UNITED NATIONS, Ecom, and soc. council Preparatory committee of the Intl conf. on trade and employment

ARTICLES AS DRAFTED AT THE LONDON MEETING,

OCTOBER 15-NOVEMBER 26, 1946, BY THE PRE

FOREWORD

The draft charter for an international trade organization which follows is not an official document of either the United States Government or the Preparatory Committee of the International Conference on Trade and Employment. It is submitted purely as an interim. working paper to facilitate study in the United States of proposed provisions for a charter of an international trade organization.

In September 1946 the United States Government published a Suggested Charter for an International Trade Organization of the United Nations. The Suggested Charter was submitted to the Preparatory Committee of the International Conference on Trade and Employment, which held its first meeting in London between October 15 and November 26 of that year. The Preparatory Committee used the Suggested Charter as the main basis for its discussions.

Acting as a group of experts, without committing the governments represented, the Preparatory Committee agreed to texts of draft articles with respect to about 85 percent of the provisions which it is anticipated might be included in a charter for an international trade organization. In the case of other provisions, draft articles were not agreed to, because the short duration of the Preparatory Committee meeting and the complexity of the provisions concerned made it necessary to refer them to an interim drafting committee, which will meet in New York beginning in January, and to the second meeting of the Preparatory Committee in April.

In preparing the draft charter which follows, the Department of State has used the basic organization of the Suggested Charter published by the United States Government in September 1946. In cases where the Preparatory Committee agreed on draft articles, those articles have been substituted for the corresponding articles in the United States Suggested Charter. Of the 89 articles in the draft charter which follows, 74 are articles which were agreed to by the Preparatory Committee. In cases where the Preparatory Committee did not agree on an article, the original article from the United States Suggested Charter has been included in square brackets. In order to provide an integrated document, it was necessary to change

THE HOOVER LIMARY

the numbers of the articles and also to edit the references in certain articles to provisions in others. All such editing changes have been underlined in the text.

The Preparatory Committee prepared a new chapter on Economic Development. In the draft which follows, that chapter has been inserted between the chapters on Employment and General Commercial Policy.

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SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS

I. The Charter as a Whole

The ITO Charter seeks to accomplish five main things: (1) to promote the maintenance of employment in Member countries, (2) to promote the economic development of Member countries, (3) to bring about the general relaxation and regulation of barriers to world trade, whether such barriers are imposed by governments or private organizations, (4) to provide an orderly procedure under agreed rules for the negotiation of intergovernmental commodity arrangements, and (5) to create permanent international machinery for consultation and collaboration in trade and related matters.

The provisions of the Charter are set forth in eight chapters and 89 articles, as follows:

[Chapter I. Establishes the broad purposes of the International Trade Organization (article 1).]

Chapter II. Regulates membership in the Organization (article 2). Chapter III. Provides for the maintenance of employment, the development of resources and productivity, and the promotion of labor standards (articles 3 through 9).

Chapter IV. Provides for the promotion of the industrial and general economic development of Member countries (articles 10 through 13).

Chapter V. Provides for the reduction of governmental barriers of all kinds and for the elimination of trade discriminations (articles 14 through 38).

Chapter VI. Provides for concerted action to eliminate restrictive business practices in international trade (articles 39 through 45).

Chapter VII. Regulates the making of intergovernmental commodity agreements (articles 46 through 60).

Chapter VIII. Creates the machinery for an International Trade Organization to facilitate the operation of the Charter and to promote continuing international cooperation in trade and related matters (articles 61 through 89).