Interim Commission of WHO: The third session of the Interim Commission of WHO, which began on March 30, 1947 at Geneva, closed on April 12, after assigning priority to the various health problems confronting the world. Representatives of sixteen of the eighteen member states (Liberia and the Ukrainian SSR being absent) attended the session. Results of Conference discussions indicated wide-spread agreement on such matters as 1) appointment of expert committees to develop program proposals relating to specific diseases, 2) strengthening of national health services, and 3) facilities for training public health personnel. It was hoped that a practical first year's program could be presented to the first World Health Assembly when that body convenes, probably in February, 1948.

The Caribbean Commission, formally established on October 20, 1946, by the United States, Great Britain, the Netherlands and France, held a third meeting of its four national sections consisting of representatives of the above mentioned countries at Curacao, Netherlands West Indies, in December, 1946. Particular items on the agenda included 1) discussion of the activities of the Commission's Secretariat, 2) rules of procedure for the Commission and the West Indian Conference, and 3) appointment of the budget. Attention was directed to the implementation of the recommendations of the second session of the West Indian Conference, which was held in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands of the United States, in February, 1946. Such recommendations reflected the effort of the member powers to coordinate their activities with a view to improving the economic and social well-being of Caribbean inhabitants.

Following months of preliminary planning and negotiation, the first concrete steps toward the establishment of an International Trade Organization were taken by the Preparatory Committee of the International Conference on Trade and Employment, which met in London from October 15 to November 26, 1946. Called by the Secretary-General of the United Nations pursuant to a resolution of February 18, 1946, of the Economic and Social Council, the meeting was the first of a series of conferences to consider the possible integration of national trade policies and the removal of trade barriers on a world-wide scale. Its work, however, has been essentially preparatory in scope; its recommendations are not binding upon the governments represented.

The Twenty-First Session of the Assembly of the League of Nations met in Geneva from April 8 to April 18, 1946, for the purpose of going out of existence and transferring its responsibilities and assets to the United Nations or other appropriate international bodies. C. J. Hambro of Norway was elected President, two committees were organized to draft the appropriate resolutions, and the Assembly resolved that “so far as required, it will, during the present Session, assume the functions falling within the competence of the Council.” The Assembly then voted to admit the representatives of Austria to sit in on its meetings and those of the two committees as observers, listened to a number of moving tributes to its work from various delegates, and at the Sixth and Seventh Meetings passed the necessary resolutions for the dissolution of the League.

Experience gained from the functioning of the Caribbean Commission provided a working basis for the creation of the South Pacific Commission, since four of the six participating governments at the South Seas Conference were already members of the Caribbean Commission, a similar regional organization. Delegations representing the governments which administer non-self-governing territories in the South Pacific area (Australia, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States) met at the South Seas Conference at Canberra from January 28 to February 6, 1947, to prepare an agreement for the establishment of a regional commission which might aid in promoting the social and economic advancement of 2,000,000 peoples in the South Pacific. The Conference was called by the Australian and New Zealand governments in fulfilment of the Canberra Pact of January, 1944.

The Board of Liquidation, appointed by the Assembly at the twenty-first session, 1 had nearly completed its work by May 1, 1947, when it issued its Fourth Interim Report. Under the chairmanship of Mr. C. J. Hambro (Norway) and vice-chairmanship of Sir Cecil Kisch (United Kingdom), the Board had been charged with winding up the affairs of the League. By May 1, 1947, the following had been accomplished:

Contributions from members which were outstanding as of August 31, 1946, totaled 29,467,845.28 Swiss francs. By April 30, 1947 this amount had been reduced to 11,098,488.61 Swiss francs owed by 21 of the former Members.

The activities of the Arab League during the period under review centered around the question of Palestine.

Following its previous stand in support of Palestinian Arabs, the Political Com-mittee of the League decided on April 17, 1947 to oppose the idea of the creation of a new committee of inquiry by the United Nations, and to support the inclusion on the agenda of the first special session of the General Assembly of an item on the abro-gation of the mandate and proclamation of Palestine's independence. It expressed the view that, in any event, terms of reference of any established inquiry committee should include the questions mentioned above. Abdul Rahman Azzam Pasha, Secretary-General of the League, stated on May 29, 1947, that a decision on the League's position regarding the question of cooperation with the United Nations’ committee of inquiry would be made at the seven member Conference of Foreign Ministers at Cairo in June, 1947. He emphasized that the Arab League was not concerned with Palestine alone, but also with 20,000,000 Arabs in French North Africa, and the problems of Libya and the Anglo-Egyptian Sudan. No action however, was taken by the Arab League in June, and a rift among Arabs over the Palestine question became evident when the Palestine Arab Higher Committee decided to boycott the inquiry commission. In a news conference on June 19, Abdul Rahman Azzam Pasha stated that the Arab League, representing all independent Arab states and about 45,000,000 persons, was giving full support to Palestine independence, and that the League was cooperating with the Special Committee on Palestine despite the boycott by the Arab Higher Committee.

Tangier, a seaport in the northwestern corner of Africa totalling 225 square miles with a population of 60,000 inhabitants, was internationalized by a Convention signed on December 18, 1923, by Great Britain, France, and Spain, who agreed on its permanent neutrality. Spain occupied the area in 1940, removed British employees, and in 1941 deposed the Moroccan native ruler.

Allied Commission for Austria

In December, 1946, the main quadripartite decisions of the Allied Commission for Austria included progress in the solution of the food crisis, reduction of occupation costs for 1947, denazification plans and de-control of Austria's foreigntrade.

After considerable debate and disagreement over the food situation, the Allied Commission decided, on December 3, to allow free movement of food stocks, thus relaxing the previous restrictions on the export of food from the Soviet zone. A basic agreement was approved whereby the Austrian Government would present a de-tailed monthly food plan to the Allied Council; the plan was to be studied and ap-proved by the Economic Directorate in conjunction with UNRRA and the Austrian government. Accordingly, all food was to be pooled for distribution by the Austrian government in conformity with approved monthly food plans. Further 1946 recommendations concerning food centered around 1) a procedure by which food plans were to be passed through the hands of the Allied Council Food Committee, the Economic Directorate, UNRRA, the Ministry of Food, etc., based on a minimum number of days before any plan could become effective, and 2) measures to increase collection of agricultural produce. During a meeting of the Council, on January 10, the USSR agreed with the Western occupation powers to pool zonal food resources in order to bridge the 19,000 ton deficit left by slow food shipments and to maintain the 1,550-calory ration for the population. On April 24, however, it was indicated that the Soviet zone had not met its quota, although other zones had exceeded theirs.

Formed at the Evian Conference in July, 1938, by 31 of the 32 participating states, the Intergovernmental Committee on Refugees for the first five years of its existence was charged with responsibility for 1) persons in Germany and Austria who had to emigrate on account of political opinions, religious beliefs or racial origin and 2) persons in this category who had left their country of origin but had not yet settled permanently elsewhere. Involuntary migrants from the Sudeten area were added to the scope of the Committee's work after the annexation of that territory to Germany. Prior to the outbreak of the war, approximately 240,000 out of 400,000 refugees were settled.

The Council of Foreign Ministers

The fourth major session of the Council of Foreign Ministers met in Moscow from March 10 to April 24, 1947. The agenda covered six topics: 1) consideration of a report of the Allied Control Council in Germany, which included a summary of its work, a report on the establishment of a central administration, and recommendations on the liquidation of Prussia; 2) the form and scope of the provisional organization of Germany; 3) preparation of the peace treaty with Germany; 4) the United States draft four-power treaty for German disarmament and demilitarization; 5) consideration of a special report on coal; and 6) the peace treaty with Austria. Not on the agenda as prepared in New York, but brought up several times by the American representative, Secretary of State George C. Marshall, was the question of the limitation of occupation forces in Europe.

Agreement to begin a comprehensive survey of industries and industrial potentialities in Caribbean territories of the four member countries was reached in the fourth meeting of the Caribbean Commission which convened on June 23, 1947, at Jamaica, B.W.I., with representatives present from France, the Netherlands, United King-dom and the United States. On the basis of recommendations passed at the 1946 session of the West Indian Conference, the Commission drew up a program of action by which a panel of four experts on industrial affairs (one chosen by each national section) was to act as a committee headed by the Secretary-General of the Commission (Lawrence W. Cramer), and was to submit a report on the present and proposed state of industrial development in the Caribbean area. An adviser was to be appointed to coordinate the work of the experts and to edit the text of the final report. The Commission agreed that the report was to be ready in time for submission to the next session of the West Indian Conference, scheduled for the spring of 1948.

Fifth Meeting of American Foreign Ministers: The Foreign Ministers of the American Republics met at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on August 15 to begin the adoption of a formal treaty for the defense of the western hemisphere in accordance with a resolution adopted by the Inter-American Conference on Problems of War and Peace held at Mexico City in March 1945. Nicaragua was not invited to attend the conference since her government, established by a coup d'etat in May, 1947, had not been recognized by the other American republics.

Twenty-seven governments having substantial interests in cotton, as exporters or importers, were represented at the fifth meeting of the International Cotton Advisory Committee (ICAC) in Washington, from May 7 to 14, 1946. ICAC was established by the International Cotton Meeting of 1939 for the purpose of recommending steps to achieve international agreement on the regulation of world cotton supplies in relation to demand, so as to eliminate problems and difficulties presented by a world surplus of cotton. Governments represented at the May meeting were Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Egypt, France, Greece, Great Britain, India, Iran, Mexico, the Netherlands, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru, Turkey, USSR, the United States, Venezuela, and Yugoslavia.

During March, 1947, meetings of the Movements Conference (ECIMOT) and the monthly Bid-Acceptance Meeting (BIDAC) were organized by the European Central Inland Transport Organization, and attended by representatives from a number of European countries and the four occupation zones of Germany and Austria. Major issues presented for discussion included detailed planning of international traffic for the month of April, and contemplated measures to meet certain difficulties, particularly with regard to the shortage of locomotives, wagons and fuel. Plans were facilitated by agreement of the USSR to allow transit through the Soviet Zone of Germany of 90 trains of ore and general freight destined for Czechoslovakia.

See Food and Agriculture Organization, p. 122.

The Council of Foreign Ministers which met from March 10 to April 24, 1947, failed to produce an Austrian Peace treaty. It did, however, establish a Treaty Commission to meet in Vienna on May 12, 1947, for the purpose of studying unsolved problems which were blocking treaty negotiations.

During April, 1947, allied occupation authorities in Austria were chiefly concerned with 1) a draft agreement on rights and immunities of the allied forces which was postponed by the four commissioners pending study of actions taken at Moscow regarding the Austrian treaty; 2) consideration and implementation by the Executive Committee of the Austrian Government's food plan for April and May; 3) a resolution, subsequently agreed upon, which recognized that the Austrian government had the responsibility for allocating all industrial goods with the exception of explosives, and directed that the government make allocations throughout the country, transmitting quarterly allocation plans in advance to the Allied Council; 4) the question of the Austrian dual price system for goods on sale in the internal market; 5) approval of a trade agreement between Austria and Norway; 6) consideration of 25 Austrian legislative measures; and 7) denazification of university students.

In May, 1947, the question of civil aviation in Austria reappeared when efforts were made by American, British and French elements of the Allied Control Commission toward allowing Austria to plan for civil aviation development. The Soviet Commissioner, however, was not willing to discuss the creation of an air office until investigation revealed that air disarmament in Austria had been completed.

The Intergovernmental Committee on Refugees was authorized on July 16, 1946, by action of its Executive Committee, to extend its program of operations to include emigration services on behalf of non-repatriable refugees in Germany, Austria and Italy. Preliminary work of resettlement and actual operation insofar as practicable was thus undertaken, pending the establishment of the new International Refugee Organization, which will absorb the functions of the Committee. The scope of current activities of the Committee was extended to “all persons wherever they may be who, as a result of events in Europe, had to leave or may have to leave their countries of residence because of danger to their lives or liberties on account of race, religion or political beliefs.” Nansen refugees (formerly cared for under the League of Nations), German and Austrian refugees, Spanish refugees and displaced persons, who are unwilling or unable to return to their countries of nationality, were entitled to aid from the Committee.

The Austrian Treaty Commission was established as a result of an agreement reached by the Council of Foreign Ministers at Moscow on April 24, 1947. The agreement of the Council provided:

See United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, p. 130.