means of stimulating exports. The operation of the currency-retention plans employed by the Netherlands, Denmark, Western Germany, France, Italy, Austria, Indonesia, and Iceland is discussed in chapter 6. Also discussed are the tax rebates that are granted to exporters by Austria, Western Germany, and France.

Miscellaneous Matters Regarding Trade-Agreement Obligations

The status of various matters at issue between the United States and certain countries with which it has trade agreements has been discussed in previous Commission reports on the operation of the trade agreements program. Chapter 6 of this report again reviews these matters, and discusses the new issues that arose in 1951-52. These issues, both old and new, relate mainly to the failure of some trade-agreement countries to correct certain practices that have been called to their attention by the United States Government. Some of these practices have been corrected, but others have remained at issue for several years. For the most part, the points at issue relate to a limited number of items (in some instances only one) on which a country has made duty concessions. When a contracting party to the General Agreement is involved, the United States Government protests to the Contracting Parties, who usually refer the matter to a working party for examination. Protests involving certain practices by Belgium, Brazil, Cuba, Denmark, France, Greece, Liberia, and the United Kingdom have been handled in this manner. When the practices involve countries with which it has bilateral trade agreements, the United States discusses them directly with the country concerned. The present report discusses certain issues that have arisen between this country and Argentina, Guatemala, Paraguay, and Turkey.

Chapter 2

Developments Respecting the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade

INTRODUCTION

On June 30, 1952, there were 34 contracting parties to the multilateral agreement known as the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.' The General Agreement now embraces the original agreement concluded by 23 countries at Geneva in 1947; the Annecy Protocol of 1949, under which 9 additional countries acceded to the agreement; and the Torquay Protocol of 1951, under which 4 other countries have acceded. Indonesia, on behalf of which the Netherlands negotiated concessions at Geneva, became an independent contracting party in 1950. All together, 37 countries have become contracting parties to the General Agreement since the Geneva Conference in 1947. Three of the countries that acceded as a result of the negotiations at Geneva-China, Lebanon, and Syria-have since withdrawn.

Four new countries acceded to the General Agreement during the period July 1, 1951, to June 30, 1952—all as a result of the Torquay tariff negotiations. The Federal Republic of Germany became a contracting party on October 1, 1951; Peru, on October 7, 1951; Turkey, on October 17, 1951; and Austria, on October 19, 1951. By the terms of the Torquay Protocol, the last day for signature of that instrument was to be October 21, 1951. At their Sixth Session, however, the Contracting Parties granted extensions of time for signature to three countries that negotiated for accession at Torquay. Korea was given until March 31, 1952, to sign the Torquay Protocol, and the Philippines, until May 22, 1952. The Contracting Parties also granted Uruguay an extension of time until

1 These countries were the following: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Burma, Canada, Ceylon, Chile, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, Finland, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Greece, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Italy, Liberia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Norway, Pakistan, Peru, Southern Rhodesia, Sweden, Turkey, the Union of South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

* For discussion of the history and nature of the General Agreement, see Operation of the Trade Agreements Program (first report), pt. 2; Operation of the Trade Agreements Program (second report), pp. 19–21; and Operation of the Trade Agreements Program (third report), pp. 31 and 32.

3

* For a discussion of the Torquay Conference, see Operation of the Trade Agreements Program (fourth report), ch. 4.

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April 30, 1952, to sign both the Annecy and Torquay Protocols. Neither Korea, the Philippines, nor Uruguay signed the Torquay Protocol within these extended time limits. The Contracting Parties subsequently granted Korea and the Philippines a further extension of time for signature until May 21, 1953, and Uruguay, until April 30, 1953.

Apart from the accession of new members, developments respecting the General Agreement during the period covered by this report relate principally to the proceedings of the Sixth Session of the Contracting Parties and to the activities of the ad hoc Committee for Agenda and Intersessional Business, which was established during that session.

The Contracting Parties held their Sixth Session at Geneva from September 17 to October 26, 1951. At the beginning of the session 30 countries were contracting parties to the General Agreement. By the end of the session the number had increased to 34 by virtue of the accession of Austria, the Federal Republic of Germany, Peru, and Turkey after the Torquay tariff negotiations. Korea and the Philippines, which had negotiated for accession at Torquay but had not yet signed the Torquay Protocol, were represented by observers. Also represented by observers were 8 nonmember countries-Bolivia, Egypt, El Salvador, Japan, Mexico, Switzerland, Venezuela, and Yugoslavia. Five international organizations—the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the International Labor Office (ILO), the Organization for European Economic Cooperation (OEEC), and the European Customs Union Study Group were similarly represented.5

At their Sixth Session the Contracting Parties acted directly on many problems in plenary meetings. To deal with the more complicated issues, however, they established six new working parties. These working parties were directed to study in detail the following matters: (1) The resolutions submitted by the International Chamber of Commerce-on reduction of trade barriers; (2) the schedules of tariff concessions annexed to the General Agreement; (3) the future administration of the agreement; (4) arrangements for interconference tariff negotiations; (5) the report on import restrictions; and (6) the budget.

Aside from the various consultations and discussions relating to the operation of the general provisions of the General Agreement, the Sixth

For the dates on which the contracting parties (except Brazil, Chile, and Nicaragua) signed the Torquay Protocol, see Operation of the Trade Agreements Program (fourth report), ch. 4, p. 66. Brazil, Chile, and Nicaragua, which were originally granted extensions of time for signature until December 31, 1951, did not sign the protocol by that date. The Contracting Parties subsequently (by postal ballot) granted them a further extension of time for signature. Brazil signed the Torquay Protocol on February 19, 1953, and Chile, on September 24, 1952.

• Representatives of the International Chamber of Commerce attended the meetings of the working party that drafted the convention for facilitating the importation of samples and advertising material.

Session was particularly noteworthy because of two actions the Contracting Parties took to facilitate the future administration of the agreement. These actions were the establishment of an ad hoc Committee for Agenda and Intersessional Business, and the adoption of rules for tariff negotiations in the periods between conferences of the Geneva-Annecy-Torquay type. Originally, the general provisions of the General Agreement were to have been superseded by the proposed Charter for an International Trade Organization. In 1950, when it became apparent that this expectation would not be realized in the foreseeable future, the Contracting Parties. examined the possibility of improving and strengthening the administrative features of the agreement. They concluded that it would be premature to change the existing administrative arrangements radically, but decided to devise methods for dealing with urgent problems that arise when the Contracting Parties are not in session, as well as for conducting tariff negotiations in the interim between full-scale conferences. The ad hoc Committee for Agenda and Intersessional Business (hereafter referred to as the Intersessional Committee) was established to operate on an experimental basis between the Sixth and Seventh Sessions. Creation of this committee may be especially significant in the long-run administration of the General Agreement. It provides, for the first time, a formal arrangement for considering problems that require immediate action between the regular sessions of the Contracting Parties. Likewise, the procedures adopted for interconference negotiations may in the long run have an important effect on the technique of tariff negotiations under the General Agreement. The nature of the Intersessional Committee and the rules for conducting interconference negotiations are discussed more fully in later sections of this chapter.

The subsequent discussion of the principal developments respecting the General Agreement is divided into the following sections: (1) General provisions; (2) tariffs and tariff negotiations; (3) future administration of the agreement; and (4) other developments. Actions of the Contracting Parties at their Sixth Session, as well as actions of the Intersessional Committee at its several meetings, are discussed under the appropriate subject headings.

6

The general provisions of the General Agreement, as well as the discussions and consultations that the Contracting Parties hold with respect to their operation, are complex and highly technical. In this chapter, the sections dealing with the general provisions of the agreement and the consultations and actions of the Contracting Parties are necessarily brief, and, as far as possible, are written in nontechnical language. For a more complete understanding of the provisions of the General Agreement, the • During the period covered by this report, the Intersessional Committee held two meetings on January 14 and 15, 1952, and on February 25 and 26, 1952.