attendance of witnesses in proceedings before the Commission. The Commission may adopt such rules of procedure as shall be in accordance with justice and equity, and may make such examination in person and through agents or employees as may be deemed advisable.

For further information concerning the International Joint Commission, see post, Ch. 2, § 4F, pp. 51-53; Ch. 7, § 11, pp. 612-629. See also the 1976 Digest, Ch. 7, § 11, pp. 382-388 and Ch. 11, § 1, pp. 591-594.

C. MEMBERSHIP AND REPRESENTATION

United Nations

Membership

On September 20, 1977, the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted by acclamation Resolutions 32/1 (1977) and 32/2 (1977) admitting the Republic of Djibouti and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam to membership in the United Nations. Pursuant to article 4 of the U.N. Charter, the Security Council had recommended that both of these countries be admitted to U.N. membership. In his statement in the General Assembly on September 20, 1977, Ambassador Andrew Young, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, welcomed these "two new members to the United Nations family" in part as follows:

I wish to express my government's satisfaction that this Organization now moves one step closer to the ultimate goal of universality of membership. This is an objective which we hope will be achieved in the not too distant future.

The United States was among those members of the Security Council which sponsored the Security Council's recommendation for the admission of Djibouti to the United Nations and joined in the consensus which approved this recommendation. We are now pleased to welcome Djibouti to full participation in the world community of nations. Djibouti stands as another example of a successful peaceful transition from colonial status to independence. With confidence in the future of this new nation, the United States extends the hand of friendship.

In our relations with Vietnam, the United States looks to the future. We are hopeful that constructive relations will be established within the United Nations, as Vietnam joins the common effort to achieve the goals and aspirations of the Charter.

*

Press Release USUN-67(77), Sept. 20, 1977. U.N. Docs. A/RES/32/1, Sept. 22, 1977, and A/RES/32/2, Sept. 22, 1977.

Art. 4 of the U.N. Charter reads as follows:

ARTICLE 4

1. Membership in the United Nations is open to all other peace-loving states which accept the obligations contained in the present Charter and, in the judgment of the Organization, are able and willing to carry out these obligations.

2. The admission of any such state to membership in the United Nations will be effected by a decision of the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council.

The applications for membership signed on behalf of the Republic of Djibouti by President Hassan Gouled Aptidon and on behalf of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam by Prime Minister Pham Van Dong contained, inter alia, a declaration that each accepts and undertakes to carry out the obligations contained in the U.N. Charter. U.N. Docs. A/32/134–S/12357, July 6, 1977, and A/31/180–S/12183, Aug. 20, 1976.

International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) On October 4, 1977, Ambassador Andrew Young, U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations, deposited the U.S. instrument of acceptance of the Agreement establishing the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The following are excerpts from his remarks upon depositing the instrument of acceptance:

I am pleased to be able to deposit with you the United States instrument of acceptance of the Agreement establishing the International Fund for Agricultural Development. This instrument, in addition to signaling United States willingness to accept the responsibilities of membership in the Fund, provides for the United States subscription of $200,000,000 as its contribution to $1 billion pledged for IFAD. We are pleased to be participating in the Fund and look forward to assisting it in its efforts to improve agricultural production and help meet the nutritional needs of the world's people.

Press Release USUN-69 (77), Oct. 4, 1977.

The Agreement establishing IFAD, concluded at Rome on June 13, 1976, entered into force on Nov. 30, 1977. For further information concerning IFAD, see post, Ch. 10, § 10, pp. 821-822, and the 1976 Digest, Ch. 10, § 10, pp. 569–570.

South East Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO)

The South East Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO) ceased to exist on June 30, 1977.

For further information, see post, Ch. 14, § 1, pp. 914-915 and the 1975 Digest, Ch. 14, § 1, p. 789.

United Nations

Observer Status

On October 11, 1977, Ambassador Allard K. Lowenstein, U.S. Alternate Representative for Special Political Affairs, objected to the expressed intention of the President of the U.N. General Assembly to call on the representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization "to reply to the statement made by one of the speakers in the general debate." Ambassador Lowenstein's statement in plenary of the General Assembly read in part as follows:

[T]he Palestine Liberation Organization has asked to be allowed to reply to the statement of the Foreign Minister of Israel [Moshe Dayan].

I wish simply to recall the consistent position of the United States that only representatives of Member States are qualified to participate in the general debate. We believe this is a sound practice which contributes to more effective and expeditious general debate.

The President of the General Assembly ruled against the U.S. point of order on the basis of General Assembly Resolution 3237 (XXIX) of November 22, 1974, and "the statement made by the President of the thirty-first session of the General Assembly at the ninth plenary meeting on September 29, 1976," which said in part that "if any speaker in the course of the general debate should make any remarks which call for a reply from an observer, I shall call on that observer in the plenary Assembly so that he may reply."

U.N. Doc. A/32/PV.29, p. 111. Press Release USUN-73 (77), Oct. 11, 1977. For further information concerning U.N.G.A. Res. 3237 (XXIX) of Nov. 22, 1974, see the 1974 Digest, Ch. 2, § 4.C, p. 40.

International Labor Organization

On November 1, 1977, Secretary of Labor F. Ray Marshall read at a news conference at the White House the following statement on behalf of President Carter announcing the termination of U.S. membership in the International Labor Organization:

Two years ago, the United States gave official notice that we would leave the International Labor Organization unless corrective measures were taken to restore that organization's commitment to its original purposes. Because such measures have not been taken, I direct that United States membership in ILO be terminated. The United States remains ready to return whenever the ILO is again true to its proper principles and procedures.

13 Weekly Comp. of Pres. Doc. 1705-1706 (Nov. 7, 1977).

During the briefing session subsequent to the announcement, Secretary Marshall outlined the reasons for the termination:

There were . . . three or four essential problems involved. One was the unequal application of standards which was a very important principle of the ILO. The heart of the ILO is that it has a procedure for adopting and implementing labor standards. And that procedure is to have a committee of the experts investigating violations of those standards and then make a report.

One concern that people had was the uneven application of those standards, as the same standards were not applied, in other words, to all countries.

A second problem which involved due process was that condemnations were frequently made without adequate investigation of the charges that were being made against various people within that organization. Another very important principle is that the main purpose of the International Labor Organization is . . . to adopt and enforce labor standards. And too often the basic purpose was diverted by extraneous political matters that were injected into the procedures of the ILO.

[F]or instance, . . . you would come to talk about questions like the condemnation of some country for political actions rather than anything related to labor standards at all. And then another principle, of course, is tripartitism. And in this, of course, the International Labor Organization is unique among United Nations organizations. And that is it has representatives of unions, workers, employers and government from different countries, and tripartitism means that the labor and employer representatives really represent labor and employers.

Too frequently that principle was diluted when the delegates represented government almost exclusively. So those were the four basic concerns that we had about the operations of the ILO.

White House Press Release, Nov. 1, 1977. 16 International Legal Materials 1562 (Nov. 1977).

During this briefing session, Secretary Marshall expressed doubt that a one-year extension of the notice of intention to withdraw given in a letter dated November 5, 1975, from Secretary of State Kissinger to Francis Blanchard, Director General of the ILO, was permissible under the ILO constitution:

. . [W]e would be subject to challenge if we tried to participate with the one-year extension when the constitution, we thought, was fairly clear on that matter.

A problem that we have, of course, is we have objected in the past to other countries twisting the language of the constitution in order to fit their own purposes. And so we thought that the question of a one-year extension was questionable at best, . . . and I guess the real and final reasoning is it is hard to see what you could accomplish in one year with an extension

Secretary Marshall indicated that in spite of the withdrawal and the consequent termination of about $20 million in annual, direct contributions by the United States to the ILO, the United States would continue to follow and in some cases indirectly support some ILO activities:

I think, of course, it is important to clarify that even though the United States withdraws, we intend to continue to watch the ILO's activities very carefully. And I hope personally that the time will come when we can see our way to get back in.

Also, we will continue to contribute to the ILO's activities because most of its technical assistance funds, some $35 million a year, come from the UNDP, United Nations Development Program, and we contribute over $100 million a year to that program and will continue to do that.

*

I think we will continue to contribute to the information gathering and statistical activities.

Id. 1565-1566.

For further information concerning the U.S. formal notice of intention to withdraw delivered on Nov. 5, 1977, see the 1975 Digest, Ch. 2, § 4C, pp. 70-73.

D.

INTERNATIONAL STAFF AND STRUCTURE

Intergovernmental Maritime Consultative Organization On June 2, 1977, President Carter proclaimed that the amendments to articles 10, 16, 17, 18, 20, 28, and 32 of the Convention of the Intergovernmental Maritime Consultative Organization (IMCO) as adopted on October 17, 1974, by the Assembly of IMCO at its fifth extraordinary session held at London from October 16 to 18, 1974, shall enter into force for the United States on April 1, 1978. The IMCO Convention was signed on March 6, 1948 (TIAS 4044; 9 UST 621; 289 UNTS 48; entered into force for the United States on March 17, 1958). As indicated by President Gerald R. Ford in his letter of transmittal to the Senate dated July 10, 1975, requesting advice and consent to ratification, "[t]hese amendments enlarge the membership of the IMCO Council from eighteen to twenty-four, insure equitable geographic representation of member states on the Council, and open participation on the Maritime Safety Committee to all members of the Organization."

77 Dept. of State Bulletin 667 (1977). S. Ex. F, 94th Cong., 1st Sess. III (1975). On Oct. 22, 1975, then Senator Mike Mansfield submitted a report to the full Senate from the Committee on Foreign Relations, which described the background and purpose of the proposed amendments as follows:

Background

The Intergovernmental Maritime Consultative Organization (IMCO) is the specialized agency of the United Nations concerned solely with maritime affairs. Approximately 90 states are members of IMCO.

IMCO's objectives are to facilitate cooperation among governments on technical matters affecting shipping with special responsibility for the safety of life at sea to ensure that the highest possible standards of safety and efficient navigation are achieved. This entails providing extensive exchange between nations of information on technical maritime subjects.

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