The Council of Ministers of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) held its third meeting in Geneva from February 14 to 16, 1961, under the chairmanship of Mr. Maudling, President of the Board of Trade of the United Kingdom. The main topics of discussion were 1) the advancement of the timetable for the reduction and elimination of tariffs within EFTA, and 2) the proposed association of Finland with EFTA. The Ministerial Council decided to bring forward by six months to July 1, 1961, the date by which the next 10 percent reductions were to be made in the tariffs applied within EFTA. The Ministers stated in the final communiqué of the meeting that the Council should pursue at official level the examination of the possibility of advancing the timetable for reducing and eliminating the tariffs applied within EFTA. The basic objective was to ensure that by January 1, 1970, if not before, goods manufactured within the area would be traded among the seven as if no frontiers existed. The Council agreed that this examination should be carried out at the same time as the following studies previously planned for 1961 in accordance with other provisions of the EFTA convention: 1) dismantling quantitative restrictions; 2) abolishing subsidized agricultural exports; and 3) facilitating the expansion of trade in agricultural goods. The Ministers also reached agreement on the form of association to be offered to Finland. Under the formula decided upon, Finland would in no sense be a member of EFTA but would have an ultimately tariff-free market for her exports in the seven EFTA countries. A separate free trade area was to be formed between Finland on the one hand and the seven EFTA members on the other, and a special council was to be created for matters affecting Finland alone. Finland would not be treated as an EFTA member but would be allowed to retain its existing trade agreements with the Soviet Union without exposing EFTA members to an irresistible demand for the same benefits. On March 27, 1961, it was announced by the press that Finland had signed the agreement linking her with EFTA.

The 31st annual report of the Bank for International Settlements, covering the financial year from April 1, 1960, to March 31, 1961, was submitted to the annual general meeting of the Bank held in Basle on June 12, 1961. In his introduction, the General Manager of the Bank, Mr. Guillaume Guindey, reported that the net profit for the 31St financial year had amounted to 14,974,105 gold francs, compared with 15,314,716 gold francs for the preceding year. In view of the results for the financial year 1960–61, the Board of Directors of the Bank had recommended an extraordinary distribution of 35 gold francs per share, in addition to the regular dividend of 37·50 gold francs per share; thus the total distribution for this year would amount to 72·50 gold francs, payable in Swiss francs in the amount of 103·60 Swiss francs per share.

On October 17, 1960, the European Parliamentary Assembly, after a debate on trade policy and economic cooperation with third countries, adopted a draft resolution covering such topics as the coordination of trade policies, relations between the European Economic Community (EEC) and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), and policies toward developing countries. In its resolution the Assembly called for an intensification of consultations between member states and the EEC Commission, with a view to increasing participation by the Commission in bilateral negotiations between member states of the Assembly and third countries. With regard to relations between EEC and EFTA, it suggested that the possibility of the EFTA ountries' ultimately joining EEC be examined in the light of the Rome Treaty and the Stockholm Convention, and, with regard to policies toward the developing countries, it proposed the following steps: 1) stabilizing prices of, and reducing import taxes on, raw materials; 2) enlarging quotas for imports from developing countries; and 3) improving export credit terms, as well as increasing financial aid, to enable such countries to pay for imports essential to their development.

An important item of discussion during the Autumn months of 1960 among the members of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) was reported to be the question of association with the European Economic Community (EEC), but the press announced in October a “lack of progress” in resolving the problems encountered. The question was said to have been included in the issues taken up at the second ministerial meeting of the Council, held in Berne, Switzerland, on October 11 and 12, 1960. Mr. Max Petitpierre, president of the Swiss Confederation, reportedly stated in an address to the Council that, even if there was little prospect of an agreement between EEC and EFTA in the immediate future, it was imperative that the two organizations work together, not only for commercial and economic reasons, but also because of the mission that Europe was called on to discharge toward the newly independent countries. Since, however, an acceptable settlement with EEC seemed impossible in the near future, the Council determined that EFTA should proceed with its own plans. In pursuance of this decision, the Ministers decided to establish a consultative committee, representative of all aspects of economic activity, including labor, to advise on all facets of the activity of the Association. Also considered at the meeting was the possibility of an additional 10 percent tariff reduction to take effect as of January 1, 1961, to keep pace with the EEC cut scheduled for that date, but the Council concluded that too little time had elapsed since the first 20 percent tariff reductions on July 1, 1960, to make any modification of the timetable feasible at this time; it resolved, nevertheless, to re-examine the question early in 1961. The Ministers noted with satisfaction that the original tariff cuts had gone into operation without difficulty, and reasserted that the object of EFTA was not the creation of an inward-looking preferential bloc—for example, no restrictions on trade with third countries had been introduced with the creation of the group. EFTA offered to all trading nations, whether producers of industrial or agricultural products, stated the Council, the opportunities of an expanding market.

The eighteenth session of the contracting parties to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was held in Geneva from May 14 to 19, 1961, under the chairmanship of Mr. W. P. H. van Oorschot of the Netherlands. It was announced at the session that the first phase of the 1960–61 Tariff Conference, which was largely concerned with negotiations with the European Economic Community (EEC), had been terminated and that the general round of tariff negotiations would open on May 29, 1961. The Tariffs Negotiations Committee was scheduled to meet that same day and reconstitute itself in order to meet the new circumstances and to make the necessary arrangements for the general negotiations.

The Ministerial Council of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) held its eleventh annual ministerial review at NATO headquarters in Paris from December 16 to 18, 1960. The main topic of discussion at the meeting was the announcement by United States Secretary of State Christian Herter of what he reportedly termed a new concept for the operation of medium-range ballistic missiles. The United States plan included: 1) a proposal that NATO discuss a multilateral system for the political control of the weapons; 2) an offer to place five ballistic missile submarines armed with 80 Polaris missiles under the command of the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe (SACEUR), by the end of 1963; and 3) a suggestion that the other members of the alliance contribute approximately 100 more medium-range ballistic missiles by purchasing them in the United States. The press reported that Lord Home, Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom, welcomed the United States proposal and said that NATO should examine the possibility of a medium-range ballistic missile force under multilateral control, a suggestion in which M. Couve de Murville, the French Foreign Minister, concurred. The West German Defense Minister, Franz Joseph Strauss, told the Ministers, the press announced, that concrete decisions on the United States proposal should be taken in the near future, and that plans for NATO control of the Polaris missile force should be pushed through by military and political authorities early in the spring of 1961. The Council of Ministers decided to pass on to its Permanent Comand other related materials, according to the press.

It was announced by the press in November 1960 that the preparatory committee, which had been considering the aims and structure of the proposed Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) to replace the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC), had completed its report and was planning to transmit it to a conference of ministers of the twenty European and North American nations involved in organizing OECD. One of the most difficult problems in reaching agreement was reportedly the refusal of the United States to accept a definite commitment to coordinate its economic policy with those of the other members. A compromise was finally reached, providing that the convention would: 1) bind members, in making their basic economic decisions—on interest rates, for example—to avoid measures that would endanger other countries; and 2) require members to cooperate closely in carrying out the basic aims of the organization and, when necessary, to take coordinated action. In any case, the organization was to be able to take decisions only by unanimity. The proposed structure of the organization, reported to be similar to that of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, was to include: 1) a Council on which all member states would be represented by permanent delegations; 2) a Council chairman, who would be selected to serve a one-year term and would preside at ministerial sessions of the Council, and two vice chairmen; and 3) a permanent staff headed by a Secretary-General, who would be chosen for a five-year term and would preside at Council sessions attended by the permanent representatives.

The fourteenth session of the Council of the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration (ICEM) was held in Geneva from May 11 to 17, 1961.1 The Spanish Minister Plenipotentiary, D. José Manuel Aniel-Quiroga, permanent delegate to the European office of the United Nations, was elected by the Council to chair the session. During the first day of the session the United Kingdom was unanimously admitted to membership in ICEM, bringing total membership to 30 countries.

An emergency session of the Council of the Organization of American States (OAS) was reportedly held on November 30, 1960, in response to a note sent to Dr. Savhez Cavito, chairman of the Council, by the government of Venezuela requesting the opportunity to inform the Council of new acts of aggression that the Dominican Republic was planning and had already begun launching against Venezuela. At the meeting Dr. Nelson Himiob, Venezuelan delegate to the Council, was said to have charged the Dominican Republic with placing airplanes and other war materials at the disposal of former Venezuelan military officers residing in the Dominican Republic. Dr. Himiob asked that the fivenation Inter-American Peace Committee be convoked immediately after the emergency session, with a view to initiating an investigation of the aggressive acts contemplated by the Dominican Republic. The Venezuelan representative was reported to have stated that unless the Peace Committee took action, his government would have to act unilaterally in legitimate self-defense. Dr. Himiob also told the Council that there had been considerable delay in fulfilling the mandate for action against the Dominican Republic agreed upon at the August meeting of the foreign ministers; he pointed out that this was the fifth time in two years that Venezuela had brought charges against the Dominican Republic. According to the press, however, the Venezuelan delegate did not provide any concrete evidence in support of his government's contentions, and Mr. Virgilio Diaz Ordonez, Dominican delegate to the Council, denied the Venezuelan allegations.

Following a three-hour special meeting of the Council of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) in Bangkok, Thailand, on December 12, 1960, a SEATO communique expressed the view, the press reported, that the shipment of heavy arms by the Soviet Union to the rebel forces in Laos would only prolong the crisis in that country. According to the press, however, the chairman of the Council had said that SEATO could not intervene, since all the parties involved in the fighting in Laos were Laotians and not the forces of a foreign nation.

The seventeenth session of the contracting parties to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was held in Geneva from October 31 to November 19, 1960, under the chairmanship of Mr. Edmundo Penna Barbosa da Silva (Brazil). One of the main items of discussion was regional economic integration, considered in terms of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), the proposed Latin American free trade area, and the European Economic Community (EEC). Examination of the Stockholm Convention establishing EFTA, begun at the sixteenth session, was resumed, with the contracting parties concluding that the provisions concerning the setting up, within the time limit set forth in the convention, of a free trade area were within the definition of such an area, as contained in Article XXIV of GATT. Delegates felt, however, that there remained some legal and practical issues which could be more fruitfully discussed in the light of experience of the operation of the convention, and thus welcomed the willingness of EFTA members to furnish additional information as the organization evolved. In examining the Montevideo Treaty proposing a Latin American free trade area, delegates reached much the same conclusions. In response to the report on developments within EEC, particularly with regard to tariffs, delegates expressed a desire to receive details on the common agricultural policy of the Community, and raised queries as to the harmful effect of the Community's progressively favorable treatment of the associated territories on the trade of certain outside countries with EEC.

A regular meeting of the Political Consultative Committee of the member states of the Warsaw Pact was held in Moscow on March 28 and 29, 1961, according to press reports. Heads of government and military and political leaders of the eight member states were present, although there was considerable comment in the press when Albania sent Deputy Premier Begir Balluku instead of General Enver Hoxha, First Secretary of the Albanian Communist Party. Communist China sent as an observer Liu Hsiao, Ambassador to Moscow. The Council on Mutual Economic Aid of the pact reportedly disclosed a new economic plan at the conference that called for the voluntary coordination of member nations' economic schemes and prospects for a twentyyear period through 1980. The project was to constitute a new form of international cooperation that would be the prototype for the economic relations of the future communist society. The Warsaw Pact nations also reportedly discussed military matters, including the situation in Germany.

The thirteenth session of the Council of the Intergovernmental Committee for European Migration (ICEM) was held in Geneva, December 1–9, 1960.1 Ambassador Max H. Wershof, permanent representative of Canada to the European Office of the UN in Geneva, was elected chairman.

The report covering the eleventh fiscal year, June 1, 1959, to May 31, 1960, of the International Whaling Commission, including the eleventh meeting of the Commission, held in London from June 22 to July 1, 1959, and also the meeting of the Commission's ad hoc Scientific Committee, held in London from May 10 to 13, 1960 was presented and approved by the Commission at its twelfth meeting in that city in June 1960. As no proposals were made at the eleventh meeting for altering the blue whale unit limit on baleen whales taken in the Antarctic, it remained the same (15,000 units) as for the previous season, and in the 1959/1960 season there were again twenty pelagic expeditions operating in the Antarctic, although the total number of catchers operating with the twenty expeditions was reduced from 235 in the previous season to 217, distributed among Japan, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, Norway, and the Netherlands. The period over which the Antarctic catch was taken was considerably longer than in the previous three seasons, since, in accordance with a decision reached at the eleventh meeting of the Commission, the fin and sei whale season had opened ten days earlier than previously, although the opening date of the blue whale season had remained unaltered. Expeditions also continued whaling longer than in the previous season, the catching period for all the expeditions taken together averaging about 99 days in contrast to the 69-day total of the year 1958/1959, while the increase in the total catch was a little over 1 percent, consisting mainly of fin and sei whales.

The Assembly of Western European Union (WEU) held the second part of its sixth ordinary session in Paris from November 29 to December 2, 1960. The President of the Assembly, Mr. Badini Confalonieri (Italian Liberal), opened the session with a tribute to the late Max Becker, representative of West Germany. He then examined briefly the perils facing Europe due to recent developments throughout the world. He called on the members of WEU to tackle courageously their joint problems, stating that the only way of ensuring the defense and unity of the free world was for the Atlantic Community to operate through representative executive bodies and parliamentary consultation. The President emphasized that the achievements of the European Communities did not imply that other European organizations should be cast aside, but rather that these other organizations should also acquire greater power and authority. The unity of Europe would be achieved only within the framework of a community of nations, Mr. Confalonieri continued, the members of which would submit their individual wishes, in the interest of all, to the decisions of the community's governing bodies. Insofar as positive results toward a true European community had been achieved, the most impressive and exemplary accomplishments had been those of the European Economic Community (EEC), which had brought about nothing less than a revolution in European institutions. In conclusion, the President stressed the importance of the United Kingdom's becoming a co-member, along with the EEC countries, of a genuine community, and he warmly welcomed Mr. Edward Heath, Lord Privy Seal of the United Kingdom, to the Assembly, calling his presence tangible proof of the links that had developed between the WEU Council of Minister and the Assembly.