement of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, referred to hereinafter as the Bank.3 The Agreement came into force on December 27, 1945, as a result of the signature of 28 states. The inaugural meeting of the Board of Governors of the Bank was held in March 1946 at Savannah, Georgia. The first meeting of the Executive Directors was held May 7, 1946, and on June 25, 1946, the Bank formally began operations. On April 15, 1947, the Bank opened an office in New York City, from which its marketing operations are directed. In addition the Bank has representatives in The Hague, Copenhagen, and Paris to supervise the end-use of its loans. The Paris office also maintains liaison with organizations administering the European Recovery Program. During 1947 the Bank's lending operations were directed toward reconstruction purposes, but during 1948 more emphasis was given to economic development. As of May 1949 the Bank had approved · loans to its member countries, or to private enterprises guaranteed by member governments, amounting to $650,100,000. It had conducted preliminary discussions regarding loan possibilities with a large proportion of its member countries and had sent out more than 20 missions in this connection. In July 1947 the Bank sold in the United States market two bond issues totaling approximately $250,000,000. In June 1948 the Bank sold its first issue of nondollar bonds, an issue of 212 percent Swiss franc serial bonds amounting to the equivalent of approximately $4,000,000 which was purchased in its entirety by the Bank for International Settlement at Basel, Switzerland. In addition, in 1948 and See Basic Texts and Publications, p. 87. Annex A of the Final Act contained the Articles of Agreement of the International Monetary Fund. early 1949, the Bank sold, from its loan portfolio, notes and bonds amounting to $28,000,000. MEMBERSHIP Membership in the Bank is open only to governments which are members of the International Monetary Fund. Such governments may become members of the Bank at such times and in accordance with such terms as may be prescribed by the Bank. The members of the Bank are shown in the table on page 85. If a state ceases to be a member of the Fund, it can remain a member of the Bank only on a favorable vote of the members having threefourths of the total voting power. A member may be compelled to withdraw from the Bank for failure to fulfill any of its obligations to the Bank. PURPOSES, POWERS, AND FUNCTIONS The purposes of the Bank as stated in article 1 of the Articles of Agreement are as follows: (i) To assist in the reconstruction and development of territories of members by facilitating the investment of capital for productive purposes, including the restoration of economies destroyed or disrupted by war, the reconversion of productive facilities to peacetime needs and the encouragement of the development of productive facilities and resources in less developed countries. (ii) To promote private foreign investment by means of guarantees or participations in loans and other investments made by private investors; and when private capital is not available on reasonable terms, to supplement private investment by providing, on suitable conditions, finance for productive purposes out of its own capital, funds raised by it, and its other resources. (iii) To promote the long-range balanced growth of international trade and the maintenance of equilibrium in balances of payments by encouraging international investment for the development of the productive resources of members, thereby assisting in raising productivity, the standard of living and conditions of labor in their territories. (iv) To arrange the loans made or guaranteed by it in relation to international loans through other channels so that the more useful and urgent projects, large and small alike, will be dealt with first. (v) To conduct its operations with due regard to the effect of international investment on business conditions in the territories of members and, in the immediate post-war years, to assist in bringing about a smooth transition from a wartime to a peacetime economy. The Bank may guarantee, participate in, or make loans to any mem |