IMCO's organization operates through its Assembly of member nations, together with a Council of eighteen members, a Maritime Safety Committee of sixteen countries and a Marine Environment Protection Committee of unlimited membership.

The Assembly consists of representatives from all IMCO member states. It decides upon the work program, votes the budget to which all member states contribute on an agreed scale of assessments, approves financial regulations, elects the IMCO Council and approves the appointment of the Secretary General.

The Assembly normally meets in London, and regular sessions are held every two years.

The Council consists of representatives from eighteen member states elected by the Assembly for a term of two years; it normally meets twice a year and is IMCO's governing body between Assembly Sessions.

The Maritime Safety Committee deals with aids to navigation, construction and equipment of ships, rules for preventing collisions at sea, dangerous cargoes, maritime safety procedures and requirements, marine casualty studies, search and rescue, and other related matters.

Proposed amendments

The following is an excerpt from the Department of State's letter of submittal describing the amendments:

As set forth in the resolution adopting the amendments, the amendments were adopted in recognition of the need to ensure that the principal organs of the Organization are representative of the total membership of the Organization, and to ensure as well equitable geographical representation of member States on the Council.

Article 10 of the Convention, as presently in force, restricts the eligibility of membership on the Maritime Safety Committee to full members, thus excluding associate members. Article 28, as amended in 1968, provides that the Committee, consisting of sixteen members, be selected according to a formula that ensures: first, that eight members be selected from among the ten largest shipowning States; second, that four additional members account for geographic representation in each of the following areas-(1) Africa, (2) the Americas, (3) Asia and Oceania, and (4) Europe; the third, that the four remaining positions be allocated to members not otherwise represented in the other two categories. In addition to these three classes, it is provided that eligibility for election requires that member candidates have an “important interest in maritime safety."

The proposed amendments to articles 10 and 28, as well as the related amendments to articles 16, 31 and 32, provide that the Maritime Safety Committee, the principal functional organ of the Organization, dispense with the imposition of limitations on eligibility as described above. It would now be opened to membership by all member States desiring to exercise that right.

Articles 17 and 18, as amended in 1967, refer to the size and composition of the IMCO Council. Article 17 provides that the Council be composed of eighteen members. Article 18 describes the election of members to the Council in three categories which require that: (a) six shall be States with the largest interest in providing international shipping services; (b) six shall be other States with the largest interest in international seaborne trade; and (c) six shall be States, not elected under (a) or (b) above, which have special interests in maritime transport or navigation, and whose election to the Council will ensure the representation of all major geographic areas of the world.

The proposed amended articles 17 and 18 enlarge the Council to twenty-four members, the six additional members to be absorbed by the third designated category which is retained along with the other two categories. In addition, the proposed amendment to article 20 simply alters the number of members required to provide a quorum, a change which reflects the increased size of the Council.

The United States, as a member of the Ad Hoc Working Group which considered possible amendments to the Convention, participated in the preliminary consideration of these proposed amendments and supported their adoption, which later proved to be unanimous. Although the United States had preferred at the outset that any enlargement of the Council membership be distributed

throughout the three election categories and that a limited membership scheme, with traditional election classes, be retained for the Maritime Safety Committee, it became clear that these objectives did not have wide support. Moreover, it was observed that to pursue these aims would have been divisive given the large measure of support for expansion of membership proposals found among members of the Working Group. Thus, the resulting compromise as evidenced in these proposed amendments reflects the larger interests of maritime nations in increasing the participation by all nations in the workings of the primary IMCO organs. It favors as well the United States interest in preserving the Council's traditional election categories and avoids the explicit identification of any category or proportion for "developing countries."

S. Ex. Rept. No. 94-3, 94th Cong., 1st Sess. 1-3 (1975).

E. FINANCING

U.S. Support of International Organizations Senator Abraham A. Ribicoff, Chairman of the Committee on Government Operations of the U.S. Senate, released on February 7, 1977, a report entitled "U.S. Participation in International Organizations," 95th Cong., 1st Sess. (1977). In his statement before the Senate on that date, Senator Ribicoff described, inter alia, the financial support provided by the United States to 65 different international organizations and some of the concerns of the Committee with regard to such organizations.

Set forth below are portions of Senator Ribicoff's remarks:

*

The United States is now engaged in a wide range of specialized agencies of the U.N., and other similar organizations. The committee report identified 65, although the number continues to grow each year, ranging from large technical assistance organizations-U.N. Development Program to organizations that test seeds-International Seed Testing Association-or seek to promote studies on Pan American history and geography-the Pan American Institute of Geography and History.

It is now time for a thorough reassessment of our policy toward these organizations. I intend that the committee study these international organizations, and the manner in which the United States participates in them. The United States should continue to support only those organizations which are really accomplishing something.

*

The United States spent more than $1 billion in 1975 in support of international organizations. About $619 million of this went to just three international development banks. Altogether, the United States has provided over $22 billion since 1945 to the U.N. system, including the financial institutions

The committee report . . . provides a general review of the problems Congress and the executive branch must consider as it examines anew its policy toward international organizations. It discusses, first,

the size and nature of the organization; second, the political trends in the organizations, and the U.S. Government's response to growing politicization in the organizations; third, the proliferation of international organizations; fourth, the effectiveness of the international organizations; fifth, U.S. participation in the international organizations, including how U.S. policy is coordinated and implemented; and sixth, personnel in the international organizations.

One of the problems the report points out is the growing domination of Third World politics in the organizations.

*

While the international organizations must improve their own operations, we must improve the way we participate in these organizations, as well..

The excessive level of the salaries of U.N. employees must be reviewed...

Although the United States provides on the average 25 percent of the budget of the organizations, Americans fill on the average only 16 percent of the professional positions . . . .

.. The United States will have to more realistically assess the capabilities of the organizations, and work to make the system a more effective one than it is now.

123 Cong. Rec. S 2393–2394 (daily ed. Feb. 7, 1977).

Organization of American States

On April 26, 1977, Ambassador Gale W. McGee of the U.S. Permanent Mission to the Organization of American States (OAS) submitted a diplomatic note to His Excellency Dr. Juan Pablo Gomez-Pradilla, President of the Permanent Council of the OAS requesting the General Assembly to place on its agenda a proposal to limit the assessment against any member of the OAS to no more than 49 percent of the organization's regular budget. Ambassador McGee made the following observations in support of this U.S. proposal:

Your Excellency will recall my government's view that the present system for financing the organization, under which the United States pays 66 percent of the assessed budget, is harmful to the organization. It makes the OAS too dependent on a single member, and it projects a false image of the organization to the rest of the world. Summing up, the U.S. Secretary of State said [at Santiago on June 11, 1976], "It is important to find some basis for OAS financing that will, over time, reduce the U.S. share of the assessed costs while ensuring that the activities of the OAS in the vital development assistance field are not weakened."

Specifically, it is the view of the United States that no one member should be assessed more than 49 percent of the Organization's regular budget. This is the position to which we hope the other members will be willing to give their serious and sympathetic attention.

The foregoing represents the view of both Houses of Congress. ... During the Senate debate [last year] on the appropriations bill for State Department funds a Sense of the Congress Resolution was approved supporting the U.S. statement at Santiago and urged the General Assembly to "favorably consider and adopt the U.S. proposal at an early date."

I wish emphatically to reiterate my government's hope and belief that this change in the assessed quotas of the various members can be achieved without damaging the OAS development assistance activities. We recognize that what is needed is [a] phased approach to the change in quotas, in which the other members would have time to adjust to the larger shares they may be asked to bear.

OAS Doc. OEA/Ser.G, CP/doc.693/77 corr. 1, May 16, 1977. For excerpts from the text of Secretary Kissinger's statement at Santiago on June 11, 1976, see the 1976 Digest. Ch. 2, § 4A, pp. 24–25.

U.S. Contributions

On December 28, 1977, Secretary Vance signed a letter transmitting to the Congress the twenty-fifth report on the extent and disposition of U.S. contributions to international organizations. The report indicated that U.S. contributions to international organizations and programs other than international financial institutions totaled $609.6 million in fiscal year [FY] 1976.

Set forth below are portions of the introduction to the report describing its contents:

The contributions listed in this report are appropriated to the Department of State or to the Agency for International Develop ment, except where otherwise indicated. The report deals with contributions to multilateral organizations, i.e., intergovernmental bodies having three or more members. Bilateral organizations are not covered in the text or in the total figures, nor are the interna tional financial institutions such as the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development; the latter are the subject of n report to the Congress by the National Advisory Council on International Monetary and Financial Policies. Other items of expens excluded from the tabular presentation . . . are:

(a) the cost to the U.S. Government of the salaries and expenses of American employees detailed to the secretariats of international organizations (e.g., the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development);

(b) loans to international organizations which are to be repaid to the U.S. Government;

(c) commodities donated pursuant to Public Law 480, except such commodities specifically pledged as a part of a U.S. contribu

(d) two-party contractual or other arrangements between an agency of the U.S. Government and an international organization for research or other services.

U.S. contributions to international organizations and programs totaled $608.5 million in fiscal year 1976. . . . These figures include assessed contributions of $247.7 million to 60 international organizations. . . and voluntary contributions of $360.8 million in cash, commodities, and services to 39 [international programs]. Of these totals $341.2 million . . . were for programs in support of economic development and humanitarian assistance activities and $51.5 million and $4.8 million were contributed to U.N. peacekeeping operations, of which $31.9 [million] was assessed and $24.4 million voluntary. Our assessed contribution to international organizations in fiscal year 1976 came to 26.00 percent of total assessments against all Member States, while our voluntary contributions represented 25.62 percent of the total. On an overall basis, we contributed 26.18 percent of total contributions (both assessed and voluntary) to all the organizations and programs

Of the total assessed contributions in FY 1976 of $215.8 million, $143.9 million, or slightly more than two-thirds of that total helped finance the regular activities of the United Nations, its specialized agencies, and the International Atomic Energy Agency. The remainder consisted of $45.5 million for eight inter-American organizations, $19.7 million for seven other regional organizations, and $6.6 million for 32 miscellaneous organizations. In addition, the United States contributed $31.8 million or 28.89 percent of the assessment budget to the U.N. peacekeeping operation in the Middle East...

[T]he total voluntary contributions for FY 1976 [amounted to] $360.7 million . . . . [Of this] $341.2 million, or 94.59 percent of the total of such contributions, was contributed to 37 special programs within the U.N. system in support of economic development and humanitarian activities .. [The remaining percentage, which amounted to $19.6 million, was contributed to two U.N. peacekeeping organizations, the U.N. Force in Cyprus and the U.N. Emergency Force and U.N. Disengagement Observer Force.] The largest contribution for FY 1976 amounted to $100 million and was made to the U.N. Development Program (UNDP). Other major contributions including cash, commodities, and services. amounted to $84.4 million to the U.N./FAO World Food Program and $26.7 million to the UNRWA . . .; also $20 million to the U.N. Fund for Population Activities and $20 million to UNICEF's regular program.

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United States Contributions to International Organizations: Report to the Congress for Fiscal Year 1976, Dept. of State Pub. No. 8929 (footnotes omitted). Set forth below is a table compiled from the report indicating the U.S. assessed contributions to international organizations in 1976 in dollar amounts and in the percent that these dollar assessments constitute in the annual budgets of these international organizations: