(b) SELECTIVE EMBARGO

80. In a case where action against an aggressor is being considered. the Security Council or the General Assembly may conclude that a total embargo is not necessary to weaken the aggressor's ability to continue his action, or that the imposition of a selective embargo, including arms, ammunition, implements of war and a limited group of commodities, would have an equal effect upon the aggressor without undue or disproportionate damage to the co-operating countries. (1) Arms embargo

81. The most obvious form of economic sanctions is the denial of supplies of arms, ammunition and implements of war-the arms embargo. Most countries must rely on imports for many types of armaments, since there are few countries which are major producers of arms. For this reason, an arms embargo is likely to be an effective measure in a large number of cases. Arms embargoes have been used frequently in recent times, though mostly as a result of unilateral action taken by large arms-producing countries. In the Italo-Ethiopian dispute, a comprehensive arms embargo was adopted by members of the League of Nations against Italy as part of a more extensive system of economic measures. Within the experience of the United Nations, the maintenance of an arms embargo was one of the terms of the truce in the Palestine dispute negotiated and supervised by the Organization, and in the Korean case an arms embargo has been applied to areas under the control of the Central People's Government of the People's Republic of China and of the North Korean authorties.

82. Should the occasion arise for the Security Council or the General Assembly to decide upon or recommend an arms embargo in any particular situation, a resolution giving effect to such a decision might include, amongst others, the following points:

(i) Every State, Member or non-member, should apply an embargo on shipment to certain named areas of arms, ammunition and implements of war;

(ii) Every State should apply controls to give effect to the foregoing objective;

(iii) Every State should prevent by all means within its jurisdiction the circumvention of controls applied by other States: (iv) States should co-operate with each other in carrying out the purposes of the embargo;

(v) States should report to the United Nations on the measures taken by them;

(vi) With a view to ensuring an effective implementation of the embargo, a United Nations body should be designated which, inter alia, would:

(a) Assist in the formulation of a list of arms, ammunition and implements of war to which the embargo should apply; (b) Receive reports on and evaluate the effectiveness of the measures taken;

(c) Arrange for the assembly, collation and interchange of information among participating States;

(d) Make such recommendations to the Security Council or the General Assembly and give such advice to States as

may be appropriate regarding the controls which might be applied.

83. The foregoing proposals might have to be modified or varied, epending upon the circumstances of each case and the policy to be dopted.

84. Any committee charged with the continuing study of collective neasures might prepare in advance a standard list of arms to be ncluded in an arms embargo.

2) Embargo on other exports

85. Since modern warfare depends not only upon the products vhich fall within the category of arms and munitions, but also upon ertain basic materials, such as oil and transport equipment, as well is upon materials for production essential to military activities, an mbargo on such related commodities is a logical supplement to an rms embargo and should be immediately considered in connexion with it. The nature of the related commodities to be included in extending the scope of the embargo would clearly depend upon the particular features which determine the character of any given situation and to which reference has been made in the sub-section above on an arms embargo.

86. The extension of an initial arms embargo to exports of commodities other than arms could be provided for within the type of resolution described in the previous sub-section.

(i) Every State, Member or non-member, should apply an embargo on the shipment to certain named areas of strategic or certain critical items [Note: The general determination of which items were critical would have to be made at the time] useful in the manufacture or transport of arms, ammunition and implements of war;

(ii) Every State should apply controls to give effect to the foregoing objective;

(iii) Every State should prevent by all means within its jurisdiction the circumvention of controls applied by other States; (iv) States should co-operate with each other in carrying out the purposes of an embargo;

(v) States should report to the United Nations on the measures taken by them;

(vi) With a view to ensuring an effective implementation of the embargo, a United Nations body should be designated which, inter alia, would:

(a) Assist in the formulation of a list of the commodities to which the embargo should apply;

(b) Receive reports on and evaluate the effectiveness of the measures taken;

(c) Arrange for the assembly, collation and interchange of economic information among participating States;

(d) Make such recommendations to the Security Council or the General Assembly and give such advice to States as may be appropriate regarding the controls which might be applied.

87. Any committee charged with the further study of collective measures should seek to prepare a basic list of strategic items useful in the manufacture or transport of arms, ammunition and implements

of war, or in maintaining an aggressor's ability to conduct or continue aggression.

88. In the Italo-Ethiopian dispute in the League of Nations, the embargo on exports covered a considerable range of commodities in addition to arms. It is noteworthy, however, that this list excluded oil and coal, although Italy was almost entirely dependent on external sources of supply for these commodities, and normally imported them in considerable quantities. There seems little room for doubt that an early and effective restriction on the supplies of these commodities to Italy would have greatly hampered the subsequent military operations. A proposal for the extension of the embargo to these products was, in fact, drawn up and accepted in principle, but its application was indefinitely postponed.

89. During the Second World War, Allied countries which were engaged in war with Germany, Italy and Japan imposed complete embargoes on exports to the enemy countries and to countries dominated by them.

90. In giving effect to the export embargoes imposed against Italy under the League of Nations, the arms embargo was generally implemented by requiring licenses for all exports falling within the prescribed categories, since in most countries many categories of arms were already subject to export licenses. As regards the extended list of prohibited exports, the most commonly employed method was to issue an outright prohibition of exports to Italy of the specified list of goods. The French Government, however, established a total prohibition on the export of all such goods, and then proceeded to give licenses for exports for destinations other than Italy. Both methods involved determinations by customs officials at the frontier.

91. There is no doubt but that a blanket prohibition of exports subject to the embargo, accompanied by the licensing of permitted transactions, provides the most effective method of control, and this was the method which was widely used by most countries during the Second World War.

(3) Embargo on imports from an offending country

92. While embargoes on exports to the offending country are designed to strike directly at the supplies which that country may need to support an aggressive act, an embargo on imports from such a country is designed to hit indirectly at its supplies by restricting what is usually the chief means of current financing purchases. In the case of any country with a considerable dependence on imported supplies, severe restriction on its own exports may exert a very powerful pressure. Indeed, a committee appointed by the League of Nations, some months before the outbreak of the Italo-Ethiopian dispute, to study the question of selective economic sanctions took the view that an embargo on an offending country's exports might be a very drastic measure. Such a measure, if pressed far, might well deprive a country of essential imports devoted purely to the needs of the civilian population. At the same time, the counterpart effects of such an embargo on the countries participating in sanctions might well be particularly heavy on some countries closely dependent on imports from the offending country. On the other hand an embargo on an offending country's exports would have the advantage that abstentions from participation in the sanctions by certain countries

would not alter the fact that the loss of important markets in conforming countries might not easily be overcome.

93. Among the measures adopted by the League of Nations against Italy, the embargo on imports from Italy took a prominent place. It was estimated that an embargo by all members of the League on Italian goods, if completely effective, would have cut off 70 per cent of Italy's export trade. This particular form of sanction nevertheless encountered considerable opposition before its adoption, arising mainly from the fact that Italy had considerable outstanding commercial foreign debts, the repayment of which creditors were unwilling to jeopardize by cutting off all economic relations with Italy.

94. Moreover, although the League of Nations committee which studied economic sanctions was of the opinion that the application of an import embargo might be relatively easy to enforce, experience showed that the application of the embargo on imports from Italy was more difficult of enforcement than the embargo on exports. This was partly because it proved difficult to determine with certainty the country of origin of many commodities of the type normally exported by Italy, and partly because of difficulties of definition arising from the exceptions which were provided for in general terms.

95. In the situation of total war during Second World War, the measures adopted by the Allied countries forbidding all transactions with enemy countries obviously involved the complete prohibition of imports. Such extreme measures were in this instance, however, a corollary or military action.

96. If in any situation the United Nations found it appropriate to recommend an embargo on imports from an offending State, measures similar to those for an export embargo would be required. The following points might be included in any resolution of the General Assembly or of the Security Council:

(i) Every State, Member or non-member, should apply an embargo on the import from certain named areas on all items except those specified by the United Nations body referred to in (vi) below;

(ii) Every State should apply controls to give effect to the foregoing objective;

(iii) Every State should prevent by all means within its jurisdiction the circumvention of controls applied by other States; (iv) States should co-operate with each other in carrying out the purpose of an embargo;

(v) States should report to the appropriate United Nations body on the measures taken by them;

(vi) With a view to ensuring an effective implementation of the embargo, a United Nations body should be designated which, inter alia, would:

(a) Recommend, as appropriate, to the Security Council or to the General Assembly, exceptions to the embargo; (b) Receive reports and evaluate the effectiveness of the measures taken;

(c) Arrange for the assembly, collation, and interchange of economic information among participating States;

(d) Make such recommendations to the Security Council or the General Assembly and give such advice to States as

may be appropriate regarding the controls which might be applied.

*

102. SECOND REPORT OF THE UNITED NATIONS COLLECTIVE MEASURES COMMITTEE, 1952 (EXCERPT) 1

*

*

*

*

CHAPTER II-ECONOMIC AND FINANCIAL MEASURES

A. ARMS EMBARGO LIST AND LIST OF STRATEGIC ITEMS

29. In its report of last year, when examining export embargoes as types of measures for consideration in the event of acts of aggression or threats to or breaches of the peace among nations, the Collective Measures Committee envisaged two types of situations: those calling for a total embargo, and those calling for a selective embargo.

30. The Committee pointed out that "in the event of aggression. a total embargo of exports is the primary, and generally the most effective, economic sanction for denying to an aggressor country access to goods which will add to or maintain its ability to conduct or continue aggression. Economic sanctions other than a total or selective embargo are, in the main, supplementary or ancillary means to prevent a nation from circumventing embargo measures. Furthermore, by reason of its absolute nature, a total embargo may be swiftly invoked, and the absence of qualitative or quantitative exceptions makes for prompt and effective administration. The knowledge of the probability that a complete embargo would be promptly and very widely invoked should serve as a powerful deterrent to a potential aggressor. If a total embargo were applied, the Security Council or the General Assembly could thereafter consider united action towards relaxation to permit the export of selected commodities for humanitarian or other special reasons".

31. The report pointed out, however, that the Security Council or the General Assembly "may conclude that a total embargo is Lot necessary to weaken the aggressor's ability to continue his action, or that the imposition of a selective embargo, including arms, ammunition, implements of war and a limited group of commodities would have an equal effect upon the aggressor without undue or disproportionate damages to the co-operating countries".

32. Recognizing the importance of providing, as a measure of preparedness, instruments and machinery ready for use in collective action when called for, the Collective Measures Committee recommended that there should be prepared in advance, basic lists of materials to which selective embargoes might be applied. Such lists should assist the Security Council or the General Assembly in determining speedily what items should be included in a selective embargo. They should be instrumental in minimizing problems of nomenclature and classification, thus reducing the time required for the effective imposition of such an embargo.

33. In its approach to the technical task of drawing up the lists in question, the Committee has recognized that, as was pointed out in last year's report, "modern warfare depends not only upon the

UN Document A/2215.